Despite the strong forces pushed upon the red army, the experience of the white leaders and position of Lenin, the communists still managed to achieve a victory in the Russian Civil War. Two main reasons that led to their success were because they had control over more people and because they had access to more weapons. However, there were many other contributing factors leading to the Bolshevik victory questioning the importance of these specific two. Bolshevik control over highly populated parts of Russia lead to communist success in the Civil War. The Bolsheviks had a huge strategic advantage due to their geographical position within Russia, in that they had control over major cities such as Moscow and Petrograd, which had many people within them.
The political impact from the Mongols was much more centralized and uncompromising in China rather than in Russia, where political impact was didn’t have as much effect. Both the Chinese and the Russians had a greatly improved economy under the Mongolian rule. This is due to the fact that the Mongols believed in taxing the peasants in both regions as a way to earn money for themselves. In China, it was said that Silk Roads and trading was so safe, that a traveler could voyage across the entire Mongol area with a golden platter upon his head and not be robbed or encounter any violence. Russian towns had increased profits from the trading of the Mongol links.
Growth of support for facism was a reason for Mussolinis appointment as Prime Minister,however there were many other reasons for Mussolinis appointment as PM, but growth of support was very important for him. The war and the mutilated victory, had an affect on Mussolinis appointment as PM. The main reason wad that the nationalists were bitterly disappointed that italy didn’t make any gains during the war. The nationalists claimed that Italy had been betrayed by the Liberal government, this shows that the nationalists might have wanted to overthrow the Liberal government and therefore supported Mussolini before he was appointed. This links into the title point that Mussolini had a wide support base and that it was growing.
They held the benefit of literally surrounding the Bolshevik region. Therefore, to what advantage were the Reds exactly in, holding only this central zone? It was actually this particular location that contained the largest industrial centers which provided munitions and war supplies throughout the course of the war. Additionally, this location provided the control of the railway lines which connected Petrograd and Moscow to the rest of the country. This meant that; they could send troops and munitions to any of the battle areas swiftly, they could easily distribute resources, and communication was significantly more effective.
This was sometimes called ‘Revolution from above. During the years 1928 to 1941 Stalin decided to introduce a series of reforms in order to radically change Russia’s economy. This would not only create a more prosperous country, but as well would stand out the figure of Stalin and would make him a memorable leader for his acts, moving of the way the image people had of Lenin as the real and unique leader Russia once had. During these years, through collectivisation and industrialisation (Five Year Plans), Stalin was able o successfully improve Russia’s economy. This was mostly due to his policies of collectivisation which made economic sense and forced a lot of peasants to leave the land, which was a process needed in order to change an agricultural rural society to an urban and industrial one as well s the fact that his industrialisation plan increased massively the heavy industry in Russia; the production of raw materials such as iron, coal, steel and oil all increased successfully.
Also writers, artists and musicians were made to produce works or realism glorifying soviet achievements. This appealed to patriotism and made the legacy of the Stalinist system strong[2]. Also the fact that Stalin succeeded in galvanising the nation meant the Stalinist system was well suited to the demands of total war as it was already centrally planned[3]. This advantage led to Stalin being a successful leader of the USSR in those years. Stalin’s economic strategies led to the successful growth of industrialism and modernisation of the USSR.
This was instrumental in gathering support. Sneevliet and Borodin essentially organised both parties, the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, however the Kuomintang had significantly a much higher membership than the Chinese Communist Party did. Moreover, The Soviet Union’s cadre also helped form the ideas of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership and were therefore, also instrumental at its formation. The Soviet Union gave back concessions to China however, this only furthered the cause of Communism than any propaganda. The Chinese people could relate to the anti-Empire element of communism which attracted more Chinese people to support the Soviet Union and allow them to help aid the country to defeat the warlords in China and the Soviet Union be-giving the government in league with the warlords.
However, they did help unite China and form the Yuan Empire. Additionally, the Mongols moved the capital to Beijing in an attempt to make it the center of politics and commerce in China. They made other improvements to encourage trade, such as reorganizing and rebuilding roads, irrigation, and plumbing, building granaries to prevent famines, and extending the Great Canal. These improvements proved successful, as it helped them export in large amounts and become a lucrative center for trade. Nevertheless, their excessive spending severely depleted China’s economy.
Propaganda and foreign intervention helped to portray the Soviet leadership as ‘leaders of a national liberation struggle against foreign imperialists’[3] and this won them support from the masses whilst the Whites reliance on foreign aid rendered them vulnerable if such aid was to be withdrawn. Final, yet equally crucial factors in
Furthermore, Stalin’s use of devious tactics also played a large role in securing his position in the party, as they allowed him to undermine his opponents and strengthen his position by reducing support for them. Overall, although the main reason that Stalin was able to succeed in the leadership struggle was his ability to manipulate the party machine, Stalin’s devious tactics and his alliances were also vital in securing his position as leader. Stalin’s ability to manipulate the party machine was extremely vital in securing him success in the leadership struggle, as it allowed him to eliminate Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev from the struggle. As General Secretary, Stalin was able to control who sat in Party Congress. By placing his supporters in Party congress, Stalin was able to ensure that his opponents could not gain any power or support, therefore ensuring that these opponents could be ruled out of the struggle.