Not only this but Stalin used Lenin’s Legacy when he once again falsely claimed he was there at the beginning of the original Russian Revolution, when he was actually in exile. There is a picture, taken from the Eighth Bolshevik Party Congress in 1919 in which Trotsky was absent and Stalin took the opportunity to sit himself at Lenin’s right hand side, gaining him credit and showing his subtle ways of propaganda. However, Stalin’s win couldn’t just be down to what Lenin had done previous to the power struggle. To achieve and successfully get away with all of the above he would have had to have great skill as a politician – which he did. He had the ability to control Lenin’s funeral and turn it into his own campaign,
How far was Lenin responsible for the Bolshevik’s growing hold on power in the years 1917-24? In October 1917 the Bolshevik seizure of power had been successful and a ‘new new page was opened in the book of world history’ (‘What is the Soviet Union’). The Bolsheviks were able to remain in power from 1917-24 because of the leadership of founding member and visionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. However there were a number of other factors which contributing to the growing hold on power of the Bolsheviks, namely; The weaknesses of their opponents, the Treaty of Brest Livotsk and the role of Trotsky; Commissar for war. Vladimir Lenin was one of the leading political figures of the 20th century, he was the visionary that founded the Bolsheviks and masterminded the Communist take-over of power in Russia in 1917.
His ideological dispute with Trotsky, another major contender to lead Russia was a key factor in his uprising as Trotsky was the leader of the ‘left-wing opposition’. Trotsky was the leader of the red-army and had excellent leadership but was very arrogant and had a lack of judgement. Stalin made sure that he exploited these characteristics of Trotsky and made it aware to the other Bolshevik members. Stalin took advantage of this and started to manoeuvre devious tactics such as giving
How accurate is it to say that the growth of reformist groups in the years from 1881 was the main cause of the 1905 Revolution? The 1905 Revolution was the start of political change in Russia, unlike other major European powers of the time, Russia was being ruled by an autocratic government and any effective reforms would have had to been by ‘change from above’. However, the Tsar Alexander III and his son, Nicholas II were firm conservatives and this ideal route would not have happened. Resentment to the lack of change created the growth of reformist governments and caused a Revolution which catalysed the much needed change in Russia. There were many factors that created a base for the reformist groups to flourish at that time in Russia which in turn created a Revolution.
Without communist allies Russia needed necessities for modern warfare. This is when Stalin’s elite obsession for iron, steel and oil began. Which is ironic, as Stalin’s name in Russian is the equivalent to ‘Man of Steel.’ In his mind, without these raw materials, war would become a certain loss if it was to break out. Stalin described these materials as ‘Decisive branches of industry’ and in order for Russia to advance and industrialise these would be needed of vast quantities. He then intended for a mass increase in resource production to take place, which in fact did occur over the coming plans.
History essay EVALUATE THE SUCCESSES AND FAILURES OF ONE RULER OF A SINGLE- PARTY STATE Bolsheviks came to power in November 1917 with Lenin as a party leader. His leadership was strong and determined, which he previously showed by publishing his April theses that gave serious of directives that enabled Bolsheviks to come to power after November Revolution. He was a memorable leader whose policies and decisions shaped Russia from 1917-24. In this essay I am going to evaluate and analyse how effective were his revolutionary transformations in economic, political and social context. When Lenin and Bolsheviks came to power Russia was in tremendous economic and administrative problems.
On top of that, Russia’s Provisional Government was overthrown by a minority party (the Bolsheviks) during the November Revolution of 1917 who in turn formed the world’s first ever Communist government. Consequently, violence was triggered across the country and the country spiralled into a long and bloody Civil War. Although there is not one person that we can wholly identify as the main transformer of Russia between 1917 and 1924, there are definitely a few prominent figures that we can identify as the most important people. Generally, historians seem to agree on three people: Vladimir Illich Ulyanov (or Lenin), Leon Trotsky and Alexander Kerensky. All revolutionaries in their own respect, each of these people played a massive role in at least one of the 1917 Revolutions, the civil and the initial redevelopment of Russia after the Civil War.
Others indicate that their rise to power and the overthrow of the Provisional Government was more influenced by the faults and failures of the Provisional Government. The Provisional Government was never in full control of Russia, their power was shared with the Soviets, thus when the Bolsheviks and the Soviets banded together; it shoved the Provisional Government on a rocky road downwards, while the Bolsheviks rose and seized power from them. The Soviets were a great influence in the Bolsheviks surge to power; their leader, Leon Trotsky, and the Bolshevik leader, Vladimir Lenin, began working together in 1917 after Lenin was appointed head of the Bolshevik party and together they drew the support away from Kerensky and the Mensheviks, and introduced his ideas of reform to the lower and middle classes. The class system worked to the Bolsheviks advantage because all of the lower classes needed help and Lenin's ideas for revolution all coincided with the peoples wants and needs, which in turn gained Lenin and the Bolsheviks the support of the lower classes. Trotsky worked to obtain the support by going to events and giving speeches, such as the one he gave on the 22nd of October in 1917, in which he
Yet, popular support alone cannot bring military success nor can it bring stability. In the period leading up to, and during, the civil war the Red Army, under the guidance and influence of Leon Trotsky, were transformed from a ‘rabble to an incomparable fighting force’[2]. They were vast in number and located in Russia’s key industrial centers providing firm foundations from which they could build and also resist attack. The formidable pair of Lenin and Trotsky combined to create a party which boasted military might and also political and social awareness. 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.
To what extent was Trotsky the single most important factor in the success of the Red’s during the Russian Civil War? After the Bolshevik takeover in 1917, Lenin had moved to uphold the idea of a ‘people’s revolution’, something shown most evidently through the creation of workers committees within the factories and also the soldiers committees within the armed forces. These soldier committees would elect their own officers and govern their own regiments. Along with this, traditional elements of the forces had been pushed aside: discipline was non-existent, graded titles had disappeared and saluting was removed as an exercise. In 1918, this was all to change, with Leon Trotsky placed as the commissar for war.