Trotsky described war as the ‘locomotive of history’. How far can it be argued that change in Russia in the period 1855-1964 was caused only by involvement in wars? During this period the biggest change that happened was the move from Tsarist autocracy to communist dictatorship as well as the short lived provisional government, which was a form of democracy. Furthermore there were changes to economic policy, which had a great impact on society. The wars that occurred did bring change but were not the only causes of change.
The areas to investigate include political, economic, social and military reforms from the Russian government in order to see if they are ‘reluctant reformers’ or not. Socially, Alexander II introduced arguably the most radical reform in 1861 by emancipating the serfs and granting peasants freedom. This is by far the reform that affected the population most widely in the period – by granting this, peasants were allowed to own themselves in body and soul and could dictate their own lives as far as they could. Class bias was reduced and education was given more widely across Russia, regardless of social standing. This certainly fights against the view that Alexander II was reluctant in his reforms on the surface – however, once investigated, the limits of emancipation are clear.
Arguably Russia’s transformation from an autocratic state to a communist one was the greatest modification in the whole period 1855 to 1964, however, despite differing ideals there was in fact a large amount of continuity between the idealistically different styles of governance. Under Tsarist leaders, Russia experience differing levels of autocratic rule, interspersed with sporadic detours to democracy, yet upon the Communist takeover, there was a decisive shift towards autocratic dictatorship. Taking all this into consideration, the October Revolution can be seen as the most significant turning point in the development of Russian government, as the ideological shift influenced all subsequent decisions taken by the government of the USSR. Ideologically, the October Revolution in 1917 represented a unique turning point from Russia, as a 300 year old regime was unceremoniously discarded in favour of Marxism. Condemning the provisional government in his April Thesis, Lenin moved quickly to ensure the Bolshevik takeover was complete, consolidating
An outstanding individual involved in Russia’s development was Sergei Witte. As minister of finance from 1892 to 1903 he set himself the huge task of modernising the Russian economy to compete with the advanced nations of the West. It was Witte’s belief that modernisation could be achieved only through state capitalism. He was impressed by the results of the industrial revolutions in the West, and argued that the same ideas could successfully modernise Russia. However, given the backwardness of the Russian economy particular difficulties were presented.
“Political repression was the most important factor in bringing stability to Russia after the 1905 revolution.” How far do you agree with this statement? When analysing how Russia stabilised itself after he 1905 revolution, we have to consider the main factors: political repression and reform. The statement “political repression was the most important factor in bringing stability to Russia after the 1905 revolution” it’s suggesting that one is more important than the other. I’m going to analyse to what extent both factors helped in stabilising the country and how they did so. Looking at repression, the problems they dealt with and how they solved them: the terrorist attacks and harsh punishments, reform groups and the black hundreds and finally the revolutionary ideas and closing of newspapers and trade unions.
Of the Tsars I believe that Alexander II, called the ‘Tsar Liberator’, caused the biggest change over the period. I believe he was the only Tsar that wanted to reform. I believe Alexander II’s reforms affected the most people living in Russia. In response to the defeat in the Crimean War the Tsar where the majority of Russians saw themselves in higher regard than was translated in the outcome training was modernised and facilities were improved. The effect of this caused military life to have become a lot safer and potentially more profitable when fighting.
These views are expressed in his two key works, A Concise History of the Russian Revolution (published in 1995) and Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime 1919-1924 (published in 1994). Pipe’s believes that Lenin was primarily responsible for the success of the uprising, even though Pipe’s recognizes Lenin’s role as the most important, he still hypocritically called Lenin’s April Theses “totally out of touch with reality, if not positively mad” despite the fact that this theses played a huge role in the Lenin and Bolshevik uprising. Pipe’s also believes that Trotsky just carried out Lenin’s commands. However the role or Trotsky and his actions before the October revolution were very evidently done on his own accord, with Lenin accompanying Trotsky in his decisions. In early October, 1917, Trotsky was elected
In the early twentieth century successful efforts of reform were just starting to become apparent. Progressive reformers were finally able to help change many problems within the country due to the unfailing support of the reform presidents Teddy Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Woodrow Wilson. Corruption in politics, economic injustice, and social unrest were the major issues that were addressed during the Progressive Era. While there were many successes in reform certain issues were not so easy to fix bringing distinct limitations. Nevertheless, progressive reformers and the federal government were for the most part effective in bringing reform to the political, economic, and social problems throughout the country in the early 1900’s.
He made several different reforms to give more power to the central government and the Tsar, he promoted military, and he improved the Russian economy. He also won a war against the Swedish, in which he then established a city he named after himself and the city was very open to trade routes to other countries through the Baltic Sea. Peter “The Great” is truly an “enlightened” monarch of the early 18th
Governmental agencies became involved in the steamboats with Fulton and Livingston when their Monopoly took over waterways, restricting the travel up and down the Hudson Years after the Civil War saw major technological industrialization and advances like the railroad. The technological advances made it possible to start America's westward expansion and economic development by connecting the frontier with the industrial, financial, and political centers of the East . Americans began to rely upon technological advancements like the railroad, electrical power, and telephone systems for economic and/or social growth and development. Shortly following the same groups of inventors took on land travel. By putting strong constantly modified steam engines in the first