To do this, I will compare and contrast the elements in Figes’ argument to show that they were in fact, two very different leaders; therefore concluding that Stalin did in fact betray Lenin. Firstly, I will talk about the concept of the one-party state
Adam Smith was a well-known economist and philosopher, during the early eighteenth century. One of the earliest works published in economics was by Adam Smith in the “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”. He believed in a system, where the market should be operated by self- regulation, now he is renowned today as the founding father of modern economics and capitalism. Although a century apart, similarly, Karl Marx also had a very outstanding reputation. As a political philosopher, Marx disapproved of the capitalist system; particularly on the way how production was run.
The personalities influenced the cold war, despite not being as significant as the other factors. Stalin being manipulative and ruthless instantly suggesting that relations with other countries, so different from his and he was very cautious of this. Source 8 suggests his personality, ‘threw Stalin back into neurotic solitude’ after the A bomb of 1945. Also after the death of Roosevelt which was Stalins ‘dream partner’ there was no need ‘to forge a strong relationship’ between the new politicians. When it
In 1898, a new party arose in Russia, the Social Democrats; their aim was to achieve revolution in Russia by following the ideas of Karl Marx. Marx, a German revolutionary, had the idea that “the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles”; he described this as dialectic. Marx based much of his thinking about history, economics and philosophy; the French revolution had helped the German revolutionary to extend his ideas about the struggles between different classes in society. He came at a very convenient time for Russia as she was just beginning her industrial revolution, this promised revolutionaries to create the industrial conditions that would make a successful revolution possible. The 'great spurt' of the 1890s saw a formation of a new social class; the proletariats.
Assess the contribution of Marxism to our understanding of society. (33 marks) [Althusser; Bonger; Bowles and Gintis; Craib; Durkheim; Engels; Gouldner; Gramsci; Harvey; Marcuse; Marx; Rowbotham; Weber; Willis; Zaretsky.] Karl Marx is regarded as the founding father of Marxism, as the schools of Marxism were derived from Marx (1867 - 1973), who wanted to create a scientific explanation of societies. Two of these schools are Humanist Marxism, who give greater power to the individual to make choices and Structural Marxism, who believe that change comes as the product of changes within the structures society. Like Durkheim (a Functionalist), Marx believed it was possible to understand society scientifically and scientific knowledge would lead to a better society.
In 1947, Stalin established Conform. This was a plan to organize activities of Communist parties in Europe to control capitalist ideas and spread communism hence, strengthen the Soviet’s power. Then two years later, another one of Stalin’s foreign policy, Comecon was set up to coordinate the economy of Eastern Europe. Although these methods were seen by the West, Stalin’s action to secure the Soviet Union’s power, these actions were self-defensive policies against US’s policies, the Truman Doctrine and the
Assess the view that Lenin's rule between 1917 and 1924 was merely a brutal dictatorship 'Lenin the affable genius or Lenin the irascible tyrant" The two contrasting views which many historians still debate, whether Lenin was simply a mindless dictator or the soviet view which historian Read hints at by the words of "affable genius", in that Lenin's authoritarian rule was simply a way of maintaining control of the proletariat in order to further the socialist cause, and would then change back to communism when able to. Other historians take a different view and agree with Lenin himself when he said that the dictatorship was part of 'adaptations to the prevailing circumstances’, a reference to the substantial social, economic and political problems Russia faced such as extreme famine and the outbreak of civil war in 1918, but due to his strong marxist beliefs, it seemed that a brutal rule was the only option in taming the unrest throughout the country, particularly if he wanted to avoid a repetition of events such as the February revolution. Especially when putting into context, that up until 1917 Russia had endured a repressive tsar regime, which used brutality and force to maintain control, so the population were used to conforming by the threat of violence and judging by Lenins' statement of 'The soviet revolutionary republic will triumph no matter what the cost" it seems that Lenin felt it necessary to continue this ideology in order for Russia to function correctly. The level of brutality that Lenin used though is somewhat questionable, but in incidents such as Kronstadt, where the infamously barbaric Cheka were used to regain control, supports the view that rather that Lenin limiting the brutality of his regime " In fact he wanted the brutality to be as intense as possible in the short term so that it might not need to be unduly extended in time" so even
This indicates how there would have been a distinct difference in the way the Russian people saw who was governing them. For example the Tsars ruled over their people in a very paternalistic way, they were seen as the “little father” to the people. Lenin was not perceived as a father to the people, instead he was seen as “the boss”, a phrase that could be seen much more ruthless than
Old Labour, the traditional socialist representation of the labour party, presented many socialist views, such as cradle-to-grave welfare and social justice. They also opposed such views as a free-market economy, much preferring to regulate and set quotas for it. Old Labour was the standing of the Labour Party since their founding in the early 20th century. Since then, the party has undertaken a radical change, through the conception of Neil Kinnock and the branding of Tony Blair, to become the centre-left party that we’ve come to know as New Labour. New Labour govern with a pragmatic stance, concentrating on making practical decisions that influence the UK, as oppose to Old Labour who were ideological, and looked at the best ways in which to manage society and react to current events.
Assess the usefulness of Postmodernism to our understanding of society today Postmodernism is a major intellectual movement that we are living in a new era of post modernity. There is an ongoing debate in sociology as to whether society has moved from modernity to post modernity. Modern society first emerged in Western Europe. Capitalism was established what is based on private ownership and of the means of production and the use of wage labourers. Capitalism brought about the industrialisation of modern society, this idea is favoured by Marxists but postmodernists argue that society is not as simple as this.