The Russian Civil War began in the wake of the collapse of the provisional government. The Russian Civil War (1917–23) was just beginning in 1918. Lenin and the Bolsheviks were seen to have taken control of Russia, and Lenin pulled Russia out of the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed in March 1918. This was a cruel treaty which the Russians had to sign. Trotsky was given the task of negotiating with the Germans.
To understand and identify the aspects of the totalitarian system in both countries it's important to consider both countries history. On November the 11th 1918 Germany agreed to signed the Armistice. After Germany was forced to accept Versailles agreement by accepting guilt for WW 1. As a consequence the German people were demotivated and had no confidence in the new liberal democratic Weimar government and international forces. This resulted in risings such as the Spartacist rising where communists fuelled by the success of the Russian revolution almost occupied nearly every major city in Germany.
Firstly, the most pivotal factor that led to the Provisional Government being ousted from power was the fact that, against the masses wishes, they did not withdraw from World War I. It was one of the main causes for their revolution against the Tsarist regime in February, yet the Provisional Government couldn’t withdraw due to the fact that they felt obliged to continue their war effort and help the Allied forces beat the likes of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Leaders such as Kerensky even assumed the masses shared their enthusiasm for a “vigorous, new war effort” against Germany, and so they organised the June Offensive. However, this battle proved to be a major disaster, leading to many soldiers deserting their posts, voicing their discontent with the government and some mutinying by firing upon their own officers. With the Army beginning to collapse, it was obvious that, unless the Provisional Government withdrew from the First World War immediately, a second revolution would occur and remove them from power.
Lenin had also ended the war with Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. However, this was a humiliating treaty for Russia as the Germans had been extremely harsh and the treaty took land, industries and people from Russia. After the Reds’ victory in the civil war, Lenin set about creating the world’s first communist state. He introduced war communism whereby the people saw the rapid nationalization of all industries as well as the requisitioning of all surplus grain from the peasants. Even though this solved all the immediate needs of the communist state, the majority of the peasants were unhappy about the new policies and rebelled against the Bolsheviks.
Stalin and the US created a brief alliance because they were both concerned with stopping Hitler. When the war ended, the U.S., Britain, France, and Russia each controlled a portion of Germany. Soviet Russia did not want to allow their portion to be unified into a post-War Germany for fear that the Germans would again be an aggressive and powerful invader. In 1948 the Soviets blockaded East Berlin and the Germans in the West side of the city were starved of food. The Allies (us) started a massive airlift to feed the trapped Germans so they would not starve.
The Tsar was desperate to get Russia back in control so in December the Tsar’s loyal army was used to demolish what was left of the working class strikers. This sent many of the revolutionaries in to exile. This restored order once again in the cities. What was a general
That would make Germany weaker and put a buffer zone between Germany and the Soviet Union, Germany had invaded the Soviet Union twice in 30 years and Stalin wanted to ensure that it would not happen again. He also wanted to guarantee that Poland had a pro-Soviet government. Stalin already had a government who were in exile: the Lublin Poles. But Roosevelt and Churchill supported another group, the strongly anti-Communist ‘London Poles’. These Poles had helped organize the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, aiming to gain part of Poland before Stalin’s Red Army took full control of the country.
One of the ways how Stalin defeated the left side of the party was to make an alliance with Bukharin. This ended with Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev losing their power bases. This gave Stalin a lot more power and meant there was no real threat left. I know from my own knowledge that Trotsky formed the alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev because Stalin was a big threat. Stalin was more popular because of Trotsky’s “political paralysis” he couldn’t be a good public speaker.
“The Bolsheviks were able to overthrow the Provisional Government because they had the support of the Russian people and armed forces.” Do you agree with this view? On the 7th of November in 1917, the Bolsheviks, who were led by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, overthrew the Provisional Government, which was led by Alexander Kerensky, after the long revolt against them. The Provisional Government initially came to power after the February revolution; after the Russian monarchy was overthrown in March of 1917. There are many different interpretations and opinions from historians; many suggest that the Bolsheviks were hugely supported by the ordinary people and citizens of Russia. 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.
However, you shouldn't make the assumption that devotion to ideology was all that was behind Cold War animosity; countries tend to be more complaint trading partners with countries that share their political systems and both Stalin and the Cold War Era presidents in the US knew this. The tension eventually built, but no one wanted to go to actual war again after the colossal massacre of WWII, hence the term Cold War. 2. Describe and explain the ideological differences between the United Stated and the Soviet Union. In 1917, Russia became a communist country with an agenda of converting the world to communism.