Student Number: 27048382 Modern History Essay ‘With reference to the quote and your own knowledge, assess the impact of the Terror on Soviet society in the late 1930’s. In the late 1930’s, the purges and show trials which comprised the Terror, had a significant impact on Soviet society. The Communist party was coerced in powerlessness, the working class suffered considerably, both physically and psychologically, and copious members of the intelligentsia were exiled or killed as a direct result of the Terror. Furthermore the military was damaged, as many of the leaders of the Party’s formerly powerful Red Army were purged. The purges and show trials aimed to terrorise Soviet society into compliance with Stalin’s regime, and ‘remove potential enemies,’ to allow Stalin to found an almost entirely ‘new’ Communist party, which comprised of ‘more dependable’ members.
This led to Russia being in the control of the German Alexandria, who was hated by the Russian people because of her inability to speak Russian, her reliance on Grigory Rasputin, a mystic who claimed to heal her son, her antisocial, depressed attitude and a general political incompetence to rival Nicholas’s. This was a terrible mistake because it broke the faith of the people, and setting them against their leaders, which would result in them conspiring to bring down the tsardom. This last mistake of Nicholas II turned the people against him, his dynasty, and his tsardom, and the people reacted by causing the downfall of the Romanov
It was common knowledge of the time that Stalin was an autocratic leader, often regarded as a dictator, and that he was harsh in the running of his country. His use of heavy censorship, harsh industrialisation and a systematic use of terror through his employment of Red Terror and the Cheka to silence those against communism could repel and put a strain on the relationships between the leaders of the USA and
Russia’s role in World War I quickly led Russia’s people to the strong dislike of their Provisional Government and further into economic downfall which continued to upset the citizens of Russia. The Bolsheviks, a left-wing political party that were socialists, began to grow in popularity among the peasants and industrial workers whose pay was very low and in most cases among the industrial workers; their working conditions were very poor and unsafe. The Bolsheviks then instigated a revolution, resulting in Bolshevik power of Russia. Bolshevik power led to further unhappiness. The months before and during the Bolshevik revolution, as well as the signing of the peace treaty at Brest-Litovsk cause turmoil among the socialists and brought Russia into civil war.
1953 saw the death of Soviet Russia’s greatest leader, in a never-ending atmosphere of anxiety, betrayal and paranoia. Stalin had become the state, not through the path of diplomacy, but through tumultuous bloodshed and trickery. He held absolute power and anyone foolish enough to protest against him and his path to the ultimate communist Utopia would find them selves dead or in a forced labor camp. The roots of this ultimate power lie in the years 1929-39, where Stalin employed the ‘Great Terror’, with the purges to secure political and economic control over the Soviet state. This essay will deduce how effective the ‘terror’ was employed to secure these corner stones.
"Both sides waged a propaganda war" (pg 388). 4. The impact that happened was that it demolished public conference which caused a revolution that eventually caused the Russian's participation to end in the war. These failures were the loss of people which lead to the end of the Russian empire. This eventually lead to the rise of communism.
One key piece of evidence in favour of this is the Pravda article “dizzy with success†which suggests that the purges spiralled out of Stalin’s control. The Purges thrust the whole of Russia into a state of fear of what would happen to them. It affected all sectors of society and even a seemingly insignificant act could result in arrest. For example one woman was arrested for saying that Tukhachevsky, a high ranking military officer, was handsome after he was arrested. One key reason other than Stalin’s personal paranoia for the Purges was to cleanse the party of careerists, yet dissidents and doubters were also at risk.
This was a strategic move by President Yeltsin. After a terrible war in Chechnya, Yeltsin needed a plan to escape. "Tens of thousands of civilians were killed; Chechnya's major towns were razed, and both Mr. Yeltsin's and Russia's image was sullied all over the world. In the end, Russia was defeated, humiliated by a forced withdrawal" (Eke 2). Yeltsin really made a mess of the war, and needed someone to take over.
• Economy was devastated due to its army’s recent loss to Japan. • Nicholas II had a secret police that harassed and wrongfully arrested many people. • Event known as Bloody Sunday occurred, where the Tsar government massacred hundreds of peaceful protesters in the city of St. Petersburg. • Overall, the people were not happy with the way things were being ran by government. Russia during Communism (Lenin) Economy Social Conditions • In 1918, the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, had full control of Russia.
The Anarchist wave which was the birth of international terrorist activity started in Russia. It resonated at the time of revolt against the Czar Alexander II lead government who could not deliver on his promise to provide funds for the serfs to buy land. There were other social and politic issues that left people dissatisfied with the governance. As a result there was a spate of assassinations against prominent officials which eventually lead to the death of Alexander. The justification of such acts was that it was necessary to liberate humanity for its oppressors.