Stalin used factionalism , bonapartism and Trotskyism to his advantage . Moreover , I believe that Stalin undercutting Trotsky’s influence was a contributing factor to him being able to emerge as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929. Stalin’s ideological methods was central to his success of emerging as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929. As his presence on many senior committees secured him a position at the highest level of government, Stalin had enormous personal authority . He used ideological methods such as making accusations of Bonapartism.
To what extent was Lenin’s leadership the reason why Bolsheviks were able to consolidate their power between 1917-1924? By the early 1920's Russia was in the authoritarian grip of a one party dictatorship. The Communist Party as the Bolshevik's had become. It had a ruthless leadership which was ideologically motivated to hold on to power at any cost. This was a dramatic change from the Bolshevik party's position in 1917 when the party enjoyed widespread support amongst the peasants, workers and soldiers who saw in the Bolshevik's the best hope for popular revolution.
For Lenin, the party was to be a group prepared to seize power as soon as possible yet on the other hand, for Martov, the main purpose of the party was to spread propaganda and raise the level of consciousness of the proletariat. This was because he did not believe that Russia was ready for a Marxist revolution for many years. Lenin believed that is the Mensheviks had their way, it would take years to start the revolution; they would just waste time on useless discussion and argument. Martov, replied that the revolution would fail if it did not have the support of the whole working class. The social democratic party remained spilt on the issue.
Practice Essay – Development of Totalitarianism Account for the development of totalitarianism in the USSR between 1928 and 1945 The development of a totalitarian society in the USSR between 1928 and 1945 can be greatly attributed to the increasingly centralized control and actions of Stalin and the Communist Party. Stalin’s actions resulted in this growth of totalitarianism according to the Friedrich-Brzezinski model as they completely reformed public opinion and increasingly centralized control over soviet life and economy. This establishment of a totalitarian state can be accounted for by three clear aspects of Stalin’s rule: his Cult of Personality, his use of Purges and terror and his increasing control over the population. Stalin’s Cult of Personality was crucial to the growth of totalitarianism in the USSR as they enabled him to indoctrinate the population in order to ensured that their views aligned with his and the Party’s. This was in accordance to the Friedrich-Brzezinski model of totalitarianism as it resulted in public adherence of an official ideology and evidences a state monopoly over effective mass communication.
That is similarly related to that of a fascist society because the citizens were to focus on the state as well. Only certain religious organizations were allowed because they were already linked to the state. Socially and economically, these 2 ideologies share and differ greatly. Politically, these ideologies are very different. Communism has rule from a single party that used a form of democracy inside of it to decide on things for the state.
The Soviets strived for communism, where everyone, at least in principle, had equal shares and no one was above another, while the United states wanted to spread their values of democracy to re-developing countries across the globe. Communism was seen as such a threat to the United States because they believed the Communist Party wanted to spread and take over the entire world and the U.S. insisted that they were a force that must be stopped. The Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a key film, made during this time period that reflected greatly on the themes of the Cold War. In the film the protagonist, Miles, is a once sane, intelligent doctor who has been strung out, by many strange events that indicate an alien invasion is happening into a hysterical man. It starts out with relatives and children accusing loved ones that they’re not really themselves, that they have no emotions.
The totalitarian Government of the Communist Party continued and intensified many aspects of the Tsarist regime including use of the secret police and an intolerance for opposition and democracy in general. The communist regime were just as authoritarian as the Tsars before them.In terms of ideology the fall of Tsarism in 1917 was a significant event as Tsarist belief in total control and centralisation of power was replaced by the Provisional Government, who had introduced liberal reforms and aimed for a democratic Russia. Ideology came to have a far more significant impact under the communists. It was not completely absent under Tsarist rule as the Russification policy of Alexander III shows, however it had virtually no effect in comparison to Stalin's purges. Even though the ordinary Russian citizen initially saw little difference between Nicholas II and the new Provisional Government, the authoritarian regime of the Tsar had not simply been exchanged for another in the short term.
The death of the creator of the Soviet Communist Party and founder of the USSR, Vladimir Lenin, left the young Soviet Union craving the leadership from a man of the same stature. At first, the brilliant leader of the Red Army and also the appointed candidate by Lenin, Trotsky, seemed to be the one to take control of the USSR. Instead, Joseph Stalin took control of the Soviet Union, using many vindictive political moves and his position as General Secretary. As the leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin strengthened and stabilized the structure of the nation to become a world superpower and industrial colossus. In many ways, Stalin transformed himself to replicate Lenin by adopting his ideas and goals, although the way in which he met these goals are highly controversial by historians.
Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin were both powerful, ambitious leaders that worked their way into positions of power. Stalin took over after Lenin died to lead the USSR after the Russian Revolution. Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party and gained the people’s support with promises of a strong leader that resisted western powers. On their rise to power, both Stalin and Hitler became leaders of political parties, eliminated opposing parties, and promised a better future for the people and country, but Stalin used the people’s support as leverage in his power struggle with Trotsky while Hitler used his passion and the economic situation in Germany to become leader of the Nazi party and gain support over the socialists. Both Hitler and Stalin started their journey towards power by joining political parties.
How important was Stalin’s use of the Lenin legacy in gaining power? Stalin’s use of the Lenin Legacy helped him gain support during the years 1924-1929, eventually resulting in him winning the power struggle and gaining power in Russia. Even though in Lenin’s final testament he made it clear that Stalin was trouble and he should be got rid of, Stalin’s political cunning and his use of the Lenin legacy meant that he was able to gain people’s support and become leader of the Communist party. One of the most noticeable was at Lenin’s funeral. Firstly, Stalin had told Trotsky (who was a major rival to Stalin at this time) the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral.