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
The main reason that Stalin was able to rise to power was his ingenious defeats of both the left and right wings of the Party. The key figure Stalin had to take down from the left wing was Leon Trotsky. Trotsky was important because in effect, it was his leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War that had won the war for the Reds. If it hadn’t been for Trotsky, the Bolsheviks may not have been in the position they were by 1924. The first step Stalin took towards removing the threat of Trotsky was to lie to him about the date of Lenin’s funeral.
Source B lists a range of qualities that would be considered flattering such as ‘knowledge’ and ‘intelligence.’ Also it states that Stalin is ‘extraordinarily like Lenin.’ By comparing Stalin to Lenin – a man who was seen as ‘god like’ and was a great revolutionary hero, it suggests that influence Stalin had on people. On the other hand, Source A describes Stalin as ‘rude’, suggests that Stalin already has ‘boundless power’, and would abuse that power. These attributes are displayed very clearly through a number of events such as Stalin’s ‘rudeness’ toward to Lenin’s wife Krupskaya, as well as his comrades. Also his ‘boundless power’ was shown through his position as General Secretary. A position, thrust upon him by committee, and meant he was in control of the ‘party machine’ and therefore able to choose who was allowed into the Bolsheviks ranks, thus ensuring he has political backing and therefore could always ‘deliver the votes,’ as people were aware of the privileges he had given them.
How significant were the personalities of the contenders to succeed Lenin in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-29? The personalities of the contenders to succeed Lenin in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-49 was the most significant factor as the personalities dictated what they did and how they reacted to certain events. However there are other factors to consider such as power bases; mistakes made by others and actual party policies. Finitely, personalities were the most significant in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents. Due to the fact that the personalities of the contenders dictated what they did in terms of attempting to be the strongest candidate in succeeding Lenin, and showed how they reacted to key events; it is evident that this is the most significant factor in the power struggle.
Although however, this strained their relationship between the USSR from having conflicting national interests, this economic concept could be said to have been a huge tension between the USSR and America, as it excluded Russia, alienating them by spreading their capitalist ideologies and all the while ignoring their need for help in rebuilding themselves. Truman based his entire strategy of containment on George Kennan’s analysis of communism. Kennan implied the entire problem is the ideology, and the leaders who believe in it. The American hostility to communism therefore played a huge role in the shaping of the Cold War and showing the divide between the superpowers and highlighting the personalities and conflicting interests between
Lastly, Russia's backward society is one of the main reasons Nicholas II survived after 1905. There were three main groups that opposed the Tsar up until 1905. The Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) was a Marxist political party for the industrial workers in Russia. They disliked the Tsar the most, and wanted to wrest control from him and have Russia become the first communist state in the world. However, there was a dispute on how the party should be run.
Finally the essay will look at the effectiveness of the use of terror but also the international repercussions for Stalin and communism. Main Argument • How Stalin moved away from Leninism and Communism. • The movement from the use of terror as an enforcer of economic policies for the good of USSR to the only purpose of coercion for his own political agenda. The use of terror was the most important and most effective way for Stalin to maintain power. He started off by using terror as a means to fulfill ambitious economic goals but then used as a means to control his own paranoia from a threat from within and his own political means.
This was an economic concession that Lenin was forced to make due to the deteriorating economic conditions and the real threat of a revolt against the Bolshevik government. It was always intended as a temporary measure, and the question after Lenin’s death wasn’t whether it should continue or not, but how it should be put an end to. The debate lay between the left-wing, lead by Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev, who advocated a quick movement into rapid industrialisation, which would mean abandoning the New Economic Policy, militarising the labour forces and exploiting peasants for grain to fund the industrialisation; and the right-wing, led by Bukharin, who wanted to continue the New Economic Policy for another 20 years, which would mean peasants would grow wealthier and be encouraged to buy consumer goods, which in turn would lead to more products being made in factories and a gradual process of industrialisation. This became a passionate issue because economic policy was also at the heart of the debate of what a socialist society should look like. The growth of a rich super class led to activities such as property dealing, land speculation, gambling and prostitution, all of which conflicted greatly with the ideology of Communism.
How far do you agree that the most important result of the oppression was the strengthening of Stalin’s political dominance? The Great Terror had a profound effect upon the Communist Party and on Soviet society as a whole and it was most famous aspect of Stalin’s Russia. This terror grew from his paranoia and desire to be the absolute leader, and was enforced by the NKVD as well as his public show-trials. It developed into a terrifying system of labour camps (or gulags) and purges. Stalin’s oppression had many results including, but not limited to, the strengthening of his political dominance.
How important was Stalin's role in the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during the Second World War? Stalin's role in the Soviet victory, and indeed the overall Allied victory over Nazi Germany, was certainly significant; he was, after all, both the General Secretary of the Soviet Union and its Supreme War Commander. If one were to take this at face value, then his importance would be without question. However, it can be argued that, especially at the beginning of the war, he played a role just as significant in almost losing the war, mainly due to his tactical mistakes as Supreme Commander and his own Stalinist system and purges leaving his appointed generals with a lack of knowledge of modern warfare and, indeed, a lack of initiative. Even when he grew into his self-appointed role of Supreme Commander and learned from his earlier mistakes, it can be argued that his greatest victories, such as the battles at Kursk and Stalingrad, were less down to him, but rather down to the expertise of his generals, such as Zhukov.