In spite of all these changing times and circumstances, the tension between the upper and lower classes remained tenser than ever before, building up under the fabric of society. Russian became industrialized during the 1930's when Joseph Stalin instituted a series of what he called “five year plans". The plans were designed to rapidly increase the industrial capacity of the Soviet Union and change it from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. The plans succeeded and Russia did become an industrialized nation. Prior to the “five year plans”, Russia had mostly a peasant farming economy.
“Assess the reasons why Stalin was able to rise to power between 1924 and 1929” In 1924, just two years after the end of the Russian Civil War, Lenin died. Since he had left no writings of who he wanted to be his successor, a power struggle emerged between the left and the right wings of the Bolshevik Party. Some of the key figures included Leon Trotsky, Nikolai Bukharin and Grigory Zinoviev. Nevertheless, Stalin was able to outmanoeuvre his way past all of these men to become undisputed leader of the USSR by 1929. 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.
How far do you agree that Trotsky’s leadership of the red army was responsible for the survival of the Bolshevik government? In October 1917 the Bolshevik’s took control of Russia after staging a revolution. However they faced many dangers/threats while in power from the years 1917-1924 such as a civil war and the economic crisis it caused. The leadership of the red army by Trotsky is a very important reason that the Bolsheviks got into power as his red army implanted the revolution but also to the survival of the Bolsheviks as the red army overcame the Bolsheviks biggest threat of the civil war. However there are other reason which just as or more important than Trotsky’s leadership such as the ideas and sacrifices made by Lenin during the year’s 1917-1924 such as signing the harsh treaty of Brest-Litovsk and enforcing the New Economic Policy or NEP, to create economic sacrifices rather than political ones which allowed the Bolsheviks to remain in power.
The length of railway tracks in Russia increased form 31219 miles in 1891 to 58392 miles by 1904. In the same time period, Russia’s coal production increased from 6.01 million tonnes to 18.67 million tonnes. This shows how the government’s investment in expanding and modernizing the country’s railways resulted in significant economic gains. This was a result of an increased ability to transport raw materials to areas with the greatest population, such as the area surrounding St Petersburg. The railways, particularly the Trans-Siberian railway, also gave Eastern Russia a link to Europe and Western Russia a link to the Pacific Ocean, which made it easier to export Russian goods.
While it has been argued that an exceptional economic growth caused some problems, the advantages that came with it, outweigh the negatives. Germany’s economic growth was exceptional, industries such as the production of coal and iron doubled in the years up to 1914. By 1900, Germany’s particularly strong steel industry had exceeded that of Britain’s and by the beginning of the first world war, Germany‘s share of trade in the world was equal to Britain’s. Therefore, the power of the elites was not being threatened, as the country was benefitting from the money that the economic growth had brought in, to a high extent. Germany led the way on Europe with the creation of new industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrics and motor manufacture.
How far was Lenin responsible for the Bolsheviks’ growing hold on power in the years 1917-1924? To a fairly large extent, Lenin was responsible for the Bolsheviks’ growing hold on power from 1917-24. Lenin had, of course, led the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution, the reason the Bolsheviks had any power in the first place, and it was Lenin who dissolved the Constituent Assembly. He also managed to hold on to power by introducing War Communism during the Civil War. On the other hand, it can be argued that Trotsky’s leadership of the Red Army during the Civil War was just as, or even more important in the Bolsheviks’ seizure of power, as was the image of the Bolsheviks as being patriotic heroes fighting against Tsarist leaders and foreign invaders.
The collectivisation of agriculture provided Stalin with the idea that further industrial growth was necessary in order to fuel the country’s economy and diminish the burden of Russia’s backwards nature. He wanted Russia to become self-sufficient and not have to rely on the West for anything so the first 5 year plan was established in the hope that changes could be made. It can be perceived that the first plan did not achieve a great deal but
And those who fall behind are beaten. But we do not want to be beaten!” (Document 1) Attitudes such as these helped to rally the people of Russia, so that they came together as a united force. People came together to provide workers for the factories, and farmers on the collective farms. Stalin created a feeling of pride and nationalism that also helped this country grow strong. Yet, for all of Stalin’s positive accomplishments, he also seemed quite the negative ruler, First, Stalin developed a system of collective farming that combined once privately owned farms into large farms, operated by the government.
How significant was the work of reforming leaders in changing the nature of Russian government and society in the period from 1856-1964? Intentionalist historians such as Westwood, would say that the most significant factor for changing the nature of Russian government and society was the work of reforming leaders, such as Alexander II who carried out the Emancipation of the Serfs in 1861: “with the possible exception of Khrushchev, no other Russian ruler did so much to reduce the suffering of the Russian people”1. I agree with intentionalist’s views to an extent because reforming leaders did have a major impact in pushing reforms through however other factors of change must be considered. I also agree with a structuralist point of view, that the Russian people and key pressure groups like the Social Revolutionaries also played a significant part in changing the nature of Russian government and society. In addition, World War II introduced change through industrialisation, which was key to Russia’s success in the war.
On the other hand, conditions worsened for the urban workers Stalin’s Five Year plans as harsh and unprincipled methods were used. Stalin maintained a heavy12-hour day and introduced labour camps. The gulags were first established in 1919 under the Cheka, but it was not until the early 1930s that the camp population reached significant numbers: by 1934, the Gulags had several million