Post WWl, Russia was still not industrialized, suffering economically and politically and in no doubt in need of a leader after Lenin’s death. “His successor, Joseph Stalin, a ruthless dictator, seized power and turned Russia into a totalitarian state where the government controls all aspects of private and public life.” Stalin showed these traits by using methods of enforcement, state control of individuals and state control of society. The journey of Stalin begins now.
In 1917, Tsar Nicholas ll is the current ruler of Russia. Russia’s economic growth is increased by the Czar’s reforms of the production of factories. During this era, Russia desperately needed to keep up with the rest of Europe’s industry. This reform worked perfectly, but the working conditions of these factories didn’t charm factory workers. After the events of the Russo-Japanese War, “Bloody Sunday”, and WW1, Russia was in utter chaos under the Czar’s ghastly leadership.
The Mariam- Webster Dictionary says that freedom is, “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action.” Freedom is a basic right of each American citizen; this right was taken from a large group of people in 1942, including a man named Sam Mihara. K. Sam Mihara lived peacefully in San Francisco with many other Japanese-Americans until the Pearl Harbour attack where they were removed from their homes and forced into secluded detention camps. Throughout the war, Japanese- Americans were moved, treated with disrespect, and then pressured into forgiving the government. The Japanese-Americans were forced into detention camps because the country of Japan was responsible for the bombing of Pearl Harbour.
One man, Vladimir Lenin saw that Russia was spiraling downwards, having lost two battles in a row and having the highest death count out of all the European countries he saw that a change was needed. Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks who were a communist group that wanted to draw out of the war and over thrown Czar Nicholas II. Preaching peace, and food he wanted, ¨the offer of peace, the salvation of Petrograd, salvation from famine, and the transfer of land to the peasants who depended on them,¨ (Document 8). People were drawn into this and, ¨increasingly taken in by the propagandists of the united Socialist Party and their internationalis ideas,¨ (Document 9). This combined with high death rates, starvation, communist ideals started the overthrow of Russia and the end of the war.
He ended up resorting to “war communism” during the Russian Civil War, and the Bolsheviks needed to quickly produce goods. When the war was over, Lenin became sick and Trotsky began ruling after him. Trotsky took the role of controlling the corrective measures
The Russians Fight Back Three outcome and causes of the Russian revolution were the large amount of peasant population, Russia joined the war when they knew that they couldn’t even pull their own weight, and communism took over Russia. The tsar joined the war thinking that he would gain nationalism and patriotism from the peasants.(doc.1).He thought that all the people would rush to sign up to fight for their country and support the tsar. The first months after joining the war were disastrous. The tsar had to steal from his people to give to the troops who had very little supplies.
Trotsky’s role in the Russian revolution was extensive in its nature. As best overall described by the encyclopedia Brittanica, “Trotsky hailed the outbreak of revolution in Russia in February as the opening of the permanent revolution he had predicted. He reached Petrograd in mid-May and assumed the leadership of a left-wing Menshevik faction. Following the abortive July Days uprising, Trotsky was arrested in the crackdown on the Bolshevik leadership carried out by Aleksandr Kerensky’s liberal government. In August, while still in jail, Trotsky was formally admitted to the Bolshevik Party and was also elected to membership on the Bolshevik Central Committee.
Introduction Joseph Stalin is perhaps one of the most important and discussed people in Russian history. He was arguably a feared tyrant cursed and despised by many. At the same time, one finds sufficient evidence for the adoration and worship of Stalin that used to exist in the minds of the citizens of the Soviet Union. One reason for this worship was the existence of the so called ‘Cult of Personality’ where Stalin was celebrated as a wise leader, father of all people, and the architect of victory of the Second World War. In his book, The Stalin Cult: A Study in the Alchemy of Power, Jan Plamper states that Stalin’s cult of personality was largely a visual phenomenon.
Vladimir Ilich Lenin was the Russian Communist party leader between 1917 to 1924. Lenin is know to this day to be one of the craziest leaders the Soviet Union ever had and to be the one to start all the terror and revolutions. Lenin is considered to be one of the most influential and controversial political leaders the Soviet Union has ever had. Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik party and created the Bolshevik revolution in 1917. Lenin later took control as the first leader of the USSR (Service Robert).
Stalin and Trotsky Stalin and Trotsky were rivals that had different views. Each thought that they knew what was best and they were doing what was right. Stalin and Trotsky both had experiences growing up that impacted and influenced them to become revolutionaries. They were both fighting against each other to claim Lenin's spot as leader.
The Russian Revolution, which was started by Lenin and his followers, was a rebellion that occurred in 1917 which forced higher powers to act to the needs of the lower class. For instance, many citizens were worried for their protection in consequence to the lack of survival necessities due to an early drought. Furthermore, their current czar during the time was incapable for his position as a czar and made horrendous decisions as czar. For example, when the czar, Nicholas, entered in World War I, he sent untrained troops into countless battles of failure which costed in mass amounts of lost life (paragraph 23).
War communism had a devastating impact on the peasants and proletariat in Russian society between 1918 and 1928. However, the New Economic Policy that followed the Civil War effects was opposite, raising living standards and reinstating support for the Bolshevik party. Vladimir “Lenin” Ulyanov, known as the head of the notorious Bolshevik party, introduced War Communism (1918-1921) and the NEP (1921-1928). As Martin McCauley states “If War Communism was a leap into socialism then the New Economic Policy was a leap out of socialism” The aims of War Communism and the NEP were both successful in a large number of areas, however, the effects of both policies were not all favourable.
Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.
With their newly acquired power after the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks and their leader, Vladimir Lenin, anticipated opposition in the very near future. To combat this inevitable force against them, Lenin proposed the notion of creating “a people’s militia and to fuse it with the army (the standing army to be replaced by the arming of the entire people.)” Its purpose was to transform the current Imperial Army, whose morale had been broken-down by combat and poor leadership, into a well-oiled military machine. Thus, the Workers-Peasant Red Army was created in January of 1918, made up of what was thought to be the best of the working class. With the combined influence of both Lenin and his right-hand man Leon Trotsky, together were able to motivate and push the Worker and Peasant classes to join the fight as the Red Army and secure power.
Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.
