Essay On The Rise Of The Soviet Union

Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west shaped his views in a major. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilization and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor III” (Britannica

Empress Catherine the Great ruled Russia for approximately thirty years from 1762 to 1796 when she died. She was known throughout the world as an unusual ruler, having taken over the throne after the brutal death of her husband Peter the third. There she was made Empress of all Russia, this was unusual because instead of being made regent for her son they circumnavigated the rules and she was made Empress Regnant. During her time on the throne she made many radical and life changing decisions. She was a voracious reader and writer, often helping to translate others works into Russian. She herself was inspired by Voltaire, Diderot, and Montesquieu. All of which culminated in her greatest work “Great Instruction”, which was the beginning of basically all her future endeavors. Catherine the Great was an enlightened ruler who tried to bring about a new way of life in Russia, by allowing certain freedoms and educating the public.

Peter the Great was born to Tsar Alexis and grew up differently than many people of his time. “Peter proved a healthy child, lively and inquisitive. It is probably significant to his development that his mother’s former guardian, Artamon Sergeyevich Matveyev, had raised her in an atmosphere open to progressive influences from the West” (Britannica Academica). The fact that he grew up with a significant figure in his life who favored the west,shaped his views in a major way. Later in his reign, he focused on western civilizations and how they thrived. Peter tried to implicate the same influences in Russia to further try and modernize and advance the culture, society, and government. Peter was a very lively and energetic child. “When Alexis died in 1676 Peter was only four years old. His elder half-brother, a sickly youth, then succeeded to the throne as Fyodor

First soviets created in 1905 in Moscow and Petersburg, helped bring down the tsarist regime in February 1917 (Suny 173) However, immediately after the takedown of this regime, people turned against Marxism, and destroyed the class structure that was created as part of the revolution’s political

Peter the Great is known as the "emperor Peter", who was the Tsar and first Emperor of Russia. Peter the Great is historically important because he is a great emperor in the Russian history. He led a cultural revolution that replaced some of the traditionalist, medieval social and political systems with ones that were modern, scientific, westernized. Peter's reforms made a lasting impact on Russia and many institutions of Russian government trace their origins to his reign. Peter the Great helped the society through the politics, and helped the economics advanced. Most importantly, he influenced on many other people.

On 24-26 October, the Bolshevik Party seized power from Kerensky’s Provisional Government. This was achieved with surprising ease. Retaining their newly acquired power, however, was to prove difficult. Nonetheless, the Bolsheviks proved successful in consolidating their power from 1917-1924, achieving this through a combination of pragmatic reforms and ruthless terror. This ultimately led the Bolsheviks far from their original goals and ideologies, and by 1924, the Soviet Union was a highly centralised one-party state.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that I do not oppose to this assumption, I suggest that my analysis on the changing nature of the Russian monarchs starts with a discussion of the rule of Ivan III, whose image embodies some degree of ambivalence, before analyzing the two most illustrious examples of “reforming” monarchs in the Russian history, namely Peter the Great and Ekaterina the Great and elaborate on the reasons what impeded their successors from continuing the policy orientation of their predecessors, and became even more inert. Therefore, the subsequent section of the paper will first explore a couple of examples among the predecessors of Peter the Great, who in my view, albeit not being explicitly labeled as “reforming tsars”, undoubtedly have demonstrated some of the vital for a progressive ruler characteristics, then it will examine the two most notable examples of visionary sovereigns in the Russian history, before concluding and briefly elaborating on the present state of

Peter the Great ruled over Russia from 1682 to 1725. Known as a key force in the reformation of the Russian economy, and the country as a whole, Peter wished to bring his country into a new era. Up until his reign, Russia had been trapped in a medieval like state, cut off from its European neighbors; the Renaissance that revolutionized the rest of Europe had very little to no effect on the Russian government or its citizens. Peter realized that Russia could never be the world power that he wished it to be until they were on the same level as the rest of Europe. Seeing the dilemma, Peter left Russia for a period of time to travel Europe, work among the people of different nations, and study the cultures and governments of Russia’s neighbors.

She was the shining light in nearly four decades of disappointing rulers. Her Rise to power after overthrowing Peter III, she initially reversed all his decrees that he administered in his short reign. Catherine reestablished the autocratic rule in Russia. She believed that there should be one ruler, even denying the Senates offer of helping her in her rule. Catherine followed many of the practices that Peter the Great had done during his time as emperor. For instance, Catherine became the first leader since Peter to tour the Russian Empire, which became known as the Imperial Tour. Her reason for the tour was to issue a uniform rule in Russia. One thing Catherine attempted to administer was her Bolshoi Nakaz otherwise known as “The Great Instruction.” The Great Instruction was a compilation of various text that Catherine brought together to set up how law and Russia should be. “She went beyond Peter the Great by maintaining that government should be constrained by certain fundamental principles” (Moss, 270). Unfortunately, this was never administered. Catherine created the Charter of the Nobility which gave nobility a clear separate title along with complete control over serfs and other perks as

Catherine the Great, also known as Catherine II, ruled Russia from 1762 to 1796. She ruled for 34 years which was the longest a female ever ruled Russia. Although Catherine the Great is known for putting personal affairs ahead of Russian affairs, she did accomplish a lot during her reign. She brought Western thought processes to Russia which would affect Russia for centuries. She also brought great works of print, art, and literature from the west into Russia. Born in Germany in 1729, she was an eager student of the Enlightenment. She studied and memorized Enlightenment thoughts, concepts, and ideas. Along with Enlightenment thought, Catherine focused on foreign affairs, arts, education, and the expansion of Russian territory. She ruled through reforms, scandal, and corruption. She seemed to want the best for her Russian people. However, while she talked about change, she did not always act on her words. She accomplished a lot but could have accomplished more. Catherine could have made the biggest impact, in Russia, if she abolished serfdom and provided a better quality of life for peasants and the serfs. They were the majority of her population. She was torn between Enlightenment thinking and a love for power. I believe an Enlighted ruler would have wanted the best for all classes of people. If Catherine was truly a great leader, she would have

Upon the creation of the USSR, Lenin introduced new rule that would ensure greater totalitarian control. Only communists would be able to stand for the soviets, and so this meant that the communist party had the true control over the

By doing this, she helped introduce paper money (known as Assignation Roubles) to Russia (HistoryofRussia.org staff, 2015). This was a big deal in Russia because before that people had to carry coins, which for some the coins became heavy over time. Even after all of this Catherine didn't stop there. She later was able to get supreme power as czarina in Russia after becoming empress. In control she tried to support education, stop serfdom and add more rights to her people.

In 1924 capitalism was no longer prevalent in the Soviet Union. The change was due to a sweeping absorption from the Communist Party of everything that could be possibly controlled to secure power domestically, and changing the minds of a nation to all see capitalist behavior as wrong. Once eradicated, scare tactics went from highlighting the negativity of domestic capitalism, to how the nasty capitalists of the outside world were going to get them - despite there being no reality in those actions to back up the accusations. So with unlimited domestic authority and a cultivation of false foreign hostility, with the help of the secret police and an economic monopoly, a new power structure shaped the Soviet Union.

By corresponding with Enlightenment Philosopher’s, she was able to implement several of the ideas of the Enlightenment into reforms for Russia and its people. Catherine became the sovereign ruler of Russia on the 9th July 1762, where she began a 34-year reign. Catherine implemented reforms that were of political, social, educational, economical and cultural nature and followed the principles of the Enlightenment. Her improvements allowed religious practices as well as abolishing torture and capital punishment. Catherine was also instrumental in the amassing of land for Russia, where she expanded Russia’s boarders to the black sea and into central Europe. Catherine also had great military success as she conquered the Ottoman Empire on two separate occasions. Through education improvements, Catherine allowed Russian’s to learn and become more knowledgeable, also giving them the opportunity to have jobs that required a higher level of education. Her introduction of social and cultural reforms allowed the people of Russia to become westernised, experiencing art and literature associated with the Enlightenment. Without her correspondence with the Philosophers, Voltaire, Diderot and d’Almebert, Catherine would not have had such a comprehensive knowledge of the Enlightenment as she did. This meant she would have not been likely have had the ability to shape Russian society into

Catherine the Great reforms brought Russia into the Modern Age. Her reforms brought great change in education, the work force, and in art. She was driven by her love for money and power and also providing she was truly great.