First Essay

Vladimir I. Lenin was a driving force behind the Russian Revolution of 1917 and became the first great dictator of the Soviet Union. After his brother was executed in 1887 (for plotting to kill the Czar), Lenin gave up studying law and became a full time revolutionary. He studied Karl Marx and formed workers' groups, but was arrested and exiled to Siberia in 1895. In 1900 he went to Europe, and in 1903 he led the Bolsheviks in the split of the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' party. When revolution broke out in Russia in 1917, he led the Bolsheviks to control the government. Lenin had complete political control over the Union of Soviet

The Civil war was vital to the consolidation of power however it was only possible through the execution of War communism. War communism was an economic policy the Bolsheviks had created to meet the demands of war from 1918-1921. It forced manpower to either be directed to the Red Army or to the industry. It also confiscated all grain and food and allocated it to where it would be most productivity towards the war effort. The implementation of War Communism enabled the Red Army to be supplied with both food and weaponry and industrial workers to be fed. This was effective in allowing the Bolsheviks to maintain and effectively fight the civil war without the lack raw materials. David Christian believes that War Communism was essential as it ‘supplied towns and armies with enough food and supplies to keep providing war material to keep fighting’. Although War communism was effective towards the war effort it also significantly damaged the economy. The economy of Russia was shattered, there was a food shortage, fuel shortage and money had absolutely no value. The rouble was only worth 1% of its value in 1918, 10million died of starvation and agricultural output was 60% of pre war levels. War Communism enabled the logistics of war to be met which enabled the victory however

Over the period from 1855 to 1964, Russia saw various reforms and policies under the Tsars and the Communist leaders that had great impacts on its economy and society both positive and negative. Lenin definitely implanted polices that changed society and the economy for example with war communism. However whether his policies had the greatest impact is debatable and in this essay I will be assessing the view whether Lenin had the greatest impact on Russia’s economy and society than any other ruler between the period from 1855-1964.

In 1917, Russia was crumbling into pieces. The World War I was draining all of Russia’s resources. There was shortage of food throughout the country, which left people starving. At the battlefront, millions of Russian soldiers were dying, they did not possess many of the powerful weapons that their opponents had. The government under Czar Nicholas II was disintegrating, and a provisional government had been set up. In November of 1917, Lenin and his communist followers known as the Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government and set a communist government in Russia. However, in 1924, Lenin died and Josef Stalin assumed leadership of the Soviet Union, which was the name for the communist Russia. Stalin was a ruthless leader who brought

The introduction of War Communism during the Russian Civil War, is evidence of Russian moving towards a Totalitarian State. Many aspects of War communism were totalitarian in nature. For instance the creation of a Supreme Economic Council, formed to take complete control over the Russian highlights the central control over the most vital aspect of the state, that the Bolsheviks enforced. Other measures include the requisitioning of excess grain from the Peasants. Many of these policies were met with opposition, particularly among the agricultural peasants. This opposition was in turn met with brutal force, which was another example of the nature of complete state authority. War communism continued on until the end of the Civil war, by which time the Bolshevik forces had succeeded in crushing all opposition. The success of the red forces meant that Russia was a step closer in becoming a Totalitarian state, as they were now the most powerful party in Russia, with complete control over all its territory.

The effects that Lenin’s arrival first had on the Bolsheviks party began with the weakening of the provisional government, primarily ending Russia’s fight in the war. Lenin had been gathering supporters since the 1890s with those apart of the forces in the war, alongside other supporters, travelling worldwide and spreading his word of Marxist ideals and a Russia that was no longer wrapped up in World War One. It wasn’t long before he garnered enough manpower to seize control and caused a great deal of uproar when he had turned the Russian Army against the Russian provisional government to completely wash Prime Minister Kerensky out. After seizing railroad stations, telegraph lines, and government offices, and subsequently sending out the people-elected provisional government, Lenin was able to intimidate the elected government out of office and have control.

Trotsky in 1918 became the war commissar and he created the red army, and was a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War 1918–20. He was a great public speaker and war tactician. However many Bolsheviks were afraid that he would become a military dictator such as Nicholas 2nd was. Also he had a reputation for being arrogant which made him unpopular within the party, also after Lenin died the triumvirate group established this group was made up of Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin their aim was not to get Stalin into power but to keep Trotsky out of reach of power.

Russia had lost the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 which caused major dissatisfaction in his rule, afterwards the Russians proceeded to go into World War I where Russia faced millions of casualties. With multiple major military failures and the tyrannical autocratic rule, the people of Russia seeked another type of rule because the Tzar was proven to be incompetent in both political and military leadership. Another reason for the communist takeover in Russia was the February Revolution in 1917 which many consider the rise of communism in Russia. After this revolution, the Tzar had abdicated and a temporary government led by Kerensky was created, this provided Lenin with an opportunity to overthrow the government of Russia. Many months after this event came October Revolution where Lenin has officially overtaken the government of Russia. Reasons for Lenin’s successful takeover was the creation of the Bolsheviks and his political

1.Lenin and Stalin were in control of the Bolsheviks party. The beginning of the Bolsheviks’ Revolution Lenin’s words were yelled throughout the streets, “ All power to the soviets, Peace, Land, and Bread.” With the support of many city soviets, Lenin began to take power. The first thing Lenin does while in charge was distributing all farmland amongst the peasants. He let factories be controlled by the workers. The Bolsheviks party was all about helping the lower class. When people want to kill the czar, Lenin sees his opportunity to seize all power. The Russian Civil War ensues and the Bolsheviks take over. Lenine enforces the New Economic Policy which allows peasants to sell their surplus crop instead of handing it over to the government. When the Bolsheviks party was renamed the Communist Party, Lenin declared established a dictatorship. Lenin led the Communist party very successful, but as he got older he retired his position to Joseph Stalin. By 1924 Joseph Stalin received total control of the Communist Party. Stalin turned Russia into a police state, and turned against the Communist Party members. He concealed total control Soviet government. Lenin and Stalin transform Communist Party and Russia completely during their rule.

After hearing about the recent coup, throwing out the czar, Lenin came back to Russia from his exiled in Switzerland. Using his charisma and status, he helped kick start another revolution which knocked out the makeshift democracy. This made a place for the Bolsheviks (communists) to place themselves in a position of power in the government. (Rashid, Aatif). Lenin came to be an influential person in the Bolshevik party and used Karl Marx’s ideas to make Communism in Russia blossom. Two major things he did were make private industry and agriculture public and redistributed the land of wealthy proprietors to peasants. This went well for a few years, until the Russian Civil War ended in 1920. While they came out victorious, Russia was left in disaster. The economic productivity was insufficient and the people were starving and unhappy. Because of this, Lenin was desperate for a new change to benefit the people, so he announced the New Economic Policy. The state took control of large industries again, but people were encouraged to have private and individual businesses. Soon after this was out in place, another major change was about to occur in the Russian government. This occurred after Lenin died in 1924. Joseph Stalin took over his place and became the leader of the Communist Party. He began intimidating and doubting his rivals while also claiming to see spies everywhere. He cleared the party and general population of Russia or these so called “spies.” By executing or exiling rebels to Siberia, he struck fear into those who remained after his purging. Everyone lived in fear of Stalin’s secret police and he ruled over Russia with an iron fist from that point on until his death (Dagger,

This caused chronic food shortages which caused outrage among the Russian people, which ultimately led to the czar being overthrown. After the czar was overthrown the Bolsheviks came into power and were ruled by Lenin. Lenin ran a communist regime which furthered the spread of communism in the Soviet Union. Another factor that led to expanded communism is the expanded power after the civil war which prevented other anti-Bolsheviks regimes from gaining

After World War I, Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks, created Communist governments, by overthrowing the Russian monarchy. To recognize that Russia was completely different under his rule, Lenin renamed

After examining the reasons for the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War, one can certainly say that it is due to the superior leadership, organization, and support that they achieved victory. Lenin and Trotsky provided the

the Soviet state. Russia fought in WWI, but had to drop out because of their

A final point that supports the statement of Lenin consolidating his power due to the weakness of his opponents was due to the fact that Lenin had good leadership qualities. An example of this would be that the Bolsheviks were highly disciplined party that was fiercely loyal to Lenin and was also a politically astute man. Lenin was able to adapt Marxism to fit the changing situation, keeping Bolshevik support and popularising the parties polices. Furthermore, another advantage was that radical parties were very popular in Russia before the October Revolution and Lenin was skilfully able to take some of the