Jin-Ho Lee
IB History – Mr. Wade
28/01/14
How successful was Lenin (1917-1924) in solving the problems he faced?
With the October revolution in 1917, Lenin managed to execute a successful coup d’état against the provisional government of Russia and with the death of the constituent assembly early 1918; Lenin and his Bolsheviks had finally control over Russia. However this was just the beginning of various problems he would be facing. This raised the debate on whether Lenin could deal with these problems or not. Many of the quarrels originated from the Tsar’s regime and the provisional government such as Russia’s participation in WW1 as well as economic underdevelopment. Immediate problems such as the raging civil war existed as
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Lenin, knowing Russia’s economic status quo and having to get ready for an upcoming civil war, had to stop the war against Germany no matter the cost. Thus having persuaded Trotsky and Kamanev, supporters of the war, in 1918, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was accepted. However this came with high sacrificial value. Due to the treaty, Russia lost Riga, Lithuania, Estonia and parts of White Russia. This was a heavy blow to the already weakened economy as these areas were of major importance since they were some of the most fertile farming lands in Russia, while additionally losing 75% of their iron ore and coal deposit. Thus one could see the Brest-Litovsk treaty as an unsuccessful move by Lenin as the loss of economical important lands was a major downfall. However it has to be taken into account that the people of Russia wanted an end to the war and despite the loss, it did help Lenin in winning the civil war in Russia. Thus, Lenin was successful to a large extent in stopping the war but yet again, this was not the only war he would be fighting.
As mentioned previously, Lenin won the civil war in 1918. This was crucial for the Bolsheviks to secure their power over Russia. However this did come with a price as well. Lenin essentially came to power through a coup d’état so it was only natural for there to be political opposition, ranging from monarchists to even foreign nations, collectively named the whites. However a
From the initial seizure of power in 1917 until 1924, the Bolsheviks were confronted with a series of crises that threatened their ability to control and govern in Russia. The response and resolutions to these crises included Initial Reforms, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Civil War, Red terror, War Communism and the NEP. Under the leadership of Lenin, the execution of these responses were made possible and the Bolsheviks were able to maintain and expand their power. The Civil War however was the direct consequence of the Bolshevik’s actions as they tried to maintain their grasp on power. The victory in the Civil War was extremely pivotal for the Bolshevik consolidation of power as it brought control and power but more importantly it eliminated
- In 1905, workers started to rebel all across Russia, and starting 1917, Russia gets involved in World War I, which Lenin found it as a good chance to implement his Communist revolution. - The Russian army in Petrograd breaks up due to the Bolsheviks and so
The Bolshevik October Revolution brought Vladimir Lenin to power. Lenin’s vow to end the war and open negotiations with the Germans provoked the Allies and led to the detachment of a military excursion to oppose the newly established government and aid rebels who had begun a civil war to oust the Bolsheviks.
For example, Lenin had to kill the Romanov family line in order to sustain the socialist regime. It also has been proven that Lenin may not have sent the order to kill the Tsar and his family, although he did support it. Lenin saw that other leaders in Europe that still believed in the Tsar’s leadership could have supported Nicholas II and helped him overthrow the Bolsheviks, which would have ruined their reforms. In order to sustain a government that provided for the people and for potential violence to not ignite, the Romanovs had to be eliminated . Lenin also had to sustain the socialist order by eliminating peasant uprisings caused by war communism such as the Tambov Revolution (History). He later addressed these problems through the New Economic Policy. The economy then recovered. Prices of crops went down and agricultural production increased which allowed Russia to recover from years of famine. In the following years, Russia’s economy steadily grew and the food and land were distributed among peasants, upholding Russia’s motto of “Peace, Land, and Bread” ("The New Economic Policy"). After the Civil War ended in 1921, Lenin removed the wealthy peasants and nobles from their land. He then combined thousands of huge farms that were previously owned by nobles to collective farms that would be owned by the government. Although the peasants were forced to work on these farms, they received the food that was collected from them then distributed according to family size. Although what they had was not much, Lenin provided the people of Russia a secure land they could live on and enough food (Kyn). Clearly, the benefits that Lenin introduced to Russia heavily outweigh their
In 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution, there were two revolutions that took place to ensure good change in Russia. The first of the revolutions was the March revolution, the purpose of it was to overtake the imperial government and the second named the November revolution; which placed the Bolsheviks in power. The Russian Revolution took place during a difficult time in Russia. These distresses began before World War I and lasted up until the 1930's. Russia's population was built up of mostly poor, starving, unfortunate peasants at this point; caused by the prevalent and growing civil unrest, as well as dramatic food shortages which led to a huge rebellion against the present government. “World War I provided the catalyst for revolution in Russia .” Although at first it raised national pride
In 1917, in the midst of the Great War, Russia faced one of the biggest political shifts that the Tsarist-ruled country had ever known-the Bolshevik Revolution. There are two significant time frames associated with the Bolshevik Revolution. In the February revolution Tsar Nicholas II abdicated his throne and a Provisional Government took control. In the October revolution the Bolsheviks took power by overthrowing the Provisional Government. How did the October revolution become a reality? What factors facilitated the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917? Two important factors were the July event at Taurida Palace, and the Kornilov Affair. Richard Pipes describes in detail how Lenin influenced the Bolshevik party throughout the
The 20th century would see the rise and fall of many civilizations, empires, and nations. Arguably none of these republics were greater than the Soviet Union. Nor, any revolutionary as influential as the Soviet Union’s founder, Vladimir Lenin. This communist nation stretched over two continents and into the middle east and had risen from the ashes of another empire. If it had not have been for a revolutionary born on April 22, 1870 the world today would be a completely unrecognizable place. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was born into a middle class family, yet he recognized the struggle of proletarians, or the working class, under the oppressive rule of the Russian Monarchy and capitalism. While in college, he began protesting and attending demonstrations
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
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
In the light of the Russian struggle there was a Revolution called the February Revolution which came before the October revolution and dethroned Czar Nicholas II. (“1917 Russian Revolution Facts and Summary”)The end result of this revolution was the birth of the Provisional Government which was made up of high class Russians. The October Revolution is also known by two other names: Russian Revolution and Bolshevik Revolution which occurred in November of 1917. This date might catch some off guard, but according to (“Russian Revolution”) the Russians used a Julian Calendar which means in Russia it was “October”. The Revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin, who was the leader of the Bolshevik party at the time. The reason for both of the Revolutions is that the people felt that they should not be involved in World War I while Russia was struggling to survive. The Bolshevik party was made
During the 1900’s the Russian Government made it extremely hard for the Bolsheviks to progress which made them revolt against the government making this a prime matter for the start of the Revolution. The Czarist government was ostracized by the common people of Russia so Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown by the Provisional Government, whom later on were overthrown by Lenin and shortly after the Bolsheviks took control over Russia. Russia was hard to develop because of the major leaders who had control; Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky. Almost overnight an entire society was destroyed and replaced with one of the most radical social experiments ever seen. Poverty, crime, privileged and class-divisions were to be eliminated, a new era of socialism
the Soviet state. Russia fought in WWI, but had to drop out because of their
The Success of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in October 1917 The Bolshevik seizure of power or coup de’tat of October 25th, 1917 was a culmination of both internal and external failure to satisfy the needs of an oppressed Russian society. In contrast to the spontaneous revolts earlier in 1917, the Bolshevik revolution was ‘a carefully planned plot carried out by ‘professional’ revolutionaries. ’[1] The victory of the Marxist Lenin’s
In 1917 Russia was the most populous country and also the largest in the entire world yet, Russia's government was facing many problems that needed to be resolved such as a shortage of food and fuel.At this time, Russia was also only starting the process of industrialization when it had entered into World War One, both of these and demand some kind of change from it. The Tsarist government started to collapse and the entire country was ready for some kind of change. The Russian government could not fix any of these problems and this made the people want change.Two causes of the Bolshevik revolution were, food and fuel shortages coupled with World War One going very poorly for Russia
Vladimir Lenin, who became the leader of the Bolshevik in the time of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) in 1903, claimed to be a "traditional" Marxist. People such as historians debated Lenin was not an orthodox Marxist but a type of revisionist. However, he did not make any major alterations to Marx 's ideas but instead decided to add his own to fit to benefit him and his country with modern times and he was the key defender of Marx when his theories were attacked by revisionists such as Bernstein, Lenin defended Marx 's work due to his respect of his theories. The theories revolving around Lenin changed over time due to the increase in resources available. The original accounts attack Lenin, accusing him of