Historical Figures Essay Examples

Stalin claimed to be an allegiant follower of Lenin’s Marxist legacy. But practically, his heavy revision of Lenin’s policies made this claim doubtful. This essay will discuss both sides, on what Stalin had enshrined or extended, and what he had discarded from Lenin’s legacy.Politically, the core of Lenin’s party ethos, namely Socialism was preserved. Stalin […]

When answering this question there are 3 main factors to consider: Stalin’s strengths, Trotsky’s weaknesses, and wildcard factors (luck or chance). Trotsky inadvertently plotted his own downfall, he was simply unequipped for politics and the power struggle, and his place was on the battlefield in a military uniform. Trotsky was an amazing orator but had […]

The race for power in Russia began following the recovery of the Russian economy when Lenin after suffering several strokes and paralysis eventually died in the January of 1924 leaving the Russian people in mourning.For many people at the time Trotsky seemed like the obvious replacement for the almighty Lenin, and it was perhaps because […]

Vladmir Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks who seized power in November 1917. He died in January 1924 after a series of strokes that left him completely paralysed, and eventually killed him. When he died, he left no clues as to whom he wanted to succeed him as ruler of the USSR, even though […]

1. What role did the United States and Great Britain play in the Russian Revolution? How did this participation affect the relationship between the Bolsheviks and the West?- The United States and Great Britain sent their own troops to fight the Russian Revolution against the Bolsheviks and communism. This participation effects the relationship between the […]

George Orwell’s book Animal Farm (published in1943) is a children’s story, but when closely examined, it proves to be an allegory to the Russian Revolution. The events in the book are very closely related to the actual events from The Russian Revolution. Also, the animals (main-characters) are historically referring to the Communist leaders such as […]

George Orwell wrote Animal Farm in 1945. Animal Farm was meant to portray the Russian Revolution that was going on at the time. If Orwell were to openly oppose the ways of the communist party he would have undoubtedly been prosecuted. Instead Orwell wrote Animal Farm to express his hatred for communism in a discreet […]

Stalin’s support of the Spanish Republic during their Civil War, through the supply of weapons and ‘volunteers’, appeared to be an effort to assist international communism in defeating Franco. Many contemporary historians argue that the perspective that the USSR provided aid to support the Spanish Republic solely out of ideological solidarity is too simplistic. Instead, […]

This Is a question that people all across the world have attempted to answer, but the answer Is always out of reach. Researchers have studied the philosophies of old philosophers like John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Plato, and Thomas Hobbes, in order to answer this question but never quite get a definitive answer. They have […]

Stalin totally hanged the country. When he gained power the economy was still based on agriculture and the majority of people lived in the countryside; when he died, the country was a global superpower, with a huge heavy industry sector and the majority of the people lived in cites. He achieved these through two policies; […]

I think that Stalin’s political powerbases were one of the main reasons he emerged as leader of Soviet Russia by the end of 1929. Obviously there were other factors that aided him, such as the alliances he formed, and even his personality. Obviously I don’t think that it was all down to one factor alone […]

This article presents some preliminary empirical findings about the impact of the great terror in Leningrad (city and oblast’). The sheer scale of the purges makes a quantitative analysis of their impact viable, even within a very limited time span and within a defined geographical region. Leningrad itself offers an interesting case study because of […]

To answer this question with total understanding as to Orwell’s vision, we must first be aware of his personal feelings towards the revolution that took place in Russia, and translate it to, in ‘Animal Farm’, the rebellion of a group of farm animals. And in ‘1984’ Watson’s need of rebellion. Orwell’s vision of society in […]

The government in USA was deeply unhappy with the Communism’s expansion to eastern Europe, which seemed to go further and further, threatening the power of capitalism. Traditionally America’s policy was based on isolationism, but the threat of Communism expansion made the Americans realise that this was no longer possible if it wanted to have a […]

In the 1920’s the soviet economy was failing disastrously the revolution and the civil war had devastated the soviet economy and the economic output was less than that under the Tsar. There were Famines followed by high prices and hyperinflation and major crises like the scissors crisis. Stalin instigated a series of vast five year […]

Many millions of simple peasants were unnecessarily caused untold misery by Stalin’s collectivization policy, which is widely believed to have ruined Russian agriculture. The focus of this essay is to assess whether Stalin’s collectivisation programme during the 1930s was a successful “revolution from above” as he claimed, or an excessively ruthless and ineffective policy. “Revolution […]

Joseph Stalin was born in Georgia in 1879. Stalin was educated in a religious college but was expelled for revolutionary activities. He then became a member of the Bolshevik Party, he used to organise bank robberies and was jailed a few times. After the November revolution Stalin was given more power and was promoted by […]

Through the 1920s peasants provided the Soviet government with many problems. The argument about the future of NEP was largely to do with how the government should treat the peasants. It was an argument that had already split the politburo in two.Early in 1928 Stalin announced that the USSR was 2 million tonnes short of […]

1. Explain why according to Source D “four to five million people perished”?Richard Service states in Source D that four to five million people perished “from ‘dekulakisation’ and grain seizures.” Dekulakisation refers to the annihilation of the entire class of kulaks, which were ‘rich peasants’. Kulaks were peasants who were somewhat better off than other […]

Stalin’s economic policies can be seen as a significant success, because they achieved their overall goals of modernising and improving Russia as quickly as possible, in order to catch up and compete with the other European powers and America. The first of the Economic policies are the Five Year Plans. Stalin’s main ideas were to […]

Stalin was in control of Russia for nearly 30 years, from 1924, after the death of the Bolshevik leader, Lenin, to 1953, when Stalin, himself, died. He was incredibly brutal, and sent many innocent people to their deaths, or to “gulags” (Russian concentration camps). He had his critics tortured, or removed and was the cause […]

These purges were his method of removing those who had previously opposed him and also those he believed may oppose him in the future. These alleged criminals against the state were either imprisoned, exiled or shot and ranged from high party officials and members of the military through to ordinary citizens. The purges began in […]