Historical Figures Essay Examples

Question 1 Source A portrays Stalin negatively, as it was made by one of his adversaries. The image is a satirical travel poster showing stacks of human skulls, with Stalin inviting people to “Visit the USSR’s pyramids.” The caption has dark humor and irony, as the mentioned “pyramids” are actually made up of human skulls. […]

Operation Barbarossa had many major and some more minor factors which led to the early success and eventually the ultimate failure of the invasion. The Germans initial quick invasion using their Blitzkrieg tactics and the element of surprise against the Russians allowed them to get very close to Moscow. However the most important reason for […]

From 1917 to 1940, Leon Trotsky, a highly influential Marxist figure, experienced a series of significant events in Russia and the Soviet Union. These events included arrests, exile sentences, and aligning with the Mensheviks. However, after Tsar Nicholas II was overthrown during the Russian Revolution, Trotsky returned to Russia in May 1917 and joined Vladimir […]

Humans always have had a tendency to allow the poor and miserable to suffer, even while the wealthy continue to fatten and flourish in needed yet often unshared resources. The social order has shaped a distinctive hierarchy composed of the High, the Middle, and the Low in an exceedingly flawed and callous structure. This system […]

What if the animals ran the world? George Orwell tried to answer this question on a smaller scale in his 1945 novel, Animal Farm. Animal Farm is a satire on Stalinism and the Russian revolution. Orwell wrote this novel at a time when communism was on the rise and Joseph Stalin ruled with an iron […]

In the time before Lenin’s death and in the years after, Stalin seemed to have a disadvantage compared to his rivals. People doubted his role in the Revolution and questioned his skills as a Party leader. However, several factors played a part in Stalin ultimately becoming successful, although their significance differed. Despite the odds appearing […]

Stalin was in many ways a superb tactician; cool, rational, intelligent and utterly ruthless. However, his grasp of international relations was never the strongest of his talents. On occasions his miscalculations had disastrous implications, both for the immediate and long-term security of the Soviet Union. To begin with the problem was one of ideological rigidity. […]

The cold war dominated international relations throughout the world for over 35 years. It showed political and military tension between the Western and Eastern powers. Some people suggest there was a thaw (improved relations) in the cold war between 1953 and 1960 while others suggest there wasn’t. One the one hand it could be said […]

The Berlin Blockade and Airlift began on the 23rd of June 1948 and ended on the 12th of May 1949. It was the first major conflict to occur during the Cold War between USA and the USSR. During this conflict Western Berlin who was under the control of the Western Allies was blocked off from […]

Leszek Kolakowski, a famous philosopher referred to collectivisiation as ‘probably the most massive warlike operation ever conducted by a state against its own citizens. ‘ Collectivisation aimed to achieve socialism in the countryside by converting privately owned farms into collectivised farms which were to be run amongst the peasants, requiring them to hand over produce […]

We are first introduced to Snowball after the pigs take charge of spreading Old Major’s message on the farm. We learn, “Snowball was a more vivacious pig than Napoleon, quicker in speech and more inventive, but was not considered to have the same depth of character” (2.2). It is hard to know exactly what the […]

1. Can you identify the genre or nature of this text? Stated differently, what form does this written material take? It is established that this document follows the model of a speech, specifically given by Winston Churchill in 1946. 2. Detail the lineage of this discourse. From where did this text originate, when was the […]

After the war, Europe was left devastated and divided, leading some historians to believe it spelled the end for the continent. The extensive efforts of war had caused widespread destruction to both people and cities. In an effort to promote democracy and secure a prosperous economic market for Western businesses, America decided to provide assistance […]

By 1945, the foundations for the Cold War were firmly in place. The two superpowers of the USA and the USSR had emerged as the representatives of two strongly opposed ideologies; communism and capitalism. This means of conflict had existed since 1917 and continued to stand at the forefront of disputes between the USA and […]

Industrialisation in the USSR was dependent on agriculture due to various factors. The country needed significant financial resources to carry out the process of industrialisation, but lacked the necessary funds. The collapse of the middle classes meant that borrowing money from them was not an option. Additionally, borrowing money from abroad would have been controversial […]

Throughout the 20th century, humanity has witnessed monumental historical events. From the great depression, to the devastation of two world wars, to the Holocaust, all the way to the creation of a superwoman. However, The Cold War was a different and unique concept on its own. So unique, that humanity has entered a new chapter […]

This statement is true to a large extent. Arguably Communist rulers were more effective autocrats in comparison to those under the Tsarist regime. When examining the meaning of an autocratic state, we notice that the Communist had one absolute ruler, they were intolerant of opposition, had a rigid hierarchy and applied top down reform. Furthermore […]

Ka. Sons Stalin’s Communist Russia? Hitler’s Nazi Germany-Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin are widely regarded as the greatest tyrants of the twentieth century, accountable for more violent deaths than any other leaders in history. Both have been individually and collectively labeled mass murders, tyrants, “authors of terror”, and even “twin demons of the twentieth century”. […]

Animal Farm Animal Farm has many of the necessary elements of a satirical work. These elements all combine to form a masterful piece of satirical literature. Fantastic One element often found in satire is the fantastic or unrealistic. This component is present throughout Animal Farm. The animals in the story are able to talk, which […]

J. Arch Getty says that “The Great Terror of the 1930s in the Soviet Union was one of the most horrible cases of political violence in modern history” but was this political terror a result of Stalin’s own paranoia or a necessity to maintain control in Soviet Russia? Robert Service argues that “Nowadays, virtually all […]

Development of the Cold War, in the five years between 1945 and 1950, could be argued as taking place for a number of reasons and due to various individuals. It could be easy to simply site Stalin as the main reason responsible for it’s outbreak and growth, clear through his approach on communist expansion, use […]

Introduction Totalitarianism refers to a form of government that asserts complete dominance over all societal resources and employs propaganda, technology, and terror to infiltrate and govern its population. This essay intends to analyze the historical context, usage patterns, and efficacy of totalitarianism as a governmental system. Totalitarianism is defined by the establishment of political power […]