Was it the acts of Truman and Churchill rather than that of Stalin that brought the cold war to a start?…
After the end of the Second World War, the world was left with two superpowers with competing ideologies: The United States of America and the Soviet Union. The Americans had come out of the war with a surging economy and served as the flagship for the capitalist nations of the West. The Soviets on the other hand practiced Communism, an ideology that was seen as a great threat to the Western way of life. 1 Though they had been allied at the end of the war, both nations quickly moved to bolster their military and economic infrastructure to prepare for the era of pseudo-colonialism and competition between the two powers they both knew would follow. By 1949, the Soviets would become the world’s second nuclear power, launching most of the world into a full out cold war between the communist East and the capitalist West. Competition between these ideologies meant that each side would fight to protect their influence in foreign nations, to spread their ideologies to new nations, and to protect against the spread of their enemy’s ideology to new nations; a policy the West…
- Soviet Position: Russia was intent on imposing communist. Stalin brought down an “Iron Curtain” (Churchill’s phrase) across Europe from the Baltic to the Adriatic and created a series of satellite governments.…
In 1924, the Soviet Union faced a power struggle when it’s leader and creator Vladimir Lenin died. His successor however, came into power and immediately began to make changes. This man knew exactly what he wanted to keep and more importantly what he wanted to change. His birth name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, but who could possibly rule and leave a legacy with that name? He then adopted the name Joseph Stalin, (which means man of steel.) and began to rule the Soviet Union. At this time, the Soviet Union was well behind all the other countries; Stalin made many changes to the soviet society, employing many methods to achieve his aims.…
Stalinism, the term used to embody the form of government experienced by the Soviet Union under Stalin’s rule, had a significant and lasting impact on the USSR. Stalinism impacted on several aspects of life. Collectivisation was introduced which assisted in the funding of industrialisation, terror was used to create a communist state. Stalin centralised every aspect of life, from the single leadership of Stalin himself to party control of the state and its functions. Free will disappeared and service to the state was expected. Consequently a Stalinist state which had a major impact on the USSR was created.…
“Compare sources A and E as evidence for Churchill’s attitude to Communist Russia in the 1920s”.…
The Soviet Union in the twentieth century was a tumultuous time for Russians who wished to speak their minds and for those who wished to stretch communism to the corners of the globe. With a government consumed by annihilating its opponents and censorship, Soviet writers such as Nikolai Bukharin and Grigori Deborin were compelled to depict the glory of communism or face the harshest of consequences. In “Down With Factionalism!,” Bukharin justifies his slander of Leon Trotsky in the battle to succeed Vladimir Lenin for the leadership of Russia. In Deborin’s “The Second World War,” he explains how the Soviet Union’s allies, England and the United States, let them down and how the USSR, alone, should be credited with saving Europe from Nazi Germany. Bukharin and Deborin rationalize soviet tactics through denouncing a political opponent and condemning capitalistic allies.…
In its pure form, communism is a belief that private property should be replaced by community ownership. In the Soviet Union this idea was not easily accepted by the people. Russian leaders Vladmir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were ruthless in their elimination of those who had different ideas about Russia’s future. It is estimated that in the 1930s, Stalin was responsible for killing more than 10,000,000 Soviet people who he believe were in his way.…
For well over half a century the Soviet Union was one of the most powerful empires in history (1985-1991). At its peak it included 15 national republics so wide they covered 13 time zones. However the communist party determined the USSR’s political, economic and military destiny for several decades. The reform of the system aimed to enhance the whole economic structure, strengthen it and make the Soviet Union profitable and popular. Nevertheless the party opposition led to its demise in the nineties. The Soviet Union was created in October 1917 by a small but devout band of revolutionaries…
As the war drew to a defeat of Germany, the question of who would be the main world power was arising. There were two superpowers – The United States and The USSR as both of those countries had the largest powerful army. Both countries were fighting together against Nazi Germany, however there were clear ideological differences between them. On one side there was the Capitalist US and on the other the Communist Soviet Union. But was ideology the only reason that led to the growing hostility of US policy towards Soviet Union? No, Stalin had particular ideas in mind which had nothing to do with the ideologies. However, differences in the way of life also played the deciding role.…
Historians disagree on whether the Soviet Union knew what it what it wanted all along or whether outside factors influenced the progression from the anti-fascist democratic revolutions to the creation of monolithic, socialist states. However, it is uncontestable that Stalin was the force directing the transformation of the Eastern…
One may argue that Stalin's aims were clear. He had launched the so-called revolution from above' in November 1927, which had laid down two distinct aims for soviet domestic policy. These were rapid industrialisation of Russia and the collectivisation of agriculture. Stalin, it may be argued, had wished to erase the traces of capitalism resulting from the New Economic Policy and instead wished to transform Russia as quickly as possible. He had wished for the modernisation and expansion of Russian…
The Soviet Union was a capitalist state that was damaged due to the lack of resources and necessities after World War I. Economically they were incapable to grow due to the poor leadership, mostly towards the middle class, with socialist ideals. The Bolsheviks were capable to sight the flaw and wanted to gain the power of the Soviet Union under the power of Lenin. Unfortunately the Bolsheviks were a socialist group during this upheaval leading to the failed attempt. Few social mobility was allowed after World War I, canceling the effects. The Soviet Union decided to populate the communism into the parties through socialism first, for it was much easier than capitalism to communism. Communism did not succeed due to not disrupting the power but they did allow the upper classed elite to have more power. This all shows how the USSRs communism differed from that of the ideals of Marx in the communist manifesto. The selfish upper class ruined the plan of distributing equality and resources, leading to the downfall of the supreme Soviet…
2. Instead, Stalin set of Communist governments in the nations. He wanted a ring of friendly countries to protect the Soviet Union’s southern border. With this, Stalin hoped that the Soviet Union would become the world’s dominant power.…
Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhuhashvili or the world knows him, Joseph Stalin, was born on December 18th of the year 1879. He is an important figure in history and made some changes, though I must admit not for the best. He can be classified as one of the most powerful leaders and dictators of the Soviet Union. He was the leader of the Soviet Union for twenty five years and in this period of time made so many changes and killed millions of innocent people that stood in his path. Joseph Stalin also made use of different weapons that would eventually lead to the fall of Nazism.…