CONTINUITIES AND RUPTURES BETWEEN THE TSARIST, SOVIET, AND POST-

SOVIET PERIODS

Student’s Name

Course Number and Name

Professor’s Name

Assignment Due Date

Continuities and ruptures between the tsarist, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods

Communism and Vladimir Lenin's impact on the Soviet Union resulted in good

developments for the country. Leaders that exhibit these qualities have a strong vision and

courage, as well as a sense of fairness, modesty, and a laser-like focus. To be a successful leader,

you must support others in achieving their goals, and you must not be hesitant to hire people who

may be better than you. From November 8 to January 21, 1924, Vladimir Lenin served as the

head of the Soviet Union. Lenin was born in Ulyanovsk, Russia, on April 22, 1870, and died in

Gorki Leninskiye, Russia, on January 21, 1924. Since 1924, Joseph Stalin served as the head of

the Soviet Union. Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia, on December 18, 1878, and died in Kuntsevo

Dacha on March 5, 1953. Soviet communism had a profound effect on Russia because of Lenin,

Stalin and communism. The positive influences of Lenin, Stalin, and communism only served to

strengthen Russia's unity and position as a world power.

It all began in 1917 when Bolshevik forces supported by the Red Guard seized Petrograd

and began expanding their control over Russia.1 Among their supporters were workers and

tsarist army defectors. Anti-Bolshevik forces led by landlords, affluent peasants, and tsarist

army generals opposed the Bolsheviks' control in various areas, such as the Crimea and the

Volga Region. A counter-revolution loomed even in Bolshevik-controlled Central Russia. The

Russian Civil War began in 1917 when Bolsheviks backed by the Red Guard took Petrograd and

spread their authority across Russia.

In 1918, the policy of produce dictatorship was implemented, including food

requisitioning and setting grain prices. Attempt on Lenin's life catalyzed the adoption of a

campaign of mass intimidation. Lenin declared mass terror on August 9, 1918, officially

1
Vucinich, Russian Revolution
 3

declared on September 2, 1918.2Deportations, torture, and systematic tyranny were all legalized.

With the frequent Cheka searches and exposing of non-existent conspiracies, the policy of mass

intimidation was born. e. The Soviet policy of mass intimidation was similar to that adopted

during the Russian Civil War. The main difference between the two periods is that Stalin's

purges were random, and victims were chosen, not because of any particular category or

political or socio-economic status. 'Tukhachevsky Affair' is a curious case of the policy of mass

intimidation under Stalinism.

The fact of anti-Soviet conspiracy was framed-up. It is remarkable in its correlation with

the 'Alexeev conspiracy,' which underlines the cohesion between two historical periods.

Stalinism is a logical continuation and development of the Civil War practices. 3 It had similar

causes and effects during the compared phases of Russian history, but the ways of its execution

are also alike. These facts point to close relations between Stalinism and Russia's Civil War.

The Stalinist leadership saw victory over the Axis and Nazi Germany as a vindication of their

policies and of the revolution itself. "Victories of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War

primarily a triumph for the Soviet social and governmental system," declared Soviet textbooks

throughout the period.A long war was unavoidable when Hitler failed to win a short one before

Stalin had time to organize his country's military industries. During World War II, an 18-week

life span for Red Army guns, three months for Soviet combat planes, and a bit longer for Soviet

tanks were the norm's record need for armaments manufacturing. Soviet front-line forces lost

one in six planes, one in seven guns, and one in seven mortars every week during the hardest

period of 1941-42.

2
Nick Shepley, The Russian Revolution 1917: A Student's Guide (Andrews UK, 2016)
3
Shepley, Civil War praactices
 4

Soviet factories produced 100,000 tanks, 1.4 million machine guns, 130,000 aircraft,

800,000 field guns and mortars. Germany's war production also trebled from the Soviet invasion

to July 1944.4 By contrast, the USSR's national income fell sharply and bottomed out at less

than 2/3 of its prewar levels. The Soviet government introduced a rationing system gradually

starting in July 1941. Hunger is still one of the most common wartime challenges. Except for a

small minority, almost everyone went hungry most of the time. As a result, many people lost

weight, became weaker and more exhausted, and were more susceptible to sickness. The

mobilization of medical workers to the army impeded the Soviet health system's ability to

respond to rising demand. As a result of immunization and cleanliness measures, there were no

severe epidemics in the conflict. Rations were issued for bread, flour, cereals, pasta, margarine,

vegetable oil, meat and fish, sugar and confectionery. Living standards vary according to the

strict priorities for access to basic consumer goods and fuel. Solders and workers in the war

industry had the highest priority and the best rations; their living standards were protected at the

expense of others. The Soviet Union instituted universal conscription in the fall of 1941. If they

were not dispatched to the front, males between the ages of 16 and 50 received military training

and formed quasi-territorial units for defense in an invasion. In February 1942, the whole urban

population was put to work; citizens might be relocated and put to work at any employment.

Despite his ups and downs, Vladimir Lenin was a successful leader in the long run. Bolshevism

was established under Lenin's leadership. He was the driving force and inspiration behind it all.

In his latter years, Putin largely achieved what he set out to accomplish in terms of Russia's

economic, political, and social recovery. In the Soviet Union, Lenin was largely responsible for

all of the country's events. However, this is in contrast to the debate that ensued in the late 1920s

over his support for the Soviet Union, which helped the Bolsheviks win the Great Russian Civil
4
Ayers, World War II
 5

War. His decision to abandon War Communism in favour of the New Economic Policy (NEP)

saved Russia from collapse, even if some party radicals didn't like it. Lenin had also done a good

job of explaining Marxism in its current form. Without him, the revolution would never have

taken place, and his ideas would never have been put into action. USSR was renamed in

recognition of Lenin's party's participation in the 1917 revolution. The Russian revolutions

would not have been the same without Lenin's leadership.

Because of these three factors, Joseph Stalin was a great leader. Because of these

accomplishments, he is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in the history of the Soviet Union.

When Stalin initiated the Second Economic Revolution of 1928-1941, he aimed to construct a

socialist economy and transform the Soviet Union into a major power. As a result of "Five Year

Plans," the country's economy was transformed from one based mostly on agricultural

production to an industrial one. It is expected that the proposals will lead to increased

productivity and significant economic growth. Battles at Normandy and Iwo Jima prove that the

United States won the Second World War. Russia, then known as the Soviet Union, overcame

Hitler and liberated Europe from Nazi control despite this. British historian and writer Max

Hastings claims that Stalin "was the principal engine of Nazism's annihilation" in his book

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945. There were roughly 26 million Soviet citizens and 11

million Red soldiers who died in World War II, which was the largest death toll among the

world's militaries. Three-quarters of German wartime losses were borne by the Soviets. Despite

the brutality of his methods, Stalin's efforts eventually improved the level of living of the Soviet

people. In order to increase the availability of energy resources for Soviet population, Stalin

encouraged the widespread use of cutting-edge technology. According to his electrification

ideas, power has the potential to alter the social and political order. With this information, Stalin
 6

made it easier for the common populace to get power, allowing them to do so in the privacy of

their own houses. Overall, Stalin was a great leader with clear ideas about where he wanted to

take the Soviet Union.

Communism had a positive effect on Russia's society, making it a more resilient and better place

to live. With its centrally planned economy, communism is able to quickly mobilise large sums

of economic capital, carry out large-scale initiatives, and make goods of industrial quality. Due

to its emphasis on communal good over individual gain, it is able to move at a rapid pace.

Communism has the power to transform entire societies to fit the plans of its planners. After

World War II, Russia's command economy was able to quickly re-establish its economy. Russian

communist attempts began in 1917 after Tsar Nicholas II lost power in the February Revolution

and ended in 1991 with the fall of the Soviet Union, according to history.com. The overall

beneficial impact of communism helped make Russia a better environment for ordinary

Russians.

The positive influences of Lenin, Stalin, and communism only served to strengthen

Russia's unity and position as a world power. Russia today would not be as strong if not for the

influence of Lenin, Stalin, and communism. Everything I've shown is essential because Lenin

and Stalin established a high bar for future leaders around the world. As a result of Russia's

successful leadership, other countries understood that they could learn a lot from them.

Communist countries today include Cuba, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos. Russia's

success with communism has pushed many other countries to adopt it. Although Lenin and

Stalin will be remembered as two of the most successful dictators in history, Communism is here

to stay.
 7

Bibliography

Ayers, David. "Modernism, Internationalism and the Russian Revolution." 2018.

doi:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748647330.001.0001.

Shepley, Nick. The Russian Revolution 1917: A Student's Guide. Andrews UK, 2016.

Vucinich, Alexander. Social Thought in Tsarist Russia: The Quest for a General Science of

Society, 1861-1917. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.

Wood, Alan. The Origins of the Russian Revolution, 1861–1917. Routledge, 2004.