Joseph Stalin and Mikhail Gorbachev 69 years after Joseph Stalin facilitated the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922, Mikhail Gorbachev played a part in its collapse, resigning from office the day before it officially fell on Christmas Day. Both leaders had an enormous effect on Soviet Russia and the welfare of its state and citizens. Stalin was a communist, who continued and supported the single party state founded by his predecessor Vladimir Lenin. Gorbachev, even though he was originally a member of the Communist Party, worked against the Marxist ideals implemented by Stalin and Lenin and worked to reform Russia to a more open society. Despite the obvious differences in ideologies and varying levels of success in office, both leaders left …show more content…
One of the bloodiest times in Russia’s history was Stalin’s Great Purge. In a span of roughly five years, from 1934 to 1939, 1.2 million people were executed by the state, and just as many were killed as a result of disease or starvation in the gulags. The assassinations started with that of Sergei Kirov, a known opponent of Stalin. This opened up the opportunity for thousands of others to be killed by the state, with the excuse that they may be responsible for Kirov’s murder. Stalin would stage trials, putting more political dissidents and kulaks on trial with obscure charges, like treason. His paranoia soon drove him to execute some of his best officials and the Old Bolsheviks, including Lenin’s close friend Leon Trotsky. The Commander in Chief of the Red Army was shot and killed in 1938, and in the following years half of the officers in that Army were killed or sent to prison. It is estimated that about 20 million people were sent to gulags during Stalin’s rule, and over half of them died there. …show more content…
Gorbachev, though a member of the communist party, had a different outlook on the future of Russia and communism. He was a child during Stalin’s time in power, and couldn’t truly remember the purges, gulags, and the famines. Gorbachev spent most of his time in office actively trying to reform a failing Communist Party. He put a lot of time into improving foreign relations after the Cold War with the policy of detente, (or “relaxation”). Gorbachev met with Margaret Thatcher at Konstantin Chernenko’s funeral. He held arms talks with Ronald Reagan at the Geneva Summit in 1985, and created a good relationship with the American leader. (10) He also loosened The USSR’s hold on the Warsaw Pact countries by ending the Brezhnev Doctrine in 1988. This led the communist regime in these countries to be overthrown. Gorbachev’s main foreign policy goal when he took office was to end the Cold War; 25% of the gross national GDP was going towards defense, and Gorbachev wanted to push more of that money towards other things to help his plan for a free market economy (9). In 1987 Gorbachev and Reagan signed the Intermediate Ranges Nuclear Forces treaty (8) and after many more summit conferences, START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was signed by the USSR and the United States, effectively ending the Cold
The major factor that led to the true end of the Cold War was the ongoing personal and diplomatic relationship between Presidents George H. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev. This resulted in the reduction of the Russian military and favorable arms agreements. Key indicators of the substance behind this relationship were the Soviet troop withdrawals from Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan, and Hungary (lifting the Hungarian/Austrian “Iron Curtain” along the border). Subsequently the opening of the Berl...
He wanted to cut taxes and increase defense spending. He felt that the United States of America should take a confrontational approach towards Russia.3 Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of Russia in 1985. He wanted to improve. the Russian economy. He also wanted to improve relations with the United States.
Ronald Reagan came to the Presidency without any major political qualifications, but his victory in the Cold War was no lucky outcome. Dinesh D'Souza’s new book, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, just published by the Free Press, looks at how Reagan helped end the Cold War. Ten years ago Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and said, “General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and East...
There were many politicians that were in the office during the Cold War, but the ones that caused the end of the Cold War and the Soviet Union were Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan. Mikhail Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Soviet Union from 1985-1991. He affected the Soviet Union by creating many new policies, like the freedom of speech and an improved economic reform. What he did not know what that he was putting together his own downfall. With the freedom of speech the citizens were able to criticise the communist government and Mikhail Gorbachev which lead to more people going against the communist government. That led to the end Soviet Union Gorbachev also tried to strengthen his relationship with Ronald Reagan by signing the INF (intermediate Nuclear Forces Arm Limitation) treaty in 1987. This treaty was a treaty between the Soviet Union and U.S.A. which stated that they both most dispose of all their nuclear missiles. That was how Gorbachev caused the Cold War to come to an end. Gorbachev also was voted to be the executive president of a new Congress of People’s Deputies in 1989. This new cong...
There have been many dictators through out history that have shaped the way we look at them now. Sometimes it’s the way that dictators came to power that people judge them on. Sometimes it’s how long they stayed in power, but it’s not just how long they stayed in power. It’s what they did to stay in power. These two men are some of the most infamous dictators for those reasons alone. These men are Joseph Stalin and Fidel Castro, and they played a huge part in shaping the way we look at dictators today.
Isaac Murrin Mr. J. Pharion Freshman English 20 February 2013 The Similarities and Differences between Lenin and Stalin Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were similar in what they claimed to be, but in actuality they were very different people. Although Stalin claimed that he followed Leninism, the philosophy that Lenin developed from Marxism, he often distorted it to follow what he wanted to do. While Lenin wanted to make a unified society without classes, with production in the hands of the people, while Stalin wanted to make Russia into a modern industrial powerhouse by using the government to control production. Lenin accomplished his goals through violence, because he thought achieving the Communist revolution was worth using violence, with a ‘The ends justify the means’ mentality. Stalin also used violence to accomplish his goals, however Stalin used much more violence than was often necessary to accomplish his goals.
Gorbachev be released. On August 21, only two days later the communists in the rebellion gave themselves up and were imprisoned. Yeltsin wanted to end communism, so he forced Gorbachev to end the communist party. By December 1991 the USSR had broken up. On December 25 Gorbachev resigned and Yeltsin was now in control of the nuclear weapons. Despite the ending of the Cold War there are still many nuclear weapons in the world. There is still the slight possibility of a nuclear war.
In 1934, Sergey Kirov a rival to Stalin was murdered. Stalin is believed to have been behind the assassination, he used it as a pretext to arrest thousands of his other opponents who in his words might have been responsible for Kirov’s murder. These purges not only affected those who openly opposed Stalin but ordinary people too. During the rule of Stain o...
A comparison of these two are Both leaders saw that changes were essential, they knew that without reforms, the Soviet Union would grow weaker and weaker. Khrushchev’s and Gorbachev’s reforms were wide and touched almost all important aspects of the government. One important aspect is how Khrushchev and Gorbachev saw the past and future. When Khrushchev came to power he had a big problem how to replace Stalin and how to rule the country after him. Stalin ruled through a cult of personality and many people thought that he was irreplaceable. At “the Twentieth Congress of the Khrushchev attacks Stalinism and the Cult of Personality in the secret speech, he denounced Stalin and the terror of his regime, everything Stalin did or said was incorrect,
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt led the nation through the second world war. Roosevelt built a powerful wartime coalition with Britain and the Soviet Union, and led the U.S to victory against Nazi Germany. He was elected for presidency four times, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. His wartime efforts prepared the path for Harry Truman, to win the war against Japan four months after his death.
Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union can be best described as a period of terror and censorship. In other words, he was very strict, considering the fact that he created the totalitarian government. In order to create this type of government, Stalin used fear and propaganda. He took part in The Great Purge, which was a campaign of terror that was supposed to eliminate anyone who threatened Stalin’s power. He also relied on secret police, who would arrest and execute any traitors. The online blog, “The Reasons For the Failure of The Russian Revolution”, brings up information on how Stalin planned to rule as dictator of Russia. It has been noted, “This ‘reshaping’ had three main aspects: the elimination of all dissent; the liquidation of all forms of democracy and of working class organisation; the slashing of the living standards of the working class and the physical annihilation of millions of peasants” (Text 5). This quote explains how Stalin wanted to industrialize Russia, which includes the deaths of several peasants of Russia. The Russians did not just die from The Great Purge, but also from Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. The Five-Year Plan was an attempt to industrialize the Soviet Union. It was also a plan for increasing the output of steel, coal, oil, and electricity. He had control over economic resources, including farms and
Joseph Stalin became leader of the USSR after Lenin’s death in 1924. Lenin had a government of abstemious communist government. When Stalin came into government he moved to a radical communist society. He moved away from the somewhat capitalist/communist economy of Lenin time to “modernize” the USSR. He wanted to industrialize and modernize USSR. He had overworked his workers, his people were dying, and most of them in slave labor camps. In fact by doing this Stalin had hindered the USSR and put them even farther back in time.
Over the next few years, Russia went through a traumatic time of civil war and turmoil. The Bolsheviks’ Red Army fought the white army of farmers, etc. against Lenin and his ways. Lenin and the Bolsheviks won and began to wean Russia of non-conforming parties eventually banning all non-communist as well as removing an assembly elected shortly after the Bolshevik’s gain of power. Lenin’s strict government, however, was about to get a lot stricter with his death in 1924.
Despite this disagreement, Gorbachev and Reagan reached many agreements on issues regarding disarmament and sent a message to the world that the two biggest conflicting powers had ended their near-40 year dispute. Although at the outset of his presidency, Reagan sought to resolve the Cold War primarily through the use of money, it was his mouth that got the job done. The policy of containment had successfully stifled the Soviet empire and provided an opportune time for Reagan to end the war, and Gorbachev's willingness to comply provided him with the means to do so. Ultimately it was their special relationship, the inevitable implosion of the Russian economy, and President Reagan's fearlessness in demanding progress that brought an end to the Cold War.