Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Stalin vs trotsky
Trotsky and Stalin power struggle
WW 2 and communism
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Stalin vs trotsky
Leon Trotsky effectively and concisely summarized his life’s work in one sentence: “Ideas that enter the mind under fire remain there securely and forever” (“Leon Trotsky Biography”). Trotsky spent much of his life fighting to make his beliefs a reality and gaining many followers along the way. The “fire” that ignited in his mind continued to burn throughout his life as evidenced by the various organizations in existence that stemmed from his beliefs. Leon Trotsky was an activist who stood for communism and who accomplished a multitude of political feats. Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein to David and Anna Bronstein on November 7, 1879, in Yanovka, Ukraine (“Leon Trotsky Biography”). The first eight years of his schooling were completed in Odessa with subsequent education in Nikolayev in 1896 (“Leon Trotsky”). It was here that Trotsky was introduced …show more content…
The outbreak of revolution in Russia lured Trotsky back into action, but he was soon arrested. While in jail, Trotsky joined the Bolsheviks (“Leon Trotsky”). After his release, Trotsky allied with Vladimir Lenin as he gained control of the Russian government. Trotsky was made commissar of war and was charged with the formation of the Red Army to defend communism (“Leon Trotsky”). Although the Red Army proved successful in its endeavor, its Red Terror campaign caused “thousands of people, many of whom were only suspected of being anti-communist, [to be] slaughtered in unthinkably cruel ways” (Asnes, Tania. Kissel, Adam ed). Soon after, Lenin's death left Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky to battle to be Russia's leader. Although Trotsky had the skills and the intellect that should have made him the clear choice, jealousy among his colleagues prompted them to side with Stalin (“Leon Trotsky”). Soon after Stalin gained power, he exiled Trotsky. His role in Russian history had come to an abrupt
As relations changed between Russia and the rest of the world, so did the main historical schools of thought. Following Stalins death, hostilities between the capitalist powers and the USSR, along with an increased awareness of the atrocities that were previously hidden and ignored, led to a split in the opinions of Soviet and Western Liberal historians. In Russia, he was seen, as Trotsky had always maintained, as a betrayer of the revolution, therefore as much distance as possible was placed between himself and Lenin in the schoolbooks of the 50s and early 60s in the USSR. These historians point to Stalin’s killing of fellow communists as a marked difference between himself and his predecessor. Trotsky himself remarked that ‘The present purge draws between Bolshevism and Stalinism… a whole river of blood’[1].
Ultimately it was his failure here that prevented him having any long-term significance, despite his huge short-term significance. ‘He had too many characteristics that made it extraordinarily hard to collectively work with him. But he was an industrious worker and a talented person, and for Lenin, that was the main thing’. Trotsky, despite his nuances and arrogance, was hugely significant in the short term through his brilliant tactics throughout the October Revolution where the Bolsheviks took control of Russia. Furthermore, his coordination of the Red Army was definitive in Bolshevik victory in the civil war, removal of opposition in the terror, and he played an under appreciated role in reclaiming of occupied Russian lands following the world war.
In 1922, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Russian Communist party, suffered the first of many strokes that would relieve him of his authority. After leading the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, Lenin had established Communism to reinstate order in the crumbling Russia and protect the rights of the oppressed proletariat. He believed that, only in a Communist society, "'the state ceases to exist,' and 'it becomes possible to speak of freedom.'"1 Lenin stood by the idea that Communism would "render the state absolutely unnecessary" because "no one in the sense of a class" would be suppressed.2
The mind set of leaders are set to think that the enemies of the Bolshevik government should be “annihilated”. Lenin wrote to Dzerzhinsky that the opponents of the Bolshevik government should be made “to tremble”. It is thought that between 10,000 to 15,000 people were summarily executed by the Cheka in areas under control of the Bolsheviks Through this awful time there were no public trials. Those who harboured the thousands of deserters from the Red Army were arrested and punished as they were named “bandits”. The Red Terror resulted in the execution of men called bandits. However, the term becomes a term that fits all to explain the arrest and execution of suspects. This meant that many families suffered as the result of just one member of it defying the law.
According to Siegelbaum, the Cheka was the “sword of the Revolution,” explicitly conceived as an organ of “mass terror against the bourgeoisie and its agents.” Established as a result of opposition to the Bolshevik government, the Cheka accumulated power with each additional uprising to the extent whereby its campaign of political terror derived it the name of the ‘Red Terror.’ In the beginning the Cheka consisted of but 40 officials. They were in charge of a team of soldiers called the Sveaborgesky regiment, along with the Red Guardsmen. By in 1918, under Felix Dzerzhinkiy’s rule, the Cheka accumulated in mass and members; all their activities were also centralized in the city of Petrograd. The Cheka’s main focus at this time was the fight against counterrevolution, theft and any other activities perceived as crimes against the republic. Mid 1918 the power of the Cheka was undisputed and they had amassed the power to not only investigate and arrest, but also to interrogate and execute the verdict. This came about due to the attempted assassination of Vladimir Lenin; a climate of fear was necessary to be brought on in order to stifle any further attempts at taking the lives of Bolshevik leaders. The attempt of assassination on Vladimir Lenin was received as a shock; two of the three intended bullets fired, hit Lenin. One of the bullets landed in his left shoulder blade and the second directly impacted his shoulder. The assassin was arrested on spot, a 30-year-old Ukrainian woman named Fanya Kaplan. At her trial she stated that she fired the shots at Vladimir Lenin because she saw him as a traitor of the revolution; she herself was a listed prisoner of the Akatua Gulag camp. After this unsuccessful attempt at Lenin’s life, the Ch...
Son of a poverty-stricken shoemaker, raised in a backward province, Joseph Stalin had only a minimum of education. However, he had a burning faith in the destiny of social revolution and an iron determination to play a prominent role in it. His rise to power was bloody and bold, yet under his leadership, in an unexplainable twenty-nine years, Russia because a highly industrialized nation. Stalin was a despotic ruler who more than any other individual molded the features that characterized the Soviet regime and shaped the direction of Europe after World War II ended in 1945. From a young revolutionist to an absolute master of Soviet Russia, Joseph Stalin cast his shadow over the entire globe through his provocative affair in Domestic and Foreign policy.
The next few years saw Lenin moving around Europe frantically. He hid out in Finland disguised as a farmer and popped back up in Geneva in 1908. At this time the tsarist began to exact revenge on the revolutions through “execution and exile” labeled the “black reaction.” Workers organizations were dissolved although Lenin vehemently continued to skillfully promote illegal and legal tactics within his Bolshevian congresses and the Duma. He desperately wanted to avoid compromise with the petty-bourgoise amd maintained the Bolshevik ideal of “workers, masses, proletariat, vanguard, and army.” Lenin continued to read radical literature and publish works promoting his vision. Figas comments that “in its fight for the party, for its ideological purist and genuine Marxist philosophy Lenin was impeccable.” Lenin believed that 1905 was only a precursor to bigger things and thanks to his tireless work and “24 hour devotion” to the revolution the Bolsheviks maintained their course, rallied the working class, and took on a fight against the autocracy.
...two methods: Political cunning and violence. He was a shrewd man but it was more likely his violence and the threat thereof that helped propel him to Leader of the Soviet Union. His early days in the Bolshevik Party would inspire another man with many of the same attributes, Adolf Hitler. Had Leon Trotsky been more adamant about his disapproval of Joseph Stalin and more adamant about his own ability to be the leader of the Soviet Union, things may have been very different. Ultimately, Joseph Stalin and his rise to power did not only affect Russia and the Soviet Union. It affected the entire world. Joseph Stalin’s story of his rise to power is fascinating, brutal, and frightening. If nothing else, it is a reminder to all of us who love our Democratic Republic what a free and truly great society and nation really is.
Trotsky thought that Communism could not survive in the USSR alone. He argued that the capitalist countries of the West feared Communism and would try to destroy it. For this reason, he said, it was necessary to spread Communism to the countries of Western Europe and to their overseas colonies. This would be done by giving help to revolutionary groups and parties in Western Europe.
The Red Terror, where what started out as a political feud, quickly turned into a mass genocide of innocent people in Russia. A campaign of massive killings, torture, and “systematic oppression” lead by the Bolsheviks and the secret police. All of what started after an attempt to assassinate “Vladimir Lenin by Fanni Kaplin and the murder of the Cheka Leader in St. Petersburg” (“The Red Terror.”). In this failed attempt Lenin came up with a secret police, the Cheka, to punish and kill anyone who was thought to be a threat towards Lenin or the Bolshevik rule. The Cheka was so powerful, that there was not anyone to really stop them. Although their intentions were to defend and protect the Bolshevik rule and keep everyone safe, their priorities
Many historians such as Issac Deutscher suggest that, “Trotsky was a revolutionary hero” despite his arrogance and ego, he was still considered significant in Russia. He was greatly admired for his role as a leader and brilliant strategist during times of crisis, such as in the 1917 November revolution, the Russian Civil War and as a lone voice in exile. Though his status was prominent in Russia, he made a slight difference and gained very little recognition internationally. The historical accounts of Trotsky’s role in the 1917 November revolution mostly contain the praises for his brilliance as an inspiring speaker and leader, and an amazing organiser in times of crisis. Trotsky had demonstrated his incredible powers as an orator and in tapping and appealing to the revolutionary attitudes of the masses at the time by directly speaking and engaging to them.
In western society, one of the greatest misconceptions about Vladimir Lenin is that he was a ruthless killer that wanted to exploit his people and ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist. He is often compared to the infamous Joseph Stalin, his successor. While Stalin was a killer who cared little for his people, Lenin wanted to liberate the people that he claimed were being oppressed; the Proletariat or the working class people. He sought to demolish the Bourgeoisie who were the rich factory owners and spread the wealth out amongst the masses. Due to the fact that he died in 1924 three years after the establishment of the USSR, his legacy has been greatly twisted into that of a murderer. It was twisted even further in the post World War 2 years in the west as the war time alliance between the USA and the USSR soured. Whether he is perceived as good or bad, the revolution he commanded in the former Russian Empire had a profound effect on the rest of the world.
After the death of Lenin, his chief lieutenant Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin fought for control of the country. Stalin was able to win out over Trotsky and gain control of the Russian government. He felt that Lenin and Trotsky’s socialistic ideas were flawed in that they were to wait for other countries to revolt and become socialistic as well. Staling believed that a single country could make socialism .
After establishing himself as Lenin’s successor, Stalin ruthlessly increased his power and pushed forward with all his policies. What resulted was an extreme totalitarian dictatorship. Stalin imposed his stamp on Russia. He employed greater control over the communist party, and to guarantee its longevity, he unleashed a flood of fear and coercion which had never been seen before. He eliminated any threats to his position via the NKVD and the purges which resulted in the death of millions of soviet people. This also enabled him to proceed with his major economic changes in the form of collectivisation and industrialisation through three, Five Year Plans. These plans were merely reactivating the earlier ideas and policies of the Bolsheviks, policies which Stalin had condemned Trotsky to exile.
Karl Marx is often called the father of communism, but his life entailed so much more. He was a political economist, philosopher, and idea revolutionist. He was a scholar that believed that capitalism was going to undercut itself as he stated in the Communist Manifesto. While he was relatively ambiguous in his lifetime, his works had tremendous influence after his death. Some of the world’s most powerful and most populace countries follow his ideas to this day. Many of history’s most eventful times were persuaded by his thoughts. Karl Marx was one of the most influential persons in the history of the world, and a brief history of his life will show how he was able to attain many of his attitudes.