Russian Revolution Dbq

Trying to determine whether life was better for the Russians after the Russian revolution is an impossible task that involves complex moral questions. As under Stalin’s control production increased and education was spread more widely, but people’s personal freedoms and rights were highly limited and they had to deal with a totalitarian ruler whose focus was on the good of Russia as a whole then of the individual people whose lives he held power over. Czar Nicholas was incompetent and did not understand how to rule over Russia, but Stalin actively killed millions of people using the secret police and concentration camps that worked and tortured people to death. While as a whole Russia improved by leaps and bounds after the Russian revolution

millions of people died and those who survived had their personal freedoms severely limited with most only knowing what Stalin allowed them to know. Many disagree as under Stalin Russia’s production and general education increased significantly. However those people also fail to realize all of the lives he destroyed to achieve that. As anyone that disagreed with him in any way shape or form were quickly found out and either imprisoned or straight up murdered for questioning his rein.
First and foremost among the horrors Stalin inflicted upon the people of Russia were the concentration and labor camps known as the gulag.

In these camps any who disobeyed him or questioned his rule were forced to work and many worked themselves to death. Those who were not there to work were tortured or outright killed. Many would rather die than face decades of harsh treatment and being forced to work for things that would be used by Stalin. The Great Terror, 1968 by Robert Conquest states in reference to Stalin’s harsh camps and prisons “Died in camps - about 2 million, In prison about 8 million,” (Doc 12) revealing how many people died due to the harsh treatment. Not only were people forced into labour camps many were outright executed for crimes they might not have even committed. A French ambassador to the Soviet Union described the public trials that were part of Stalin’s purges, writing, “Did these ‘confessions’ carry any share of truth? It is possible that the accused were hostile to Stalin’s regime.” (Doc 9) hinting at the fact that many of those accused only crimes were to question or disobey Stalin. All of the senseless death caused by Stalin is another reason that life under Czar Nicholas the second was probably better for most peasants

health.
Not only did Stalin's actions affect and kill his own countrymen they also had a deep effect on surrounding countries who were forced into famine as a result of his actions, something many people forget when they consider Stalin’s actions.

“Today reliable academic estimates place the number of Ukrainian victims of starvation at 4.5 million to 7 million… Stalin used the forced famine as part of a political strategy whose aim was to crush all vestiges of Ukrainian national sentiments.” Forced famine in the Ukraine: A Holocaust the West Forgot by Adrian Karatnycky (doc 11). Proving that Stalin was not above killing millions to achieve his goals, though he also did that to his own country so really no one should be surprised by his

callousness.
Though there are many who try to argue that Stalin improved Russian society by expanding their production and education. To be fair Stalin did improve Russian production and education by leaps and bounds, but he also limited people’s personal freedoms and killed millions of people. “The rate of Industrial growth in the Ussr considerably exceeded that of the capitalist countries.. By 1937 the Soviet Union was first in Europe and the second in the world in volume of industrial production.” Land of the Soviets, (doc 7). Not only did production rapidly increase education was quickly spread as those who had been denied even a basic education began to learn. As such Russian’s worked to learn everything they had been denied before,. Something similar is written in Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed, “The thirst for education, so long thwarted, burst with the revolution into a frenzy of expression.” (doc 4). In order to encourage the lower classes to work harder Stalin set impossible goals of how he much he wanted production to increase, these goals were often not met. However as part of his plans to achieve his goals he sized land from peasants and forced them to work on joint farms, and often times the peasants fought back and were killed. In the end the cost of the rapid industrialization and spread of education was not worth the millions of lives that were destroyed to achieve it.
Whether or not life was better after the Russian revolution is often debated, however the immense loss of life and limited personal freedoms shows that life was better for most before the revolution. As many were massacred as part of Stalin’s rise to power and five year plans to increase production. Even surrounding countries were affected by the forced famine that Stalin had created. To be fair Stalin also increased both production and education, however he did so at the cost of the people’s personal freedoms and many deaths of those who resisted. Life under Stalin was harsh as he was merciless and had secret police hunting down anyone who disagreed with him. Life under a Czar who does not know how to lead was much better for most citizens of Russia, excluding the communists, who benefited under Stalin’s rule.