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Edexcel AS History 1 Option D3/D4 - 2nd of June

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Reply 120

scarlett_1991

how likely do you think Russia as a superpower?

Reply 121

scarlett_1991

GEOGEDEXCELHELP

Wellll this is roughly what i would put:

introduction: Political vacuum after Lenin's death, created a power struggle for leader. In 1929 Stalin emerged as leader, due to a mixture of carefully planned, cunning events and decisions as well as element of luck. However, it was Stalin's position within the party, as General Secretary, which allowed him to manipulate his position via patronage and placing his supporters in key positions to gain Stalin more support. The fact that he was general secretary led others in party to underestimate him, as G.S = mundane, and regarded as an unimportant position. This underestimation acted as a strength for Lenin, but a weakness for opponents such as Trotsky.

p1 = GS gave him a powerbase and party appeal which proved vital to his success. 'Master of 'Party bureaucracy'. Patronage and key positions. Without this support he may not have been able to rise above his opposition such as Bukharin and the moderates on the right, and Trotsky and the radicals on the left.

p2 - Extremely favourable events. e.g. Prevention of Lenin's testament being published - didnt want stalin to be secretary let alone leader! If it was Trotsky would have appeared as leader.

Lucky that lenin died so early or Stalin could have sent away due to bad relationship, and then ever have been leader.

p3 - ruthlessness and determination. Devious tricks he played on opposition. In the triumvirate they plotted against Trotsky - revealing him as not being favoured by Lenin.

p4 - Ideological factors, Stalin = centre. Trotskys ideas = unpopular e.g. permanent revolution.

p5 - Tactical manoeuvering. all about the duumvirate, triumvirate *dont really understand this bit :frown:

*

conc - Stalin's position as GS was fundamentally the most important reason as it allowed him to manipulate tha party and to build up a powerbase of supporters increasing his party appeal. However, without Trotsky's lack of political skill and unpopular policies Stalin's rise to power may not have been as successful, as Trotsky would have been in the way.

thank you, this is such a help! :smile:

Reply 122

Bellrosk

An interesting minor point to add with Stalin's positions is that he was described as being in control of the 'party machine'.

Reply 123

A-Man!

More recaps...

Causes of the October Revolution 1917

Provisional Government's weaknesses

•

Dual Authority with the Petrograd Soviet = gulf of ideology - hard to get things done

•

Failure to deal with the Kornilov Affair - armed the Bolsheviks

•

Continuation of the war - June Offensive - led to land seizures and mass discontent

•

Failure to deal with the land question - established a Land Committee but that did little

•

Lvov was a poor leader and weakened the PG for Kerensky

•

Strikes still resumed... 120,000

•

Liberalism = allowing radical parties to grow

•

Soviet Order Number 1 - led to disarray and problems in the army

BUT - NOT ALL BAD

•

Stopped the July Days efficiently

•

Kerensky was good and worked well between the PS and the PG (he wsa a radical)

•

Did pass a lot of reforms that made a lot of people happy - freedom of speech, freedom of press, etc. Russia was a free country for 9 months only...

•

Okhrana abolished

Return of Lenin

•

April Theses - "Peace, bread land". "All Power to the Soviets"

•

hyped up discontent - he was a plague bacillus

•

hyped up the land question

BUT - July Days failure. Bolsheviks were small

Kornilov Affair

•

March to city.... thought as a coup...

•

Kerensky armed the Bolshveiks - MISTAKE

•

BUT - it was the PG's fault that they armed the Bs!

Potential essay qus... How far was the Prov govt responsible for its own downfall? How far was the return of Vladmir Ulyanov responsible for the Bolshevik seizure of power?

Reply 124

chrisORANGE

GEOGEDEXCELHELP

oh it just came up with There is currently no text in this page, you can search for this page title in other pages or edit this page.
:frown:

thanks though

Oops!
Working link: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Revision:Russia_under_Stalin_(1924-53)

Sorry! :smile:

Reply 125

A-Man!

Consolidation of Bolshevik power

Government
- Constituent Assembly was there with an SR majority and many saw the PS in power and not the Bolsheviks.
LENIN: he squashed the CA, and then made Sovnarkom - all party government.
BUT - anger and discontent from the liberals... as a result they made mini Provisional Governments... led towards the Civil War.

Press and Political Parties
- Other political parties still survived and their press was strong and spreading anti-Bolshevik propaganda.
LENIN: squashed CA, stopped all other press and reinforced Pravda... and he cracked down on parties - 2 Kadets put to death and stoppage of all other parties.
BUT - discontent remained from these parties - hyping up for war.

Land Question
- People were seizing land and peasants were being left out etc.
LENIN: 'Land decree' = all land to the peasants from the nobles - could be taken. Great for the peasants
BUT - nobility angry - joined the Whites (later Kolchak helped give land back to the nobility)

Coalition?
- Calls for a coaltion government between the Bolsheviks and other SR parties. Zinvoviev and Kamenev were pro coalition and the Railwaymen's Union were desperate.
LENIN: cut other party links but did allow the Left SRs into Sovnarkom - this meant it could like he was appealing to the peasantry.
BUT - anger from other parties...

Terror was used - Cheka etc. Class war against the bourgeoisie

War
- June Offensive had wiped out a lot of Russian soldiers and most people had abandoned the front.
LENIN: Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - 'peace at any cost'.
BUT - serious discontent - 1/4 of farmland lost and 62 million people lost. Many nationalists were very unhappy and joined the Whites.

Industry
- Proletariat was disaffected.
LENIN: Social insurance, 8 hour day, could srevolt against factory owners etc.
BUT - factory owners annoyed and the 8 hour day was short lived once War Communism came into action.

Nationalities
- Nationalities angry and wanted independence - Ukrainians and Finns especially.
LENIN: Nationalities decree - self-determination.
BUT - Had absolutely no effect - weren't governed by the Bolsheviks!

Conclusion
Though Lenin did do a good short term job, he did spark discontent that eventually led to the Civil War. In fact here he seems to have stubborn characteristics like NII - 'stubborn without will.' But he did a damn good job and won the peasants and the workers over - the key.

Possible essays - How far did Lenin consolidate power in 1917-18? How far was Lenin's power consolidation a failure?

Niiiice

Why did the Reds win the Civil War?

Possible essay qus - How far did the Reds win because of their opponent's weaknesses? How far did the Reds win because of their geographical powerbase?

Geography
RED STRENGTHS

•

Well centered in the middle of the coutnry - high ground

•

At the place with the main cities - great for factories

•

Covered the armament dumps from WW1

•

Railway hub

•

hIgh population which meant more conscription

WHITE WEAKNESSES

•

Scattered geographically

•

No telephone lines/railway control = horseback messengers used

•

Unity hurt as a result

Red strengths the main reason here.

Organisation/Unity
RED STRENGTHS

•

Leaders were supreme - Trotsky in armoured train, Comrade Lenin

•

Red Army was extremely loyal and harsh discpline was used

•

Easy communications = good organisation

•

Cheka making sure the Red Army was loyal

WHITE WEAKNESSES

•

Communications = bad organisation

•

All different reasons - disunity as a result - Greens wanted to help peasantry but fought for the Whites

•

Generals didnt trust each other - Kolchak was not trusted

•

Discipline was over cruel and this led to mutinies/desertion and people joining the Reds.

White weaknesses main reason here.

Support
RED STRNGTHS

•

JUST gained the peasantry's support with the land decree and SRs in Sovnarkom... the key to winning

•

Industrial vote BUT there was discontent - BUT any strikes soon SQUASHED

WHITE STRENGTHS

•

Had the nationalities vote

•

Had the nobility's support - Kolchak - land to the nobility.

Red strengths key - ideals of revolution.

War Communism
RED STRENGTHS

•

Command economy - made many armaments and had fantastic results for that

•

BUT- Famine, mass death, starvation, discontent.... BUT = people were desperate to fight for a living... good for lenin

BUT - did win some support for the greens
WHITE WEAKNESSES
Relied on borrowing too much.
As a short term thing, WC was great!

Propaganda
RED STRENGTHS

•

Imagist propaganda

•

'Mother Russia'

WHITE WEAKNESSES

•

Didn't embrace properly

•

Deniken did not use at all

Other
WHITE WEAKNESSES
Foregin intervention was short lived and only to get Russia back into the war.

Conclusion - Red strengths was the main reason, and organisation/geography were key - WAR COMMUNISM WAS THE MAIN REASON FOR SUCCESS.

Reply 128

Humanitiesboy123

I really hope that question comes up :biggrin:

Reply 129

A-Man!

Changing economic policies

essay qus - why did economic policies change after the civil war? How far was the NEP a success? How far was War Communism a success (link to civil war for that one)

War Communism

•

Grain requisitioning

•

7 day week - hardcore work

•

Conscription to army and to the factories

•

All focus on heavy industry

•

All focus on armaments

•

Nationalisation

HAD GOOD EFFECTS: Civil War.
BUT - crushing effects

•

Black market

•

Peasants held back grain in some cases - subsistence farming

•

Disaffected workers - Bolsheviks seemed to have failed their proletariat

•

Adverse living conditions - consumer goods shortages similiar to that of the First FYP

•

famines - mass discontent

•

33% left the cities!

•

Population crashed - 170 million to 130 million (grr had to look at my notes for that one!)

•

Typhus

•

Railway system broke down

•

Kronstadt Uprising and Tambov Uprising

Though these two events were CRUSHED by the Bolsheviks and power was consolidated, these "lit reality" in Lenin's words and he introduced the....

New Economic Policy (NEP)

•

Privatisation of businesses and industry BUT "commanding heights" kept in control of the state

•

Private trade allowed - Nepmen did three quarters of this

•

Grain requisitioning stopped - as a result peasantry were happier

Success or Failure?
+ Did improve. +Population back up. +Cultivated land from 37 million hectares to 56 million hectares. + Grain production up from 75 million tonnes to 91 million tonnes. + Rouble for industrial worker up from 10 to 15. + Coal, steel and iron up.
BUT
- Took a long time to get started and needed funding to start - America = equivalent of £20 million and other fundings too.
- Proletariat were ignored still: living conditions were still bad.
- A step back for Communism - Left weren't happy.
- Greed - led to Kulaks and Nepmen which were to be destroyed in collectivisation/FYP.
- Scissors Crisis

Conclusion - it was good but a slow start and it did lead to a Scissors Crisis.

And that is D3 done ladies and gentlemen.

Reply 130

A-Man!

Humanitiesboy123

I really hope that question comes up :biggrin:

Me too!
I hope you don't mind me clogging up the place like this - it's so helpful for me :biggrin:

Reply 131

Humanitiesboy123

Helpful for all of us too :P

Reply 132

GEOGEDEXCELHELP

A-Man!

•

Grain requisitioning

•

7 day week - hardcore work

•

Conscription to army and to the factories

•

All focus on heavy industry

•

All focus on armaments

•

Nationalisation

HAD GOOD EFFECTS: Civil War.
BUT - crushing effects

•

Black market

•

Peasants held back grain in some cases - subsistence farming

•

Disaffected workers - Bolsheviks seemed to have failed their proletariat

•

Adverse living conditions - consumer goods shortages similiar to that of the First FYP

•

famines - mass discontent

•

33% left the cities!

•

Population crashed - 170 million to 130 million (grr had to look at my notes for that one!)

•

Typhus

•

Railway system broke down

•

Kronstadt Uprising and Tambov Uprising

Though these two events were CRUSHED by the Bolsheviks and power was consolidated, these "lit reality" in Lenin's words and he introduced the....

New Economic Policy (NEP)

•

Privatisation of businesses and industry BUT "commanding heights" kept in control of the state

•

Private trade allowed - Nepmen did three quarters of this

•

Grain requisitioning stopped - as a result peasantry were happier

amazing thankyou! you are going to do so welll, i wish i have your knoweldge for this haha. dont suppose you do d4 do you :wink:

Reply 133

pete1017

A-Man!

And that is D3 done ladies and gentlemen.

Now onto D4 :biggrin:

Reply 134

olliescrim

Yeah please do D4 A-Man. You're a genius at this history lark.

Reply 135

A-Man!

D4 is coming... slowly but surely.

:biggrin:

Reply 136

sdiana91

hey guys, i've got mine tomorrow and really worried! i've done my revision but forgotten a lot of it already and gonna go revise again in a bit,lol.... does anyone know what the exact questions that came up in Jan 2009 paper?? So I don't really revise those areas so much....???

Reply 137

A-Man!

GEOGEDEXCELHELP

amazing thankyou! you are going to do so welll, i wish i have your knoweldge for this haha. dont suppose you do d4 do you :wink:

Just about to - I've had a break now here goes for the struggle for power!

1924-29 The Struggle

Power Vacuum because of Lenin's death - who will take over as leader of the Soviet Union?

Stage 1 - Triumvirate (Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin) vs Trotsky.
Ideologies: Tri = NEP, Leninist. Trotsky = fast industrialisation and world revolution. Anti-bureaucracy - declaration of the 46.

Reasons for Trotsky's defeat
A) Zinoviev and Kamenev
- Protected Stalin in Krupskaya Incident.
- Pushed for the Lenin Testament to remain secret - was harmful to Stalin and to them.
- Criticised Trotsky's Lessons Of October and accused it of harming the Cult of Lenin.

B) Ideologies
- Alienation - world revolution didnt seem possible - Spartacists.
- Support for NEP: scissors crisis not yet too evident.

C) Trotsky's misjudgements/mistakes
- Illness
- Missed important meetings
- Lessons of October - amplified his role.
- Stayed with Congress and not the main main leaders = didnt understadn the nature of the struggle.

D) General Secretary
- Absolutely key: Stalin appointed delegates in his favour to Congress - patronage.
- Peobrahansky: "30%... are, as one is inclined to say, 'recommended by the Central Committee'". - Only 30% yes, but he was BUILDING this powerbase - he stayed silent - "grey blur of Stalin".

E) Stalin himself
- Ruthlessness: lies about Lenin's funeral.
- Bonapartism allegation

All in all - first stage = General Secretary BUT Z and K helped - T didnt help himself too much either.

Stage 2 - Duumvirate (Stalin and Bukharin) vs Zinoviev and Kamenev, later Trotsky.
Ideologies: Du - NEP. Z,K,T = rapid industrialisation

At first - Z and K launched offensive with 'Foundations of Leninism' but this was soon forgotten.

A) Bukharin
- Damn good powerbase: popular with the party.
- Wiped out Z + K's theories of world revolution: used examples such as Finnish Communist failures and Spartacist Uprising.

B) General Secretary
- By now, nearly fully manifested - packed full of Stalin's delegates.
- 559 to 65: Z and K defeated.
Why is this so significant? Because regardless of the Scissors Crisis, Z and K were still wiped out. You think thats amazing? Wait until you hear the next bit.

C) Ideologies
- Socialism in One Country proved popular due to feelings of nationalism.

BUT BUT BUT
Events occurred that reinvigiorated the Left - rise of the British Labour Party, Kulak Grain Strike, Scissors Crisis etc and War Scare. Ttrosky returns with Z and K.

A) General Secretary
- DESTROYS Z, K and T.
- Even though popular with the public and some of the party - delegates crushed them.
Demonstrative of even though ideologies were strong, Stalin could do anything with his power.

B) Trotsky's errors
- Factionalism - was banned and this caused Cult of Lenin uproar.

Conclusion - GENSEC!!!

Stage 3 - Stalin vs Bukharin
Ideologies: Stalin = rapid indust vs Bukharin = NEP.

A) Pragmatism
- Adopting the Left's policies - appeal to the Left.

Clash of the powerbases.
Bukharin's Powerbase
- Rykov and Tomsky - head of state and trade union control.
- He controllled the media.
- popular with the public
- NEP "at a snail's pace".
Stalin's Powerbase
- Total control of delegates.

So what happened?
B) General Secretary
- Weakened him with this.

C) Current events/ideology
- He was supported - Scissors Crisis.

D) Stalin
- Accused Bukharin of Menshevism/Trotskyism when he showed distaste for bureaucracy
- Book - 'An Introuducton to the Study of Leninism' - short and easy to read.

Despite Bukharin's powerbase, WIPED HIM OUT with gen sec -- were some other good points though, but all linked back to Stalin.

Final COnclusion
Through the first, second and third stages, Stalin had ousted his rivals by his own cunning and his crucial powerbase - control over the "party machine". He also had pragmatism ( "at any given moment he will change his tehories in order to get rid of someone" - Bukharin) and luck on his side - indeed, other people did sme of the work for him and others made mistakes.
Yes, Gen Sec was crucial but without others he would not have been able to do it. Regardless, the "grey blur" of Stalin had won without mass purges, or control of the media etc - on 50th birthday he had secured power and his reign of terror could begin.

Potential qus - How far was Gen Sec responsible for Stalin's victory? How far were Trotsky's misjudgements the reason for his failure? How far were ideologies the key to Stalins success? etc

Reply 138

GEOGEDEXCELHELP

A-Man!

D4 is coming... slowly but surely.

:biggrin:

ledgeeeeeeeenddd

Reply 139

sh2009

Just smashed D3....about to start D4 now...

Thanks for everyones info over the few days, its been a BIG help

I'm learning some good quotes from historians to boost my marks, Richard Pipes and Norman Stone are two good ones, if anyone needs relevant quotes posting, just reply!

Good luck tomorrow everyone!