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Lenin - essay help pleease!

"Lenin was a totalitarian dictator who ruled by terror alone" Discuss.

can anyone help me with this? like ideas to right about? thanks! :smile:
Reply 1
Avatar for Oladz
Oladz
15
Yes:
Police state-
Secret Police
Labour Camps
disregarding the democratic election results where the peasant party beat the communist party

No:
Other methods of ruling (other than terror) - Propaganda
"He wasnt a totalitarian dictator" - Influence of the Soviets (especially during 1917 revolution)

That should get you started
Reply 2
Avatar for SnowAngel
SnowAngel
2
mollymoles
"Lenin was a totalitarian dictator who ruled by terror alone" Discuss.

can anyone help me with this? like ideas to right about? thanks! :smile:


Do a plan, expand and then write

Intro

Give all the reason that would say he was
one paragraph for each point

Give reasons that would he wasn't


Conclusion
Make a judgement...maybe he was a bit of both?
Reply 3
Avatar for Undiscovery
Undiscovery
mollymoles
"Lenin was a totalitarian dictator who ruled by terror alone" Discuss.

can anyone help me with this? like ideas to right about? thanks! :smile:


This is quite a nice question. Remember at A Level, they are looking for balance but with an overall conclusion.

Address the question FIRST. i.e. discuss the argument that he was a totalitarian dictator. (Read his biography , the big red one , it has lots and lots of juicy information about the Red Terror). Talk about the Cheka, their tactics. Maybe suggest that through terror he was able to consolidate changes in state policy and the tightening up of bureaucracy/political opponents. Grain requisitioners often implemented terror at a local level, even burning entire villages.

Then have a transitional statement/paragraph admitting that the stronger argument is arguably that he was dictatorial to some extent, but he did a lot for Russia especially through the NEP after the Kronstadt Revolt that basically highlighted early failures of policies like grain-requisitioning. The most important factor is that by his death in 1924 (?) he had pretty much reversed the devastated economy, and a great way to end this essay would be to suggest that had he lived for longer, he may have led an even more prosperous Russia (great suggestion for subtle historiography).

With the historiography, try not to be too over the top and simplistic about it. Avoid statements like ''Revisionist historians say this blah blah etc.'' Be more subtle and analytical. e.g. ''Western view is that Lenin was a terror-obsessed dictator which is made evident by the fact he ordered the execution of the kulaks...''

Good luck, and if you have any more questions or suggestions for extra reading, just pm me.
Cheka.. (secret police)

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