+

Lenin Vs. StalinBronna Gurevich and Hailey

Phillips

+Vladimir Lenin

May 4th 1870- January 21st 1924

+Young Lenin

Son of Ilya Nikolaevich Ulyanov and Maria Alexandrovna Ulyanova.

When Lenin went on to study law at the University of Kazan, he was exposed to radical thinking and would interact with members of the revolutionary group, which caused his expulsion.

Influenced by teachings of Karl Marx, who believed in an international revolution of the lower-class workers (proletariat) who would lead the way to a new system of power, where property would be owned by the workers and not by an individual.

1895: Exiled to Siberia for involvement in revolutionary activities after moving to St. Petersburg to promote.

+Beginning of Political Career

March 1898: formed the Social Democratic Party, Russia’s first Marxist political party.

1900: after the exile, he went to Europe and met Plekhanov. Together they created the newspaper “Iskra” or “Spark”, which targeted the economists and polices of serving the capitalists. They accused the policy framers of ignoring the interest of the masses. It later became the official journal of the Social Democratic Labor Party.

1903: Lenin’s party became known as the Bolsheviks after a difference of opinion between him and his friend Jues Martov, who became the Mensheviks.

1917: Revolution broke out and Lenin led his group to control the government.

1907: Monarch crushed the revolutions, and Lenin was sent to exile. Until the revolutions of 1917, he spent the majority of his time exiled in Europe.

+October Revolution

Led October Revolution- coup d’etat

After almost 3 years of civil war, Bolsheviks took over the country

November 8, 1917, Lenin was elected as the Chair of the Council of People’s Commissars by the Russian Congress of Soviets.

+Economic Policies

Lenin was ruthless and pragmatic

Introduced: New Economic Policy: measure of private enterprise was

permitted to revive the declining economy of Russia Policies included government’s seizing of land from its

owners and redistributing it to the peasants, forming a peace treaty with Germany, and the nationalization of banks and industry

Concerned with creating a free health care system From 1919 to 1921 famine and typhus (an infectious

disease) left over 27 million people dead

+Lenin’s Death

1918 he survived an assassination attempt

May 1922: suffered first stroke

Last two years of he life he tried to correct some extremes of the regime

Tried to ensure that Trotsky and not Stalin succeeded him

Failed > Stalin was far too clever and astute

1923> paralyzed and speechless from another stroke

Died of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 21, 1924

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+Joseph Stalin

+Young Stalin

Stalin was born into a dysfunctional family. Grew up in a modest household, and as a child contracted smallpox, and was teased by other children. Contributed to Stalin’s intense need for respect.

He was sent to study at the Tiflis Thelogical Seminary, never completed his education, as he became in involved in the city’s Marxist underground, and was expelled.

Worked at first as a private tutor, and later as a clerk, all while remaining devoted to his revolutionary ideals.

+Beginning of Political Career

Stalin joined the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1898.

Although he was never an intellectual like Trotsky or Lenin, he worked on the home front to support the cause by distributing illegal literature and helping to organize workers in demonstrations and strikes.

In 1912, Stalin as appointed by Lenin to the first Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party. He also edits the Bolshevik newspaper, Pravda.

Stalin did not have a huge part in the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, he is appointed General Secretary by Lenin, a seemingly unimportant position, but which allowed him to appoint people and build support.

+Ascent To Power

When Lenin had a stroke, Stalin formed a troika with Kamenev and Zinoviev.

Lenin recovers and asserts power, saying that “Stalin is too rude”. Lenin did not believe that Stalin was well suited for a position of power.

The Party did not act in favor of Lenin’s warnings, and Stalin remained general secretary after Lenin’s death.

The troika again became powerful, but Stalin eventually breaks with the other too members.

+Stalin’s Purges Stalin ended up in a fit of paranoia,

destroying all of the old leaders of the Party, using a methodical divide and conquer approach.

After exiling did not work, Stalin held a vast amount of false trials, where he would trick the defendant into admitting that they were and “enemy of the people”, and then would be executed.

The purges scoured much deeper then top party members, and at least one million people were executed for political offenses.

The purges left Stalin at the very top of the Communist party, and as virtually the only one with any power at all.

+Stalin’s Policies

Stalin invoked five-year plans upon the people, in which he sought rapid industrialization, and forcefully collectivized the agriculture.

The Soviet Union did succeed in creating Stalin’s desired industry, but about 14.5 million people died because of it.

There was massive famine among peasants, because Stalin was exporting too much food, creating the worst ever man made famine.

+Stalin During WWII

Made a non-aggression pact with Hitler, consisting of an agreement to divide Poland and leave each other alone. Stalin trusted Hitler and did not listen to warning that the Wehrmacht was planning to attack.

The Soviet army was unprepared and was defeated multiple times when the attack did come. The military had been purged, and was severely lacking in brainpower.

Eventually the Red Army did regroup and pushed Hitler back.

During post-war negotiations Stalin argued alongside Roosevelt and Churchill, and urged that Eastern Europe would be under communist power.

The Soviet Union emerged as a great power.

+Stalin’s Death

In 1953 a plot to kill Stalin was discovered within the Kremlin, and a new purge seemed to be on the horizon.

Stalin’s health was steadily deteriorating, and the purge never occurred because he died.

Supposedly, there is some debate as to the promptness with which a doctor was called after Stalin originally fell ill, and whether his death could have been prevented, but wasn’t because the people closest to him were afraid of becoming victims of the next great purge.

+

+Bibliography

http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/vladimir-lenin-96.php

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Vladimir_Ilyich_Lenin.aspx

http://www.slideshare.net/jheiser/stalin-and-lenin-venn-diagram

http://www.marxists.org/archive/foster/1939/12/stalin.htm

http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/bios/all_bio_joseph_stalin.htm

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSstalin.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml

http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/stalin.html