While Stalin focused almost purely on building Russia as an important world power, he was sacrificing both the liberties and lives of millions of Russian people. ... Russia had advanced as slightly more hopeful economic power but Stalin had seriously halted Russia's advance in terms of living standards. ... Propaganda was extensively used to instil pride and a series of goals among the working people in the towns. ... Although they do not relate directly to Russia's advance the purges represent the final end of any civil liberties held by the Russian people. ... Russia most certai...

• Word Count: 1086
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The Russian Revolution of October 1917 can be seen as the first great surge of the future USSR. ... " Some historians stress that NEP was a step backwards in terms of development, Richard Pipes for example argues that Lenin's introduction of NEP could be described as a declaration of defeat, suggesting that "Lenin repeatedly had to defend the NEP and insist that the revolution was on course. Deep in his heart, however, he was haunted by a sense of failure"[6] Pipes argues that NEP was a step backwards from true communism, pushing Russia further away in terms of its develop...

• Word Count: 1841
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

From his youth Stalin decided upon the kind of regime he ultimately wished to put in force within Russia. ... This revolution was primarily concerned with making the Soviet Union strong and powerful enough to withstand any external threat. ... Stalin saw the Kulaks as a threat to the enforcement of his agricultural policy and in turn to his revolution. ... As a result 2.1 million Kulaks were exiled from Russia, 2.5 million were resettled and another 1.5 million fled to other regions. ... Russian production increased by 250% between 1929 and 1933. ...

• Word Count: 2410
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Here, people were forced into communal areas where farmers had to grow crops and also produce steel and iron for infrastructure projects. ... Collectivization policies produced famines in both China and Russia. ... The social revolution portrayed by the Culture Revolution and the necessity to get rid of the four olds: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits and Old Ideas. ... Perhaps Mao's most important social policy was the push to educate the people of China. In 1949 only 10% of people were literate and there was no standardized form of writing making it even harder to become educated. ...

• Word Count: 1642
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Conflict and mistrust between the West and the Soviet Union is possible to trace as far back as 1917 when the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia led to the creation of the world's first communist state. ... The official ideology of the USSR stated the inevitability of conflict with western capitalist states and class struggle would lead to a world revolution. ... (Berlin would be in the Russian zone). ... It was agreed that Russia should get Polish territory east of the Curzon line, land taken from Bolshevik Russia in 1921). ... These terms recognized the government that Soviet occupants...

• Word Count: 3287
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: Undergraduate