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history essay about russia
world history russian revolution
world history russian revolution
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The Political Past, Present, and Future of Russia Russia never associated as a democracy in anyone's mind. It had always
been an authoritarian regime of different species and developed a
mentality, which creates an almost unsurpassable obstacle for
democratic development. Unlike Britain, which took gradual and
methodical steps towards democracy, Russia always had abrupt and
extreme changes that always created chaos and significantly slowed
down the development of the democratic system. By the end of the 20th
century Russia finally embarked on a pragmatic course towards
democracy, however it certainly prognosis a long establishment.
Russia's history and culture traces back for over a thousand years,
which left deep marks in the mentality of Russian people and certainly
had a great impact in Russia's political and cultural development.
Russia was always somewhat different from most of the European
countries; it was isolated by different political principals and
convictions.
From the early historical development Russia took a different route
from the rest of Europe. It adopted the orthodox religion from the
Byzantine Empire and became the center of orthodoxy, the main religion
of present Russian Federation, while most European states had Roman
Catholicism. Besides religion Russia also acquired the Cyrillic
alphabet that is still used today, instead of Latin alphabet that was
used throughout Western Europe. However, the biggest difference
between Rus...
... middle of paper ...
...o gear political development to a
dictatorship.
It is rather difficult to tell precisely where Putin's polity and
actions will take Russia in the future. Will he develop a democracy or
turn back to autocracy? Might sound a little poetic, but realistically
speaking Russia is still far to match the examples of western
democracies. The long established historical influence and mentality
must be cleared away through generations and generations, before the
people would be ready to accept democracy. For now Russia should
attempt to make smart choices, which would push it towards the
democratic dream. Who knows, maybe a several decades years later our
great grandchildren would be writing papers and doing studies on the
great Russian phenomenon: The great transition from complete autocracy
to a most successful democracy.
...oved to be singularly influential and daunting. This is, perhaps, the greatest obstacles to achieving true democracy in Russia—the authoritarian and repressive traditions that refuse to die out with the passage of time.
on or not. It is impossible to say how much effect the war had of the
The USSR under Gorbachov and Russia, first under Yeltsin and then under Putin provide evidence of a slow but definite move away from many of the pillars of the Soviet Union. These developments are in the broad areas of governmental ideology, economic systems and the party’s dictatorship and authoritarian control. While addressing these main ideas, it is important to acknowledge that reformation and development does not necessarily imply a shift toward Western systems, rather is a move to a system that works effectively in the nation being studied, here immediately pre dissolution USSR and Russia since that time.
The Stability of Russia in 1914 In 1914 Russia's stability was questionable; the Tsar's regime had been under considerable strain due to the unsuccessful uprising in 1905. The Tsar still had the support of the army, which helped to put down many attempts at revolution. However, there was still brewing resentments about the harsh conditions of the Tsar's government that threatened to explode at any time. The peasantry made up a huge proportion of the population and the stability of the Russia depended on their compliance. There had been growing peasant resentments over noble ownership and this resulted in the peasants trying to overthrow the landowners.
Russia has undergone many changes since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It has gone through many key changes both politically and economically. The Russian government lies in between a democratic and a totalitarian system, with dissatisfaction from many of the citizens. Economically Russia’s transition has been more successful, but many of the citizen’s are in poverty and have low standards of living. In conclusion, the transition from the communist model a democratic, free market oriented model has not gone smoothly and has not been successful.
...eved this state of mind through the geography, history and traditions of the nation. Russia, although having geography, history and traditional values standing against it, has made a significant effort to preserve strong features of democracy through recent decades. Bibliography Grudzinska-Gross, Irena. The Scar of Revolution: Custine, Tocqueville, and the Romantic Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. Gustafson, Thane, and Daniel Yergin. Russia 2010. New York: Random, 1993. Heywood, Andrew. Political Ideas and Concepts. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. McDaniel, Tim. The Agony of the Russian Idea. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996. Melvin, Neil. Russians Beyond Russians. London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1995. Rzhevsky, Nicholas. Cambridge Companion to Modern Russian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
"For hundreds of years, dictators have ruled Russia. Do they still? In the late 1980s, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev launched a series of political reforms that eventually allowed for competitive elections, the emergence of an independent press, the formation of political parties, and the sprouting of civil society. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, these proto-democratic institutions endured in an independent Russia" (McFual). However history has shown how Russia has always been an anti-democratic country; power having shifted to authoritarian rule under both the Communists and the Russian Tsars. Under the previous authoritarian rule, Russian citizens were stripped of their rights and freedoms, but in t...
Autocracy-A government system, where a person or group has total power over a country. The Russian autocrat at the time of the emancipation of the serfs was Alexander the Second who was assassinated.
Russia is generally apportioned the benefit of having introduced a political phenomenon that basically provided an alternative for capitalism; communism. Since this concept was only set in motion at the turn of the 20th century, we can therefore deduce that, to a large extent, Russia is, to most people, synonymous with leaders such as Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, and Gorbachev. This supposition is entirely based on the premise that the Russian revolution of 1914 inherently altered the socio-cultural and socio-political direction of the nation, bringing into birth a never before envisioned era where Russia was not ruled by the Tsars, but by simple men; men who spoke to and articulated the needs of the masses. To this extent, communism, therefore, is largely misconceived as having been the fulcrum of Russia’s civilization. Much of this misconception , as signaled earlier, is based on the growth and progression of the Russian society in the years after the revolution until 1990, when the Berlin wall fell, essentially bringing down with it decades of Soviet Union tradition based on communism.
In an era of discord, chaos, and bloodlust, Russia had temporarily lost its position as an orderly country on the world map. Many events, like the unpopularity of
The Russian Revolution was a turning point in history because it tried to use communism as its main principal. “Communism is the riddle of history solved, and it knows itself to be this solution” (Marx Quotes: Quotes from Karl Marx and Frederick Engels). In a communist society, everyone in that society receives equal shares of the benefits derived from labor. In a communist nation, there would be a classless society, and everyone would be happy to share their wealth. The government would own all means of production, and the government would redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor. The Russian revolution started due to the lack of food in Russia, and the huge difference between the rich and the poor. The Russian people were also mad that Czar Nicholas II was keeping Russia in war. Thousands of Russian soldiers were being killed every week. At the end of the war, around 1,700,000 soldiers died (WWI Casualty and Death Tables). At least 1,500,000 Russians and possibly up to more than 5 million Russians were wounded. (WWI -- Russia).
The Fall of Tsarism in Russia Some sources suggest that autocracy is outdated and the reason for the collapse of Tsarist Russia. However, other sources suggest that without the complications of war, Russia may have prospered. Tolstoy and Kokovstov both have conflicting views. Tolstoy the pessimist, believed that autocracy was an outdated form of government not suited to 20th Century Russia. However Kokovstov the optimist thought that Russia would have prospered if it wasn't for the Great War.
Russia in the 1930s By 1928, Stalin had ousted Trotsky and the rest of the Left opposition. In four years, Stalin had single handedly taken major steps away from Lenin’s collective leadership and free inter-party debate and replaced them with his autocratic dictatorship. Stalin began to secure predominant power over the communist party and the state by destroying passive opposition from the peasantry and former Lenin supporters. He won growing support from the working class, who were impressed with the initial five-year plan. It promised increased industrialization, which would lead to socialism in one country within their lifetime.
Many people wonder why some countries, like Russia, are the way they are today. What most people do not realize is that most of these countries have gone through many changes in government and society. The Russian Revolution was one of the most significant events because of how is changed not only Russia's government, but also the whole country.
Circumstances in post-revolution Russia (civil war, foreign intervention) meant the establishment of a dictatorship was easy. Communists believed that despite society's need to exchange goods, the Capitalist system wouldn't ever be capable of distributing goods fairly, therefore leading to exploitation of the working class, eventually sparking revolution.