Individual & Society: Stalin ~ Hitler ~ Mussolini
The relationship between the individual and society in Europe in the early 20th century, as it pertained to Fascism, Nazism, and Totalitarianism, was based primarily on the fact that there was no individual in the eyes of the state. Individual liberties and expressions were eliminated in order to improve the welfare of the country. Leaders taught conventional ideals and murdered enemies, so as to create one state, composed of individuals whose lives were involuntarily centered around the creation of that State.
In 1922, Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Russian Communist party, suffered the first of many strokes that would relieve him of his authority. After leading the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, Lenin had established Communism to reinstate order in the crumbling Russia and protect the rights of the oppressed proletariat. He believed that, only in a Communist society, "'the state ceases to exist,' and 'it becomes possible to speak of freedom.'"1 Lenin stood by the idea that Communism would "render the state absolutely unnecessary" because "no one in the sense of a class" would be suppressed.2
Lenin's successor, Josef Stalin, took the elimination of proletarian suppression to extremes. Stalin and Leon Trotsky-who was with Lenin in forming the Russian Revolution and led the Red Army in the Civil War of 1918-vied for leadership of the Communist party after Lenin's stroke. Although Trotsky seemed to be the inevitable successor, Stalin's status as general secretary of the Communist party gave him "control over the administrative levers of the party" and "allowed him to eliminate all rivals."3 Stalin relieved Trotsky of his authority in the Communist party and exiled him t...
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...e Hall, 1996), 263.
2. Ibid., p. 264.
3. Ibid., p. 266.
4. Ibid., p. 267.
5. Ibid., p. 272.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid., p. 279.
8. Ibid.
9. Ibid., p. 283.
10. Ibid., p. 284.
11. Donald Kagan, et al, The Western Heritage, Brief Edition, Volume II, Since 1715
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), 644.
12. Ibid., p. 646.
13. Perry M. Rogers, Aspects of Western Civilization: Problems and Sources in History.
(Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996), 300-301.
14. Ibid., p. 301.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid.
17. Donald Kagan, et al, The Western Heritage, Brief Edition, Volume II, Since 1715
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), 653.
18. Perry M. Rogers, Aspects of Western Civilization: Problems and Sources in History.
(Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1996), 316.
19. Ibid., p. 328.
Individualism developed with the gradual transfer of power from large establishments to the individual and his rights and opportunities as a member of society. The importance and power of the individual was not fully realized until ideas were transformed through the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the rise of capitalism. These movements helped Europe realize the latent potential within an individual. Until such progressive movements occurred, the individual was neglected. Today, one man can cause the downfall of a hundred because of his individual power—this is directly related to many of the changes that begun in the fourteenth century. In fact without such transformations, the world would not stand as we know it today.
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. As it promised increased industrialization, which would lead to socialism in one country within their lifetime.
Because fascism has been practiced in a variety of locations, at differing points in history, with no specific guidelines, every seemingly practical definition of fascism is simply too limiting to serve as a proper definition. Furthermore, to speak of fascism in generalizations prohibits one from truly understanding the completely confused concept. To avoid such generalizations, one must look at fascism as it was found in specific examples. Such examples include, Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany. Although these two instances are not all encompassing of the ideology, they exhibit fascism to the greatest proportions. Additionally, these instances allow one to get a vivid and practical notion to what fascism truly is.
Following the beginning of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union would start what would become two of the worst genocides in world history. These totalitarian governments would “welcome” people all across Europe into a new domain. A domain in which they would learn, in the utmost tragic manner, the astonishing capabilities that mankind possesses. Nazis and Soviets gradually acquired the ability to wipe millions of people from the face of the Earth. Throughout the war they would continue to kill millions of people, from both their home country and Europe. This was an effort to rid the Earth of people seen as unfit to live in their ideal society. These atrocities often went unacknowledged and forgotten by the rest of the world, leaving little hope for those who suffered. Yet optimism was not completely dead in the hearts of the few and the strong. Reading Man is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag by Janusz Bardach and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi help one capture this vivid sense of resistance toward the brutality of the German concentration and Soviet work camps. Both Bardach and Levi provide a commendable account of their long nightmarish experience including the impact it had on their lives and the lives of others. The willingness to survive was what drove these two men to achieve their goals and prevent their oppressors from achieving theirs. Even after surviving the camps, their mission continued on in hopes of spreading their story and preventing any future occurrence of such tragic events. “To have endurance to survive what left millions dead and millions more shattered in spirit is heroic enough. To gather the strength from that experience for a life devoted to caring for oth...
Trotsky played a key role in the Bolshevik party, encouraging revolution, which saw the Bolsheviks gain power in 1917. He built up a strong Red Army during the civil war, used to ensure the survival of the Bolshevik government and was seen by many as the most likely candidate to take over as leader after Lenin’s death, showing the significance he was held in by Russians. However, evidence suggests that after Lenin’s death he lost his a considerable amount of power, eventually being exiled from the Communist party. In the short-term it is clear that Trotsky had a huge significance in the development of Russia, shown clearly through both his letters and documents, and the opinions of those close to Trotsky. The significance is obvious through his role in the build up to the October Revolution, his negotiations with Germany through the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, his contribution to Bolshevik success in the civil war and his attitude towards terror and his failure to out maneuver Stalin to succeed Lenin.
Fascism is defined as, “an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization.” Peter Hyland reports that throughout the 1920s and the 1930s, an economic depression was growing and becoming widespread throughout the world. People were losing faith in their democracies and in capitalism. Leaders who gained power supported powerful militarism, nationalism, and initiated the return of an authoritarian rule. J.R. Oppenheimer says that the rise of fascism and totalitarianism in Europe and Russia instigated a “critical step on the path to war.”
Stalin continued even once he was successful in accomplishing those goals, as he did not stop hurting people, but if anything it gave him more power to hurt people even more. But, at the end of the day, although Lenin ruled for only a very short time, he did raise the standard of living, though there maintained a large amount of hardship. Stalin, however, transformed the USSR from a peasantry to an industrialized nation in less than a decade, he did it on the backs of his millions of victims, who died because of his harsh policies and many purges. Lenin made a series of policies throughout the beginning of the Revolution and through his short time in public office that came to be collectively known as ‘Leninism’. There were many things that influenced Leninism, such as Karl Marx.
The accumulation of these factors centred on Lenin's leadership helped stamp Bolshevik power across the Soviet Union. Lenin’s pragmatic leadership was the most considerable factor in helping to fortify Bolshevik power. His willingness to take power in October/November 1917 and the successes of the move, through his right-hand man, Trotsky, was critical as it helped give him unquestioned authority within the party despite members of the Central Committee i.e. Zinoviev and Kamenev suggested industrialisation needed to occur first. This highlighted Lenin’s communist ideology, which was essential to the Bolsheviks maintaining power. Following the failure of the Provisional Government, Lenin recognised that it was the Bolshevik’s priority to legitimise their government.
Vladimir Illich Lenin was the first individual to put Marxist ideologies to work. In April 1917 Lenin returned to Russia from his exile in Switzerland to give his 'April Theses.' It was here that Lenin outlined how his revolution was to take place, the Bolshevik Revolution began on November 6 1917. Within a week the Bolsheviks were in control of most of European Russia, and immediately Lenin ordered that the Russians abandon the war against Germany. After abandoning her allies in World War One the Russians were hurled into a civil war. It is here that we first see the ideologies of Totalitarianism and Democracy clash. The democracies of Britain, France, and the United States all sent troops to Russia in the support of the 'Whites,' or enemies of the Bolsheviks. Lenin took the poor country of Russia and turned it into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or U.S.S.R. Through his policies of War Communism and its replacement the NEP Lenin was able to stand the newly formed U.S.S.R. on its own two feet. One of Lenin's ideas was 'International Socialism,' it was under this idea that he set up the Comintern with the purpose of spreading communism throughout the world. His successor, Josef Stalin took a different approach in his ideas of 'Socialism in one country."
Lenin lead the first communist government in russia . When communist took over the city of petrograd , they decided to take out the provisional government . “Peace, bread and land” and “All power to the soviets” was said by Lenin to the cities workers with sayings such as these 2. In lenin's eyes he claimed that workers will and can not , be governed by themselves. Lenin promised to the Soviets that he would get his soldiers out of war plus he granted land ownership to the peasants and also gave them a opportunity to own shops in Soviet . The actual revolution only lasted two days. Trotsky had planned this and it was perfect execution . Trotsky held a speech in the city of petrograd to distract them while the red guards took over important parts of petrograd. Almost everything possible was captured. Lenin was like a spy during this revolution, he had to find the leaders of the provisional government and arrest them . At this time Alexander Kerensky was the president of the provisional
After the death of Lenin, his chief lieutenant Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin fought for control of the country. Stalin was able to win out over Trotsky and gain control of the Russian government. He felt that Lenin and Trotsky’s socialistic ideas were flawed in that they were to wait for other countries to revolt and become socialistic as well. Staling believed that a single country could make socialism .
...nt the works of Marx. The result became a system where emotion triumphed over practicality, and the central message was blurred by the overthrow of the old regime. Thus, Lenin followed Marx in the general ideas of socialism, where everyone was equal under the law, and worked for each other and the common good. While Lenin’s system did manage to create a proletariat class, it also evoked the formation of the corrupt and power hungry Bolshevik Party. With regard to the Populists and Anarchists, Lenin was transformed into a revolutionary who would not stop at anything in the pursuit of Communism. Furthermore, Lenin followed to a lesser extent the Social Democrats and their views on the threat of the peasantry if they were not properly maintained. It is clearly evident that in following other philosophies, Lenin mutated Communism into a form unrecognizable to true Marxism
According to most historians, “history is told by the victors”, which would explain why most people equate communism with Vladimir Lenin. He was the backbone of Russia’s communist revolution, and the first leader of history’s largest communist government. It is not known, or discussed by most, that Lenin made many reforms to the original ideals possessed by many communists during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. He revised Karl Marx and Friedrich Engles’ theories to fit the so-called ‘backwardness’ of the Russian Empire. Lenin’s reforms were necessary to carry out a socialist revolution in Russia, and the contributions he made drastically changed the course of history. It can be assumed that, the Soviet Union would not have been as powerful if it was not for Lenin’s initial advocacy of violence and tight organization.
A power struggle for control of the Bolshevik party began after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924. Among the several contenders, two of the most important names in this struggle were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Ultimately, Stalin was able to secure power and vote out Trotsky. In the following essay I will discuss the reasons why Stalin rather than Trotsky emerged as the leader of the USSR in 1929.
After World War I, there were two men that rose up to control their government in their countries. One was Adolf Hitler who was put in charge of the German government, and the other was Benito Mussolini who was put in charge of the Italian government. Adolf Hitler was born in 1889, and according to the lecture was known as a failure for not finishing high school, or becoming an accomplished artist. While Mussolini was born in 1883, and was unknown until he came home a wounded soldier from the war. Mussolini would rise up and form the Fascist government focusing on being loyal to the state, and Hitler will rise up and control the Socialist German Workers Party, the Nazis. Both men are known for the change in history, and their change on the