Essays

‘Trotsky’s contribution to the Bolsheviks seizure of power in 1917 was greater than that of Lenin’. Assess the validity of this view:

How significant were the actions of the army in the revolution of February/March, 1917?

‘The two revolutions of February/March 1917 and October/November 1917 were the result of Russia’s involvement in WW1’ Assess the validity of this view

How significant was Lenin’s leadership in the October Revolution?

To what extent had Bolshevik authority been established in Russia by the end of 1917?

‘The increased strength of the Bolsheviks by September 1917 owed more to the weaknesses of rivals than to Lenin’s political skill’ Assess the validity of this view

‘The loss of royal authority by early 1917 was mostly due to Tsar Nicholas II’s decision to make himself Commander in Chief in 1915’ Assess the validity of this view

How important were unity and organisation to the Red victory in the Civil War in the years 1918 to 1921?

‘From the revolution of October/November 1917 to the new constitution of July, 1918, Lenin’s only aim was to establish a one-party state’ Assess the validity of this view?

How far was the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War due to Trotsky’s leadership of the Red Army?

‘In the years 1918 to 1924 Communist Russia was completely isolated in Europe’ Assess the validity of this view?

To what extent does Bolshevik ideology explain why the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed?

To what extent did the Civil War change how the USSR was governed?

‘By March, 1921, the Bolsheviks still had only a fragile grip on power’ Assess the validity of this view for the years 1918 to 1921.

How successful was the NEP in solving the USSR’s economic and social problems in the years 1921 to 1928?

‘by 1924, Lenin had succeeded in solving the major problems that had face the Bolshevik regime in 1917’ Assess the validity of this view.

‘Ideology was of little importance to Stalin in his determination to win the power struggle in the years 1924 to 1929’ Assess the validity of this view.

To what extent was Stalin’s success in the power struggle after Lenin’s death due to Trotsky’s errors of judgement?

To what extent was the First Five-Year Plan more successful than the New Economic Policy in improving Soviety industrial performance?