Communist Russia

Question 1

Structurialist Approach on Stalin’ Rise to power

Answer 1

Stalin was a product of Russia’s circumstances. A strong ruler was required because the country was emerging from nearly a decade of war

Question 2

Robert Conquest

Answer 2

(Continuity between Lenin and Stalin) Lenin created the single party dictatorship and system of terror, which Stalin continued.

Question 3

Stephen Cohen

Answer 3

Communism would have developed in a less brutal way if someone else had succeeded Lenin. Stalin distorted Lenin’s legacy by using terror as a normal feature in his state, whereas Lenin used terror temporarily during the Civil War

Question 4

Orthodox view on Stalin’s Purges

Answer 4

Stalin is responsible for the purges, and intended to cause them.

Question 5

Revisionists on Stalin’s purges

Answer 5

The purges were a results of a system and a tradition. Stalin’s predecessors had used terror, and Stalin merely continued this system.

Question 6

Arch Getty on the purges

Answer 6

It is wrong to simply blame Stalin’s paranoia for the purges; Other members of the party supported the purges because they could thereby eliminate rivals of their own