russia

RUNNING HEAD : Russia

Russia

Name

Institution Russia "Though the Soviet Union might be characterized as a radical departure from the old Tsarist regime , in fact , it 's policies and style of government were simply a continuation of the policies begun by Peter the Great

I agree with this statement . The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 was launched with the goal of overthrowing the corrupt autocracy of the centuries-old Tsarist regime . The goal of the Bolsheviks , under the charismatic and visionary leadership of Vladimir Lenin was to create a dictatorship of

the proletariat , give power to the people in pursuit of their long-term goal of attaining a classless ' communist society . In a strange stroke of irony , the Bolsheviks , later known as Soviets to the outside world , were practicing the same policies of the Tsars beginning with Peter the Great in terms of consolidating state power and expanding the state (Lovell , 2009 ,

. 29

The Bolsheviks , following Marx 's program , attempted to use the state as an instrument to bring order out of the chaos caused by the revolution as well as eliminate the last vestiges of the old regime which could derail or undermine its efforts . As a result , they resorted to repressive tactics which was also practiced by the Tsars in order to maintain their hold on power . The direction of the Soviet Union changed upon the death of Lenin and with the ascension of Stalin . Under Stalin (1924-1953 , the Soviet Union became a totalitarian state which Stalin ran as a...