comparison of Stalin and Lenin Flashcards
how did they both enable the liberation of women?
Lenin:
•divorce and abortions were more accessible
•more educated
Stalin:
•number of women in education doubled
•3 million women workers in 1928 compared to 13 million in 1940
•made up 43% of the industrial workforce
similarities in their political systems
both sought total economic, intellectual and political authority
what did the party look like under them?
both had a one party state
•Lenin had limited membership
•Stalin had a large membership
what did Stalin and Lenin prioritise?
•Lenin prioritised communism
•Stalin prioritised his own personal power
when did Lenin believe violence was necessary?
•in order to overthrow governments
•stalin used it to secure his own power
in what way was Lenin more liberal than Stalin?
•Lenin advertised for women’s rights and legalised gay relationships
•Stalin recriminalised homosexuality and made it a punishable offence with 5 years of forced labour
how did they use political structures?
•Under Lenin, policy was debated in the Politburo
•Under Stalin he predominantly dictated his own policy
how did they both feel about democracy?
neither of them wanted a democracy
what shows that neither stalin or lenin wanted a democracy?
lenin: closed the constituent assembly when the bolsheviks didn’t get a majority, banned factions in 1921
stalin: believed in the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’, purged political opponents
what do both lenin and stalin do in terms of constitutions?
•they both introduce new constitutions
(Lenin- 1918 and 1922), Stalin in 1936
•on the surface it looks as though they’re creating more democratic rights and freedom of speech but in reality these were largely ignored
how does lenin change his policies to secure his leadership?
•after the civil war (1921) lenin realised that war communism will lead to his position being threatened as the Kronstadt sailors rebel against him
•he then changes his policy to the NEP to help him maintain power
how does stalin change his policy to help secure leadership?
he moves away from the NEP in order to distance himself from Bukharin and the right of the party so that he can establish unchallenged authority in the politburo
what structures put in place by lenin does stalin continue and extend?
•the one party state and centralised control are continued and extended by stalin
•he also continued to use the nomenklatura to ensure all party members are trusted
what did lenin do in terms of his cult of personality?
•the cult of lenin was created by stalin to help him win the power struggle
•lenin did not view the creation of a cult as being true to his marxist roots and believed far more in a dictatorship of the proletariat using an elite revolutionary force
what did stalin do in terms of his cult of personality?
•stalin creates his own cult and by the end of WW2 has created a god-like image
•stalin was seen as a man whose decisions could never be questioned
evidence that lenin was more pragmatic than stalin
•lenin was ready to chance his policies if his previous ones were not working (like the NEP and greater liberalisation)
•Stalin was fixed in his policies- as evidenced by his continuation of ‘terror’ even after the victory in the second world war
