In this selection from a conversation between Dmitri and Pyotr Ilyich, the dominant speaker, Dmitri, expressed complex and contradictory emotions than speak to his conflicted state of mind. In the first portion of his speech, the rapid pace of topic change, the jumpy, rushed tone, and sheer abundance of exclamation marks reflect Dmitri’s excited yet somewhat muddled state of mind. This reveals that the nonchalant exclamation “The pistols are nonsense too! Drink and stop imagining things,” is not simply directed at Pyotr, for the sake of ridding his friend’s mind of care and to convince him to join in drinking. He is simultaneously trying to convince himself to ignore “the nonsense,” to “stop imagining things,” to indulge in the moment.…
The Years of the Great War and the Great Communist Takeover The four year span of World War I caused the death of nearly 8 million civilians alone, and left many more handicapped or injured. The Russian Bolshevik takeover started a revolution that Russia is still feeling to this day. Russia’s descending into the communist lifestyle and the overall devastation that came along with World War I jolted the world out of its comfort zone and propelled us into the modern age, whether we were ready for it, or not.…
In order for the upper class to cut losses, the lower class had to suffer. Poverty of an individual would lead to suffering and a sense of unfairness where Karl Marx and Samuel…
Khrushchev initially raised hopes of a better political and economic future for the USSR through his secret speech. His shocking condemnation of Stalin’s reign of terror and seemingly more liberal intentions of peaceful co-existence gave the impression of a new, markedly successful era for the USSR. However, these expectations were quickly dashed through a series of counterproductive and unsuccessful policies, most notably his grand but ill-fated agricultural schemes. Khrushchev displayd a refreshing and new approach to politics that came as a jolting shock to those who had spent the twelve years under the rule of the excessively brutal and controlling Stalin. This was particularly evident in his initial secret speech, in which many believed his speaking out against Stalin to be a form of trap for his potential critics.…
Following Lenin’s death on 21st January 1924 there was a long struggle for power due to his failure to appoint a successor. Key candidates included victor Stalin as well as Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev and there were several separate fights with constant changing of alliances and sides. Stalin, who was able to manipulate the party machine, use the weakness of opposition to his advantage be pragmatic with his policies and ideology and employ a certain element of luck was victorious and despite this array of methods he used, his manipulation of the party machine was key to his success in the leadership struggle as he was able to combine his devious personality and powerful positions in the party to emerge triumphant. Stalin’s ability…
Marx’s Vision vs. USSR The Soviet Union had its roots in the Russian Revolution in 1917 in which the Bolsheviks, the majority of the Marxist Social Democratic Labour Party, defeated the provisional government and formed the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. This sparked a civil war in which the pro-revolutionists, or Communists who were former Bolsheviks, eventually prevailed over the counter-revolutionists in 1922 and established the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The leader of the Bolsheviks, Vladimir Lenin, assumed the position as head of the government. Lenin implemented many policies stemming from Marxist ideology, but they failed to come to full effect because of his death.…
In Animal Farm farmer Jones, who represents Tsar Nicholas II, was not feeding his farm animals. Old Major shared his dream of Animalism. Old Major is based on Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Marx came up with the idea of communism which was brought forth by Lenin. Like Lenin, Old major died before the revolution.…
The Russian Revolution was a major turning point in Russian history. Destructive, dangerous, harsh, and cruel are words that characterize the Russian Revolution. The Russian Revolution caused major political changes in Russia. The Russian Revolution had many negative outcomes, but it also had some positive outcomes. The Russian Revolution was a failure because there was a loss of many freedoms such as press, speech, and equality.…
The opposition in Russia opposed to Tsar Nicholas II autocratic style of before 1905 can be categorised into two main groups: Revolutionaries and Reformers (liberals). In turn the revolutionaries can be further divided into three distinct groups: Populists, Social Democrats and Social Revolutionaries. It has long been debated how much of a danger they posed to the tsardom, before 1905, which is what I shall be discussing. The Populists, who dated back to the 1870s, regarded that Russia’s future was in the hands of the Peasants.…
The cold war took place during the years 1945 and 1991 between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is known as the cold war because it never turned “hot,” which means that there was never any actual fighting between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. During these years, many important things happened, many things were invented, and World War III almost happened on many different occasions. On March 5, 1946, Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a speech which, essentially, kick-started the Cold War.1 While he was delivering his speech, he kept praising the United States, almost like he was buttering them up for something. It was clear that the main purpose of this speech was to try to form a closer bond with the United States. He spoke of a iron curtain that had fallen between Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.…
The process of discovering the ideological foundations of power systems in the world is profoundly linked to how gaining such knowledge is a product of transformation in both individuals and groups. This is evident in Guevara’s The Motorcycle Diaries (2004) and Becker’s tragicomic film Goodbye Lenin! (2003) where both protagonists and their environments undergo a process of political-self reflection. As Guevara encounters Latin American poverty he embraces communism and similarly, the protagonist in Becker’s film experiences political discovery as he preserves life in the GDR in order to keep the fall of the Berlin Wall as a secret to his ill mother.…
Steven Lee Myers wrote a book titled The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Putin which tells the life of Vladimir Putin. The book gives details about Putin’s experience in the KGB and his movement toward President of Russia. The book starts on the day of November 17 in 1941 with Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (Putin’s father) on a suicide mission to stop the German army from completely destroying the last Soviet fleet left to defend their nation. The setting was about thirty miles from Leningrad and Putin was to capture a German soldier to interrogate and gather some information from. Putin and some comrades were approaching a building filled with German soldiers and their orders were to infiltrate the building.…
The Tsarist regime in Russia had begun deteriorating in the early 1900s due to widespread political, social, and economic instability. Both the Russo-Japanese War and WW1 exacerbated the situation, leading to higher levels of discontent amongst the people. Below I will analyse the fall of Tsarist Russia from 3 aspects: the political, social, and economic before and after the wars, and explain how each of these factors played a crucial role in the collapse of the Tsarist regime. The extent of political instability in Tsarist Russia became apparent in the 1900s.…
Animal Farm People are fascinated by power. The reason for this is because power gives people authority over others, creating an inevitable imbalance. This imbalance has caused abuse throughout history. Books often illustrate inequality to show the flaws in human society. A book that demonstrates power is Animal Farm.…
Dr. Ivan Joseph’s speech he presented at TEDXRyersonU, displays many of the key fundaments of public speaking. By analyzing the organization of this speech, his physical and vocal attributes, and his appeals to the audience, one will be able to why his speech was so effective and enjoyable. Dr. Ivan Joseph is a former athletic director at a major university and through his TED talk, he explains how to be confident and build a better you. He breaks his speech down into four main points self-confidence, self-talk, positive reinforcement, and how to interpret feedback to make it useful to you.…