Joseph Stalin lived from 1879 till 1953. Stalin was one of the most ruthless communist dictators of all time. After Lenin's death, Stalin pushed his way to the top and was set out to make the Soviet Union into an industrial power. In 1928, Stalin proposed the Five Year Plans, which were t...

party, but only fourteen achieved their goal, including Gorbachev. He had a passion for the Communist Party, and he would not let his family get in the way of his work in the Communist party. For example, Gorbachev saw that some of his friends parents were a political disgrace and he called for the...

Why was there working class protest in East Germany in June 1953 The troubles in East Germany in June 1953 reached a peak on June 17th, when there were mass demonstrations and a General Strike throughout the German Democratic Republic. (G.D.R.). There has been many reasons cited for these protests...

Joseph Stalin was a Georgian Marxist revolutionary leader and later dictator of the USSR. He was born in Gori, Georgia. He studied at Tiflis Orthodox where he was expelled from in 1899. After joining a Georgian Social Democratic organization in 1898, he became active in a revolutionary undergroun...

Communism in Eastern Europe was a tragedy. It did do well in Eastern Europe for quite a while, however, it was doomed to failure. Communism was condemned due to lack of support from other nations, condemned due to the lack of an efficient solution to the economical failure, and condemned due to the ...

History has shown that strong individuals and revolutionary ideas can have a major impact on a country. Leaders are often driven by what they perceive as a desire to create a more perfect country. Frequently their egos and methods sway them from the realization of the ideals they set out to achi...

No nation has ever existed without some sense of national destiny or purpose. Manifest Destiny, a phrase used by leaders and politicians in the 1840s to explain continental expansion by the United States, revitalized a sense of "mission" for many Americans. Manifest Destiny, meaning "obvious or unde...

The Cuban revolutionaries, led by Fidel Castro, took over the Cuban government on December 2, 1959 and put a strict communist regime into effect. In the midst of the cold war, this Soviet ally so close to American soil is a major cause of fear. The revolution was the outcome of the oppressive rule...

The causes and reasons for the decline and ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union are many and of a vastly varying nature. Yet, despite the various schools of thought on this issue, these causes can generally be placed into two differing scopes, those being the domestic and international arenas. M...

Joseph Stalin was the soviet communist leader who's passing molded an era, and whose iron rule determined the lives of millions of people. Considering that he shaped the direction of post-World War II Europe, we may regard him as the most powerful person to live during the 20th c...

The victorious forces at the end of the war divided Germany into four zones. They also divided Berlin into four zones. Each of the victorious nations controlled one zone and one sector of Berlin. The Allies (Britain, America and France) ran their zones differently to the areas controlled by Russia...

Stalin and Industrialization in the 1930's For many countries in Europe during the early nineteen hundreds, industrialization had already left its mark and was considered widespread. Other countries were several steps behind such industrial powers as Great Britain. Their economies still dep...

Although many of his ideas did not bring the expected results, Nikita Khrushchev policies of de-Stalinization were politically wise. He went against many of Stalin's tyrannical policies and gave the people a much greater sense of freedom. In the process known as "de-Stalinization", legal proced...

"War! Good God ya'll! What is it good for?! Absolutely nothing! Listen to me!" To whomever have heard the lyrics of Edwin Starr's War is likely to have had some opinion formulated about how war is a destructive force in itself. In a world where power is absolute and idolized like an omnipotent force...

Through out history the world has seen strong and powerful individuals and revolutionary ideas that have come to have a major affect on a country. Leaders are usually driven by what they see as a desire to create a better and more perfect country. It seems that these leaders appear to have the p...

The Cold War was the term used to describe the intense rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of Communist and non Communist nations. It was called the cold war because it did not really result in fighting. According to the article on the cold war in the World Book 200...

THE RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE AFTER WORLD WAR II Even while World War II war still being fought, leaders of the Allied powers began thinking about how to reconstruct Europe after the war. Winston Churchill of Britain, Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union a...

Throughout Russian history there have been many leaders who have tried to implement reforms to help shape the future of their nation. In doing so, some of these leaders have left a legacy for history books and scholars to contemplate. Alexander II, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev each sou...

It has been a 'splendid little war' wrote John Hay to Theodore Roosevelt after the fall of Santiago. Little, the Spanish-American War was; it was over in barely four months. Splendid? Maybe for those at home, reading the headline about its lucky victories. But for those men who fo...

American Politics in Transition For the United States, as for most states in the world, the 1980’s and 1990’s were a time of change and challenge. During this period the effects of change both within the US and internationally acted as push factors in many areas of life, including e...

A war crime is any of various crimes, such as genocide or the mistreatment of prisoners of war, committed during a war and considered in violation of the conventions of warfare. War crimes are constantly being committed during war and something has to be done. There have been too many instances wh...

World War II devastated Europe such a great deal that it would take many years before the entirety of the continent of Europe would be as strong as it once was before the twentieth century history which, at that point, had been almost totally consisting of wars. Following World War II, European nat...

In contrasting the social, economic, and political policies of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Nikita Khrushchev, it can be seen that Lenin and Stalin's policies were alike in many ways, although Stalin's were a bit harsher, and that Khrushchev's policies differed from those of bot...

About a year ago I was having the familiar problem with Army recruiters. Finally, instead of saying that I was interested and hanging up, I decided to talk to the guy. I told him I didn't want to join the Army because I was a pretty big fan of peace. He told me that's what fighting wars wa...

John Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, a descendent of Irish Catholics who had immigrated to America in the previous century. His father Joseph Kennedy was a businessman who became a multimillionaire. John Kennedy grew up with role models and in a political environment, ...