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...

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...

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...

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...

In October of 1962, tensions were still high from the Cold War Era. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro agreed to put nuclear missiles on Cuba, provoking a response from the United States. The U.S. then quarantine's Cuba while putting the U.S. citizens in a state of nervousness and...

In every person's life they face life-altering decisions that could affect not only their life, but also the lives of many others. For most this decision is hard to come by, and an overwhelming amount of time is spent deciding upon the best possible outcome. For President Kennedy that decisio...

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...

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...

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, ...