Within the period 1894-2005, Lenin has been the most...

Within the period 1894-2005, Lenin has been the most significant leader of Russia and the USSR. How valid is this statement? It can be argued that Lenin was the most significant leader of Russia and the USSR due to his revolutionary ideas, such as the implementation of socialist reforms, his New Economic Policy in 1921 and the transformation of the Bolshevik faction to the Communist Part of the Soviet Union leading to a huge Marxist-Leninist movement in the USSR. However, when assessing the ‘significance’ of a leader, it’s crucial that four main themes are taken into account, these being – economics, foreign policy, social change and leadership ability. It can be argued that other leaders of Russia and the USSR have been more†¦show more content†¦Lenin and his regime had expropriated great segments of the economy9. Agriculture and domestic trade were subject to heavy state regulation and on top of this, industry, banking and foreign trade were all nationalised too and this would remain the same for oncoming decades. The state of the economy was in a bad condition; most industrial enterprises had ceased production and factory output in 1920 was recorded as being eighty-six percent lower than in 1913, and on top of this, the grain harvest of 1920 was only around one fifth of the annual average for the half-decade before the Great War10. This forced Lenin to lower the tax-in-kind in comparison to other quotas and this became a basis for the introduction of the New Economic Policy. The details were announced by Lenin and the tenth Party Congress in March 1921 and included the cease of requisitioning of crops, private traders would be permitted to make a profit by buying and selling their goods and small businesses and factories were granted permission to operate in order to boost the economy.Show MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesE SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture