Soviet motives for Expansionism
- Created by: Chloe Ann
- Created on: 08-12-13 17:15
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- Stalin's Motives for Soviet Expansion
- Spreading World Revolution
- Trotsky- Lenin's right-hand man, saw the need for permanent revolution to strive for socialism.
- Stalin needed to strengthen the USSR if there was to be a worldwide revolution.
- The creation of Comintern and the defeat of Nazi Germany gave Stalin an opportunity to spread the revolution.
- Traditional Russian Expansionism
- Driven by the ideas of the Tsar, aiming to spread communism- used it to build power. The opportunity in 1945 was too big to ignore.
- They wanted to use Eastern Europe for their own benefit, in the 1920s the west had used them as a barrier to the spread of communism.
- Wanted to gain back land he had lost in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk 1918.
- Defensive Actions
- It can be argued that Stalin felt vulnerable to attack, to allow countries in the Eastern Bloc to have free elections was unlikely to result in them being sympathetic to the USSR. Soviet losses in the war also caused insecurity.
- The Role of Personality
- He can be seen as very defensive and cautious. The Nazi-Soviet Pact acknowledged the weakness of the USSR, so when Hitler later invaded, he couldn't handle it. Also his actions during the Berlin Blockade could portray him as cautious.
- Spreading World Revolution
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