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MLA Format
[Author’s name]
[Instructor’s name]
[Course title]
[Date]
The
Russian Revolution by Sheila Fitzpatrick
Sheila Fitzpatrick,
in her book on the Russian Revolution portrays the masses
as having just such a natural political and social development.
It is in her view of the Russian Revolution, as a social
historian, that allows for respect to be given to the
masses of people who were fighting for social and political
freedoms. She views the Anarchists as having had the natural
support of the workers and peasants. In her book The Russian
Revolution, Fitzpatrick describes this movement by the
workers themselves. She states that "...the factory
committees took over [the factories in order] to save
the workers from unemployment, when the owner or manager
abandoned the plant or threatened to close it because
it was losing money. As such events became more common,
the definition of workers' control moved closer to something
like workers' self-management." (Fitzpatrick, 1994)
Fitzpatrick notes that because of the growing fallout
between the workers and the government, that real grievances
were developed and that a program of self-management became
every more necessary in the eyes of the working classes.
Instead of foreign anarchistic elements conspiring to
get worker support, it was the conditions in Petrograd
that caused the workers to become more militant. Workers
angered by "...the Bolsheviks [who had gained] influence
in the factory committees...[that] there was an emerging
sense in the working class that 'soviet power' meant that
the workers should be sole masters in the district, the
city, and perhaps the country as a whole...this was closer
to anarchism or anarcho-syndicalism than to Bolshevism,
and the Bolshevik leaders did not in fact share the view
that direct workers'democracy through factory committees
and the soviets was a plausible or desirable alternative
to their own concept of party-led 'proletarian dictatorship."(Fitzpatrick,
1994)
Fitzpatrick makes known
form the beginning of her work that the Russian Revolution
to many is seen as being corrupt and is clearly a controversial
subject between many historians. She points to most important
three primary, recurrent motifs or themes - a modernization
theme, a class theme, and a theme of revolutionary violence
and terror. Fitzpatrick believes that the newly released
information from the historical archives is so dynamic
that each writer and each historian may interpret it differently.
Given the circumstances of the new found evidence of the
Revolution Fitzpatrick works to break down the political,
social and economic forces found within society at the
time of the Revolution in hopes to gain a greater understanding
of the Russian Revolution. Shelia as a writer and historian
also works to make known the profound connections between
the Russian Revolution and what effect it has on the people
and the governmental system within Russia.
Once Fitzpatrick
has provided the reader with the basic knowledge of the
Revolution she then calls upon the reader to analyze not
only the purpose of the Revolution, but the success of
it as well. Fitzpatrick then works to find the answer
if it was really a “Revolution” at all, in
comparison to other national revolutions.
In explaining the
modernization theme Fitzpatrick works to uncover what
the Russian Revolution meant not only to the political
structure within Russia but what the Revolution meant
for the people of Russia in regards to their economic
and social success. Fitzpatrick makes known the role that
Lenin and Stalin played during the Russian Revolution
as members of the Bolsheviks. Fitzpatrick also works to
uncover the tragedy and corruption found within the political
system of Russia, while making known the cost of corruption
and violence.
The major themes
found within the book are in the form of three primary
forces that led up to the Russian Revolution, and were
ultimately forever changed by the Revolution. Fitzpatrick
believes that the Russian Revolution centers around three
major forces, which are in the form of political, social
and economical. Under these three forces there are three
major themes found within the Revolution, which are in
the form of modernization, class issues, and violence.
Fitzpatrick then breaks down the themes into various subjects
offering an in-depth look into the Russian Revolution.
For within the book the author discusses various issues
found within the Revolution such as the rise of the NEP,
socialism, Stalin’s Revolution, collectivization,
and lastly the Great Purges.
Fitzpatrick concludes
the book by discussing the success of the Revolution,
and making known that the Revolution offered little to
the people within Russia, and although they may have saw
a little improvement in their lives during the Revolution
it was short lived. For soon as Fitzpatrick mentioned
Russia would slip back into its backwardness and digress
back to its old ways.
Works Cited
Sheila
Fitzpatrick, The Russian Revolution, Oxford University
Press, 1994, p.54-56.
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