The Formation of the Soviet Union

The Bolsheviks’ effort to wrest control of Russia did not go unchallenged, as evidenced by the civil war that unfolded after World War I. Though ultimately successful in consolidating power, throughout the 1920s the Bolsheviks continued to disagree among themselves about the proper application of communist principles. The power vacuum left after Vladimir Lenin’s death allowed Joseph Stalin to emerge as the leader of the new Soviet Union. Stalin’s Five-Year Plans brought not only more centralized economic control but a more authoritarian government that compelled obedience, no matter the resistance or the impact, including death and famine. Life in the Soviet Union became more structured and rigid as the government asserted control over all aspects of civilian life. Anyone even remotely suspected of disloyalty faced imprisonment or death.            All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/12-2-the-formation-of-the-soviet-union            Welcome to A Journey into Human History.    This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story.       The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.     Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-2/pages/1-introduction    Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a Creative Common Sense production.

Om Podcasten

Welcome to a journey into human history. This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story. You may be asking yourself what is history? Is it simply a record of things people have done? Is it what writer Maya Angelou suggested—a way to meet the pain of the past and overcome it? Or is it, as Winston Churchill said, a chronicle by the victors, an interpretation by those who write it? History is all this and more. Above all else, it is a path to knowing why we are the way we are—all our greatness, all our faults—and therefore a means for us to understand ourselves and change for the better. But history serves this function only if it is a true reflection of the past. It cannot be a way to mask the darker parts of human nature, nor a way to justify acts of previous generations. It is the historian’s task to paint as clear a picture as sources will allow. Will history ever be a perfect telling of the human tale? No. There are voices we may never hear. Yet each new history book written and each new source uncovered reveal an ever more precise record of events around the world. You are about to take a journey into human history. The content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. For more information please review the links and resources in the description. Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a creative common sense production.