The main question that you need to be able to write about on this topic is simply: why did Stalin win the power struggle that followed the incapacitation and death of Lenin? Continue reading
When the Bolsheviks “came to power” in October 1917 it was by no means obvious that they would survive. Having proclaimed the new era of Soviet power and socialist revolution, the writ of the new regime barely operated outside the major cities and it faced the basic challenge of either establishing control over the existing machinery of government, or creating a new one. Continue reading
The October Revolution is the pivotal event of 20th century history, let alone this exam course; approximately 50% of past papers contain a question about this seminal event. Continue reading
The Second World War presents a problem for the left. Continue reading
Counterfactual history (asking, and attempting to answer, “what if?” questions about the past) does not enjoy academic respectability, Continue reading
The Rational Colonel 