THESIS FEEDBACK- Soviet foreign policy

phoenix

Hi everyone!

I have an assessment task coming up where I have to write an 1200 word essay in response to the question: "How successful was Soviet foreign policy in achieving its aims from 1917 to 1941? "

This is a draft thesis I have come up with (not final): Although the pragmatic aim to preserve the national security and survival of the USSR was primarily successful, Soviet foreign policy ultimately failed significantly at achieving its ideological aim of exporting worldwide communist revolution.
What can I do to improve it?

Also I'm not entirely sure about the structure of the body paragraphs in my essay and how I should integrate successes and failures of Soviet Foreign policy. Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

@MrMcAlpin

Cuneyd

phoenix It's a good thesis statement, Although the pragmatic goal of preserving the national security and sustainability of the Soviet Union was primarily successful, The soviet foreign policy ultimately failed significantly to obtain its ideological goal of exporting the communist revolution worldwide.

November 1917-1921

Lenin and Trotsky called for revolution and they believed revolution would spark in Western countries
Comintern was established to promote and assist revolutions
Outbreaks of revolution in Germany and Hungary were well received.
Treaty of Brest Litovsk with Germany showed national interest and they were negotiating with non-socialist
Civil war meant they were not interested in starting a revolutionary war

1921-1933

Defeat of left persons within the party ensured economic development was a priority over ideology. This was seen in treaty’s such the Treaty of Rapallo, the involvement in the Genoa Conference and the promotion of German relations.
Communist attempt within Germany 1923 is welcomed not supported
Zinoviev letter and comintern’s support for the British miner’s general strike 1926 displayed wishful thinking
Stalin promoted idea of ‘socialism in one country’ impacting Comintern to avoid cooperation with political powers with hopes of great depression causing revolution instead
The Comintern welcomes Fascist revolution within Germany as it is believed that it is the final stage before the worker’s revolution defying previous Bolshevik ideology.

1933-1938

Collectivisation saw the trade of goods with capitalist countries ignoring ideology for economic gain
Comintern was instructed to promote nation interests of Soviet instead of starting revolution
Soviet joined league of nations with other capitalist countries for military alliance as they feared Japan and Germany
Involved in Spanish civil war so not Fascist like Germany and Italy and to purge Trotskyites

1938-1941

Third five-year plan was about militarisation
Non-aggression pact with Germany for defence and security
All propaganda for ideology and revolution ceases to focus on nation interest

Other countries views

Did not attend Paris peace conference
Did not join league of nations
Murdered the Romanovs so people did not like them

It was a state and needed to establish relations with neighbouring countries

Establishment of the Communist Internations
To coordinate the activities of communist parties throughout the world
Assis communist revolutionaries

Hopefully @MrMcAlpin can help you with the rest !

phoenix

Thanks for the points! 🙂

phoenix

Just thinking about the thesis: should I add something about their ideological aim of achieving a worldwide communist revolution achieved limited success due to the objective being made less of a priority (need to consolidate power domestically)?

Cuneyd

phoenix

Yes, you should add that into your thesis statement then expand on them within your body paragraph extensively. I hope the dot points helped.

Giphy - Best Wishes Good Luck GIF

phoenix

I revised my thesis a little, here it is (it might be a little too long, not quite sure)

Soviet foreign policy was predominantly successful at achieving its primary aim of protecting the revolution and strengthening the USSR however its secondary ideological aim of exporting worldwide communist revolution was ultimately rendered unsuccessful due to the conflicting nature of the dual objectives.

When I said conflicting nature, I was also thinking incompatibility could work too. Which one is the better word to use?

MrMcAlpin

I wrote this for based around an answer I outlined for this topic before .

Your thesis is a good start and if you to consider an opening I wondered if this could help

Soviet foreign policy between 1917 and 1941 was an essential plan solely dedicated to ensuring the longevity and development of the USSR , particularly under Josef Stalin . It appears that the treaties that evolved , the agreements that were made and meetings that were convened could defined successful , despite some loss of Soviet land to invading armies

phoenix

Thank you, that helps 🙂