Assess the view that the Soviet foreign policy was determined
by the changing ideological debate inside the Soviet Union.
Introduction -
The Soviet foreign policy between 1917-1941 was strongly
determined by the changing ideological debate within the Soviet Union. This
debate was influenced by a range of factors, including the staid of Russia’s
relations with western nations, as well as the threat of Nazism. These factors
not only lead to the change of foreign policy, but also the beliefs of the
Soviet Union as a whole.
B1 à
1917-1919 [World Revolution] -
The period between 1917-18 had a key focus by the Bolshevik
party; World Revolution. During this period, there were genuine hopes for
outbreaks of revolution in Germany and within western nations. However, the
immediately action which occurred was to find peace at all costs. After the
Bolshevik consolidation of power in 1917, its first major policy action was to
sign the Treaty of Brest Litovsk. This treaty was believed to be the article
which would resolve the problems which Russia had been facing, by reforming
ties with Germany. It came about in order to resolve the issue of Russia
leaving WWI, and by declaring peace with Germany by doing so. However, while
this treaty allowed for peace between the two nations, it also resulted in a
major loss of both resources and territory for the Soviet Union. In June 1918, the outbreaks of
revolution in Germany and Hungary were well received by the Soviet Union; there
was a strong reason to believe that world revolution would occur, which was
especially argued for by Lenin and Trotsky, who believed that this would occur
for some time.
B2 à
1919-1921 [Survival] -
By 1919, the prime concern for the Bolshevik regime had
become its survival during the Civil War, although, its ideological goals still
remained world revolution – a Communist world. The key focus of this time was
to ensure that ties were formed with every major power, in order to create a
strong force against the Whites. This lead to the Red Army successfully winning
the Civil War in 1921. Having survived the Civil War, the Soviets quickly began
preparations to normalise relations with its neighbours. This entailed taking
actions such as creating Friendship Treaties with Finland, Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania in 1920. These treaties allowed for many things, such as strong
trading links to be made, which ultimately aided the Soviet Union in their
‘race’ towards industrialisation in the late 1920s. This then extended to
creating treaties with Turkey, Persia and Afghanistan, as well as creating a
trade agreement with Britain and Italy during 1921. During this time, the
Comintern (Communist International) was established under Zinoviev. The purpose
of this was the promotion and assistance of the outbreak of revolution.
B3 à
1921-1924 [National Recovery] -
The period between 1921-1929 was solely focused on the
concept of national recovery, whereas pre-existing ideology took a back seat.
This was due to many factors, such as the fact that the NEP did not allow for the promotion of revolution.
During this time, Russia’s relations with France and Belgium remained tense due
to pre-existing war debts. However, the Soviet Union achieved diplomatic
success when it signed the Treaty of Rapallo with Germany. This treaty allowed
for military cooperation between Russia and Germany during 1922, and also
allowed for the restorations of diplomatic relations; this is known as a
marriage of convenience. Simply, while the Soviet Union and Germany may not
have been fond of one another, as well as what they stood for, they ultimately
came to the aid of each other in order to avoid war. The military cooperation
which occurred between the two included Germany providing troops to the
Soviet Union during the Civil War, as well as Germany aiding with the famine
which was occurring in the Soviet Union during this time.
B4 à
1924 - 1929
The Zinoviev Letter affair in Britain followed this in 1924,
in which there was a minor attempt at overthrowing the British government. In
hindsight, this can be seen as wishful thinking than a serious attempt; this is
further reflected by the support of the Comintern support for British miners in
the General Strike of 1926. Inside Russia, Trotsky’s support for “Permanent
Revolution” failed to gain support, as Stalin’s notion of “Socialism in One
Country” more accurately captured the national mood. This notion entailed the
focus of ensuring that communism was built up within the nation, in order to
eventually regain its focus on world revolution with a super-charged fight. Trotsky
was eventually defeated in the struggle for power, and was eventually expelled
from the party, as well as the USSR; this saw the end of a serious fanning of
revolution towards the west. Collectivisation was then instigated by Stalin in
1928, which began the period of rapid industrialisation. As a result of the
ties forged by Soviet-German relations, namely the Treaty of Rapallo, the
Soviet Union remained strong during its post-struggle for power. By the late 1920s, economic
and military ties with Germany remained strong.
B5 à 1929-1933 [World Revolution] -
Between the 1930s to 1941, the nature of Soviet foreign
policy faced large changes in its focus, as well as in its relations with other
nations. During 1929 to the early 1930s, the focus of foreign policy remained
world revolution. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the brief
revival of hopes for world revolution was felt - it was believed that the
traumas experienced by western nations could potentially allow for the Soviet
Union to bring about communism to those nations. During the mid 1930s, the
focus of foreign policy altered significantly to cooperation with anti-fascist
groups; Hitler had made no secret of his utter detest for the Soviet regime,
nor his intention to invade Russia and enslave its people. As a result of this,
Stalin ordered western communist parties to forget about dreams of world
revolution, to cooperate with anti-fascist groups, and to also attempt to forge
ties with non-communist nations to create a united bloc against the threat of
Nazism. Fascist regimes were welcomed because
it was believed that this was the final stage before the workers’ revolution.
B6 à
1938-1941 [ -
In the years between the 1938 and 1941, the Soviet Union
became unrecognisable as a socialist country. It’s steady path towards a
rapprochement with Nazi Germany made it as such, between 1938 and 1939. During
this time, only national self-interest mattered. In the late 1930s, Stalin
realised that his hopes of forming a united front with the west was going to
fail; the Soviet Union was isolated and vulnerable, there was an enormous
distrust of the nation, and in some western ruling circles Nazism was seen as a
lesser evil than Bolshevism. In the late 1930s, the focus of foreign policy
became safe-guarding Russia against the Nazis; subsequently, even with a lack
of trust between the two, this lead to the formation of the Nazi-Soviet
Non-Aggression Pact on the 23rd of August 1939. While this not only effectively
destroyed all relations between the Soviet Union and the west, it created a
buffer between the two, and bought Russia time to complete industrialisation,
and prepare for war.
Conclusion
Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that Soviet foreign
policy was strongly influenced by the changing ideological debate within the
Soviet Union. This can significantly be seen between the years of 1917 to 1941
throughout the Soviet Union, and the changes which occurred within and outside
of the nation.
