...Foreign Policy In the 20 years since the fall of communism, Russia has seen tumultuous times. In a relatively short period of time, a former world superpower has suffered through dramatic changes – some positive, and some painful. The 1980s ultimately brought about the fall of communist U.S.S.R, the 1990s showed the world the phoenix-like rise of democracy from the ashes of communism, and the 2000s have now shown us the rise of autocracy, or “sovereign democracy” , wrapped in a Russian flag. The Russian state that enters into this new decade is an entirely different state than that of its communist, or even democratic, predecessors. Such quick, drastic changes and Western inexperience in dealing with Russia’s new form of democracy has left Western governments sometimes scrambling to find a proper response to the actions of a Russia which they do not understand. The foreign policy and resulting actions of 21st century Russia are often misinterpreted by Western powers as those of a belligerent and sometimes antagonistic state. Western media also often does not understand and does not accurately convey Russia’s foreign policy goals to the public, sometimes deciding to demonize Russia and capitalize on the fact that much of the Western populace sees little distinction between the actions of modern Russia and those of the Soviet Union. Miscalculated Western foreign policy leads to nearly the same situation inside of Russia, where an antagonistic West can only serve to help Russia’s...
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...What significance did The Great Patriotic War have on Russia in the period of 1941-1945? On June 22 1941, Germany launched Operation Barbarossa; an full scale military invasion against Russia; forcing her entry into The World War causing devastating consequences in all of Russian society, as well as her domestic economic and political affairs throughout 1941-1945. The war featured social effects; the ‘war of annihilation’ of the Russian citizens by Germany in pursuit of Moscow and the increased need of unity and patriotism domestically, economic effects; the complete transition to Russian war time economy to fuel the war and the devastation of Russian industries, however it was the consolidation of Stalin’s communist leadership that was to reign the most significant in terms of its domestic impact but also its lasting effect. The Great Patriotic war forced the Russian economy to transition into a war time economy to fuel the war effort. The final one and a half years of the 3rd five year plan saw a shift into a wartime economy as the Germany invaded Russia; increasing economic mobilisation and increased its PPP usage towards supplying the front with more resources, even more efficiently than Germany due to the war economy. By 1943 60% of Russian output was devoted to its war effort, keeping Soviet army and navy adequately supplied with rearmaments, food, and fuel throughout the war. Through propaganda, Russian labour production shifted importance from developing the economy...
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...Topic – Russia : Assignment Question – Evaluate Petr Stolypin’s Reforms P.A. Stolypin was a pivotal political figure in the 1906-11 period. He became Minister of Internal Affairs in Russia from the spring of 1906, after the revolution of 1905. He combined this position with Russian Premier (Prime Minister) from 23rd July 1906 until his assassination in September 1911. Peter Waldron claims that after the "near downfall of the tsarist regime in 1905" Stolypin's reforms could "have changed the face of politics and society, yet they left the unreformed autocracy to face the onslaught of the First World War and it's attendant social and economic strains". Despite the latter, it seems erroneous to attribute total failure to Stolypin's reforms. After the devastating actions of Bloody Sunday in 1905, the Tsar Nicholas II had been given two choices, which was to repress or reform. To stay in control, he had chose to reform, as he thought that he could control the situation by creating useful reforms. The pressure of the revolution on the autocracy made the Tsar take drastic political action to appease the revolting classes. He had started of with the October Manifesto, a legislation which consisted of a number of points of reform drawn up under Weete, promising the people Civil liberties, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of assembly, and the promise that no laws were to be introduced without the agreement of the Duma. However, it was not necessary that the Duma should introduce legislation...
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...How did the Bolsheviks gain power, and how did they consolidate their rule? The Bolsheviks implemented measures which allowed them to strengthen their rule over Russia. Some of these were due to victories, which gained them support and respect from the people. Other measures used force. This enabled the Bolsheviks to take control of certain aspects and ensure their rule was reinforced. While Trotsky’s role had been of secondary importance in the November Revolution, it was crucial to the Bolshevik consolidation of power in the years between 1918 and 1921. Trotsky’s first contribution was in his role as Commisar of Foreign Affairs in the newly created Council of People's Commissars. Lenin gave him the task of negotiating a peace treaty with Germany. Initially, Trotsky had hoped to end the war without the loss of territory. However, when the Germans rejected his demands and resumed the offensive, he was forced to agree to their terms. Despite the treaty’s onerous clauses – the loss of 25 percent of Russia’s land, 30 percent of its population, and 6 billion gold marks in reparations – it gave the Bolsheviks the breathing space they needed to remain in power. With the war over, they could honour the promises they had made before coming to power – to provide land, bread and peace to the peasants, workers and soldiers. This allowed them to consolidate their support with these groups. Even so, the Bolsheviks still faced considerable opposition in 1918, and soon found themselves...
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...approximately. These five year plans were to a good extent successful because it brought the advancement of heavy industries, new ways of production, and the expansion of military machinery for WWII as well as the course for the later consolidation of the USSR as a world power. The first five-year plan took place from 1928-1932. The first five-year plan had as a goal to forget the NEP, and to bring industrialization to its highest point with the advancement of heavy industries. The targets and goals that Stalin had set were very high and seemed impossible, nevertheless the first-five year plan brought a boost to the industry in the USSR that it hadn’t been expected. The production of electricity in the country trebled. The output of coal and iron doubled. The USSR seemed to be starting a process of transition, that at first seemed very slow, but it would eventually put industry at its peak. Engineering industry expanded and led to the increasing output of machine-tools, turbines, engines, and machinery. The first-five year plan was the base for the following to come, so during this period, there was a creation of industrial complexes that would later consolidate in the second five-year plan. Tractor works were built in key points for industrialization in Russia, such were the case of Stalingard and Kharov. Stalin had a great idea of stating the goals of production high because this meant that a radical change in...
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...is Russia an emerging power? S. NEIL MACFARLANE * The notion of emerging powers presupposes a number of characteristics shared by the states in question.1 These include regional preponderance, aspiration to a global role, and the contesting of US hegemony. These characteristics arguably make the group as a whole a useful category in analysis and policy formulation. In particular, cooperation among these states, and possibly with more established powers seemingly equally unhappy with the unipolar configuration of international politics (e.g. France), may create a basis for a coalition having the potential to balance American power.2 There is ample evidence from all of the emerging powers of unhappiness with the existing structure of international politics. There has also been substantial consideration of the potential for cooperation among them and with certain European states to constrain the hegemon—from the suggestion of entente between France, Germany and Russia to the repeated examination of prospects for a SinoRussian–Indian triangle, and the growing Chinese and Russian interest in bilateral cooperation over shared security concerns.3 This article assesses the role of Russia as an ‘emerging power’. How do Russians interpret the international system in which they operate? What kind of system would they prefer? What are they trying to do in the current system and why? How do these considerations affect their relations with the hegemon, with other centres of power such...
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...Bolsheviks consolidation of power How did the Bolsheviks deal with the socialists? Lenin started talking to other parties about a power-sharing government because he was forced after the railwaymen`s union, the post and telegraph union threatened to cut off communications if the Bolsheviks didn't hold talks with the other different parties. What could have happened is that food supplies would be paralyzed to get to Petrograd and also to other cities. Brest-litovsk treaty consequences The main implications of the treaty were that Russia ceded Finland, the Baltic states and Poland – a million square kilometres of territory which contained 74% of the country´s coal and iron ore mines, 27% of their productive farmland as west Russia had the best agricultural resources, one fourth of the railway, and 30% (62 million people ) of the population. Finland had been ruled by the Tsars since 1809, the Germans helped the Finns to defeat a Bolshevik rising and Finland remained independent under the Brest-litovsk treaty. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became independent republics as well as some of the Russian-held area of Poland, Bessarabia was handed over to Romania. Germany set up semi-independent governments in Belarus, Ukraine and Georgia. Patriotic Russians started loathing the Bolsheviks and a civil war seemed inevitable. The Social revolutionaries left the Svornkom as they rather have a revolution that a Coup d´ état. The Cheka leader was captured during an uprising, however he...
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...How did the Bolsheviks consolidate their power in the first few months after the October 1917 Revolution? (30 marks) Lenin’s Bolshevik takeover of power in Russia left the country confused and inquisitive into what the future may hold, with their recently adopted power only leaving them with a tenuous grip around the nation. The majority of Russia predicted that the Bolshevik’s would only last a matter of weeks, before worsening economic and social issues would leave their power insecure and prove too difficult for them to correct. Also the opposition was gathering momentum which Lenin knew had to be stopped in its tracks before any attacks were made on his newly formed government, consolidating power was key for the Bolsheviks and the first few months were paramount to their success. Right from the start Lenin realised that opposition was plentiful to one-party rule and his emerging Bolshevik dictatorship. Still throughout the cities many working class citizens still supported the idea of Soviet power, not Bolshevik power. The majority expected the Socialist to remerge from the dismantled Provisional Government and reinstate their power over Russia, but Lenin had always proposed to rule alone and made it clear that his party were going to merciless to any opposition that came between him and total supremacy. At the top of Lenin’s list of objectives was forming his new government, named the Council of People’s Commissars, also known as the Sovnarkom. This came as a surprise...
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...themselves as the ruling echelons in the new society. In this animal fable, the events clearly evoke particular unpalatable truths in reality, specifically, the emergence of the totalitarian regime by Joseph Stalin since the 1920s. Although the vast majority of Animal Farm’s readers are familiar with the context in which Animal Farm was created and Orwell’s motive, some may not. This raises a question whether the exposure of social injustice during Russia in the 19th century reflected within this story can be seen by readers without prior comprehension in regards to such humanitarian crisis. Background knowledge is a requisite but not indispensable skill for enabling...
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...PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG MAYNILA (University of the City of Manila) Intramuros, Manila COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Major in Human Resource and Operations Management, Marketing Management Submitted to: Prof. Christopher Malanum Submitted by: Acuna, Charzel R. Alcoran, Rachelle Anne K. Aquino, Patricia Mae Ann E. AUGUST 2015 Part 1: Channels of Distributions Channels of Distribution Few producers sell their goods directly to final users. Instead, most use intermediaries to bring their products to market. According to Philip Kotler, distribution channel is a set of interdependent organizations that help make a product or service available for use or consumptions by consumer or business user. Here are some definitions from different websites: Goods and services often pass to consumers through multiple channels. While increasing the number of ways in which a consumer can find a good has the potential to increase sales, it also creates a complex system that can make distribution management difficult. In addition, the longer the distribution channel the less profit a product manufacturer might get from the sale. (Distribution Channel Definition| Investopedia http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/distribution-channel.asp#ixzz3jhyoJ8Pg) The path through which goods and services travel from the vendor to the consumer or payments for those products travel...
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...A large number of tycoons with Kremlin connections wanted a piece of the action, and the Yeltsin government acted to accommodate them ("Look, See," 1998). Subsequently, however, consolidation has been permitted, with the largest participants acquiring up to about a third of the industry, a large enough share to allow substantial efficiencies of scale ("Look, See," 1998). More recently, President Putin made clear that there would be no "review," of privatization, a measure that has increased confidence and encouraged further investment in the industry (Whalen, Herrick, and Bahree, 2001). Even prior to the Putin decision to confirm privatization, the Russian industry had stabilized, and begun to show signs of recovery. The post-Soviet drop in production stabilized in around 1995, and production was roughly constant for the next few years. By the end of the 1990s, however, new investments were coming into the industry, and production began to trend upward. By 2001, Russian oil production had increased by about 15 percent over two years, and accounted for some 10 percent of world oil production ("Russian Oil Power," 2001). This progress has been due primarily to the application of improved technology, allowing further recovery from wells and fields that by Soviet-era technological standards had been regarded as depleted. By 2001, the revitalization of the Russian oil industry was beginning to impinge significantly on world oil markets. The leadership of OPEC underestimated...
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...In the Middle Ages, the area became a key center of East Slavic culture, as epitomized by the powerful state of Kievan Rus'. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory of the present day Ukraine was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, Austro-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, but Ukraine remained otherwise divided until its consolidation into a Soviet republic in the 20th century, becoming an independent state only in 1991. Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands. In 2011, it was the world's third-largest grain exporter with that year's harvest being much larger than average.[17] Ukraine is one of the ten most attractive agricultural land acquisition regions.[18] The country also has a well-developed manufacturing sector, particularly in aerospace and industrial equipment. Ukraine is a unitary republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers: legislative, executive, and judicialbranches. Its capital and largest city is Kiev. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine continues to maintain the second-largest military in Europe, after that of Russian Federation, when reserves and paramilitary personnel are taken into account.[19] The country is home to 45.4 million people (including Crimea),[3][20] 77.8% of whom are Ukrainians by ethnicity, and with a sizable minority of Russians (17%)...
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...904-50-7922 904-52-3718 February 13, 2006 Executive Summary Ice-Fili had been successful in the past, surviving various tumultuous times including the transformation of the Russian closed economy into an open economy and the financial crisis in 1998. As Russia’s largest domestic ice cream producer, they had held onto their market leadership for many years. However, increasing competition from foreign companies, along with the emergence of regional producers of ice cream led to Ice-Fili’s market share erosion in the recent years. Porter’s five forces model was the primary method to analyze Ice-Fili’s industry and its competitiveness in the industry. Segmentation analysis was used for further study of the ice cream industry in Russia. The analysis was carried on key variables like distribution channel, buying behavior, geographic locations, and product characteristics. Based on this model, various alternatives were considered. From these alternatives, it was possible to form a recommendation: Ice-Fili will need to focus on the strengthening of its distribution channel through various efforts including marketing and raising of capital while focusing on its long history and brand recognition. Above all, availability of its product to the consumers is the key to Ice-Fili’s success. Porters Five Forces In order to analyze the industry and environment of Ice Fili, Porter’s five forces model will be used to assess its competitiveness in the market. An illustration...
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...How stable and how strong was the Russian regime on the eve of world war? The stability and strength of the Russian regime (autocratic rule of Tsar Nicholas II ) had remained untouched for several centuries, in a sense that it did not alter or fault through the hardships amongst the peoples of Russia/Empire as a whole as a means of the 'sole,righteous' system of autocracy. It was successful in terms of maintaining Tsardom/Romanov dynasty since the early 17th century; surely a revolution would have occurred before the 20th century as most of Europe and America had experienced a mass cultural movement of emerging liberal ideas and reasoning, known as the 'Age of Reason' or 'The Enlightenment'. However this was not the case as the Russian regime under the Tsar had collapsed towards the end of the first World War when he was forced to abdicate from the throne; some would argue that it was inevitable due to the unpopular attitudes towards the social and economic conditions which left the majority of the population in severe poverty. Others may disagree with this inevitability due to such events that could not directly blame the Tsar such as 'Bloody Sunday' in 1905, the state that Russia had been left in by, Alexander III and most notably the role of Prime Minister, Pyotr Stolypin. The focus of analysis will be to explore key leaders/figures and events, and to create a judgement to which degree the Russian regime was strong or stable (or both) on the eve of World War One. The strength...
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...Isolation - coined originally by a Canadian, this term was used to describe Britain's foreign policy within Europe during the late 19th century, a policy characterised by a reluctance to enter into permanent alliances with other great powers, but rather to concentrate on their colonies. The Franco-Prussian War, 1870 - spanning from July 1870 until May 1871, the Franco-Prussian War was fought between the French and the Germans, resulting in a comprehensive German victory. The primary cause of the war was Otto von Bismarck, Prussian Chancellor, and his desire to create a unified Germany. Unification of Germany - officially occurring on the 18th January 1871, this unification was a direct result of the Franco-Prussian War, although many believed this organisation of German-speaking populations into one nation was inevitable. Nevertheless, this rose tensions for political, religious and cultural reasons, meaning true unification wasn't complete for years. Austria-Hungary - in the Balkans, the growth of Slavic nationalist groups threatened the stability of the already-fragile Austro-Hungarian empire. These groups sought to gain independence from the political domination of this empire. Unification of Italy - this involved the consolidation of states of the Italian peninsula into one state, spanning a large proportion of the 19th century. Many see the completion of this process as 1871, when Rome was made the capital city of this unified state. This was due to a growing...
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