‘When Stalin died in 1953, the Soviet Union was in a very strong international
position.’ Assess the validity of this view.
The Ussr in fact were in a very strong international position by 1953. This is due to
their mass sphere of influence after the end of World War two with eastern
Europe being dominated by either incorporated states in the USSR or satellite
states. However, this does not mean that the USSR faced many internal issues
such as famine and other agricultural issues which hinders its overall power due
to a lack of self-sufficiency compared to the west.
Firstly, militarily the USSR had developed into a superpower rivalling the USA. The
USSR had the largest army with around 4/5 million men. The USSR was also in
possession of nuclear weapons past 1949 after its first successful test. This was
significant as it levelled the playing field between the US and the USSR prior to
this the US were the only ones with nuclear weapons and now they had hydrogen
bombs and other advancements in nuclear technology it made the USSR more
threatening and put the two at risk of mutually assured destruction. The USSR in
its expanding sphere of influence also helps them militarily as they can call up
more troops from communist allies in eastern Europe. Furtherly it also gave the
USSR extra protection from western invasion as they had more land between the
west and Moscow. After operation Barbarossa Stalin recognised that after the
rapid Nazi advance, he would need more land in-between him and the west the
satellite states acted as barriers on the way to Moscow. This made the USSR much
stronger militarily and contributed to them being a world superpower. However,
the USSR had some issues militarily. They could not afford to keep up with the
arms race long term this was partially due to the lack of agricultural production
and thus lack of exports to generate money to then supply arms. They also lacked
the nuclear arsenal that the USA had. Thus, despite being one of the major
superpowers they still did not have the same prestige as the US which damaged
their international position as the US and USSR were both representatives of the
ideological conflict of capitalism vs communism on the world stage. This limits
their international position as having less nukes than the US makes communism
seems the less preferable economic system to newly forming countries which
both the US and USSR were indirectly fighting for influence over through the
position.’ Assess the validity of this view.
The Ussr in fact were in a very strong international position by 1953. This is due to
their mass sphere of influence after the end of World War two with eastern
Europe being dominated by either incorporated states in the USSR or satellite
states. However, this does not mean that the USSR faced many internal issues
such as famine and other agricultural issues which hinders its overall power due
to a lack of self-sufficiency compared to the west.
Firstly, militarily the USSR had developed into a superpower rivalling the USA. The
USSR had the largest army with around 4/5 million men. The USSR was also in
possession of nuclear weapons past 1949 after its first successful test. This was
significant as it levelled the playing field between the US and the USSR prior to
this the US were the only ones with nuclear weapons and now they had hydrogen
bombs and other advancements in nuclear technology it made the USSR more
threatening and put the two at risk of mutually assured destruction. The USSR in
its expanding sphere of influence also helps them militarily as they can call up
more troops from communist allies in eastern Europe. Furtherly it also gave the
USSR extra protection from western invasion as they had more land between the
west and Moscow. After operation Barbarossa Stalin recognised that after the
rapid Nazi advance, he would need more land in-between him and the west the
satellite states acted as barriers on the way to Moscow. This made the USSR much
stronger militarily and contributed to them being a world superpower. However,
the USSR had some issues militarily. They could not afford to keep up with the
arms race long term this was partially due to the lack of agricultural production
and thus lack of exports to generate money to then supply arms. They also lacked
the nuclear arsenal that the USA had. Thus, despite being one of the major
superpowers they still did not have the same prestige as the US which damaged
their international position as the US and USSR were both representatives of the
ideological conflict of capitalism vs communism on the world stage. This limits
their international position as having less nukes than the US makes communism
seems the less preferable economic system to newly forming countries which
both the US and USSR were indirectly fighting for influence over through the
