Success

Q.1. Critical Success Factors (CSF) are the elements that organizations require to accomplish their mission.

They are the factors that create success to the business. The success factors should focus on all stakeholders of the organization. Success factors are elements such as the money, customer satisfaction, quality improvement, product development, employee attraction and retention, sustainable business development, good strategic management among others (Betz, 2001). The business should focus on the future customers by improving quality in product and service delivery.

The strategies that an organization sets should be aimed at increasing the profitability of the business as well as increasing customer satisfaction. The strategies should focus on the future as well as improving the leadership of the organization so as to enable employees to be innovative. Cost should be properly managed to reduce the price of the product and increase the profits of the business. Success factors are aimed at improving strategy development and cost management skills of the managers (Drejer, 2002).

Q. 2. Competitive advantage is gained through increasing innovation through the use of technology and increasing customer value.

Innovation is the implementation of new ideas in the production and marketing of the products that are being marketed by the organization. The use of technology is important in developing new products which differentiate the company’s products from those of the competitors. Customer value is the total satisfaction that the customer gains from the consumption of the products of the organization. Examples of organizations using innovation are Microsoft Inc. , Apple Corp; Virgin Group; and others. Examples of organizations using customer value as a strategy are Daimler AG, Boeing and others (Drejer, 2002).

Q. 3. SWOT analysis analyzes the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that an organization’s products have compared to others in the market.

The value chain analysis describes how Michael Porter explained about increasing the value of products in all the stages of production (Betz, 2001). Each level of production increases the value of the product so that the end product has highest value compared to competitors’ products. Execution analysis investigates how a company implements its strategies as compared to competitors.

The balanced scorecard gives a range of figures that are used to rate the achievement of the goals of the organization. The four strategic resources are linked in that they establish the ability of the organization to outdo the competitors in the market. The aim of each method is to identify how better the organization is in a competitive market environment. They use tools and strategies that are almost similar in evaluating the business (Drejer, 2002).

Q. 4. Management by exception is a policy where the organization concentrates on issues that show a big deviation from the planned policies.

The organization has pre-determined results that it expects all the systems to achieve. Major deviations from the expected results are dealt with while minor deviations are rejected. More important matters are dealt with and this reduces the wastage of resources on insignificant matters. For example, the management may decide to concentrate on departments producing one thousand units. The rest are ignored since their contribution is not significant (Drejer, 2002).

Q. 5. Balanced scorecard is a method of evaluating the success of a business using both financial as well as non financial measures.

The non financial measures are customers, internal business processes and the learning and growth strategy of the organization. Different companies have different strategies. They have different problems and their resources are also different. The scorecard will differ in different companies because each company has different situations and cannot give the same evaluation figures (Drejer, 2002).

References

1. Betz, F. (2001). Executive Strategy: Strategic Management and Information Technology.
2. John Wiley & Sons. New York. Drejer, A. (2002). Strategic Management and Core Competencies: Theory and Application. Quorum Books. Westport, CT.

may be different from what another person may deem as happiness and what success means to me may be different from what another person may deem as success. Happiness and success Is as different to everyone as there are different people In the world. But we all need to ask ourselves “what Is It that would truly make me happy and what do I need to do to ensure that I am successful? ” This is a personal responsibility question that we all need to ask of ourselves at one point in our lives.

Herman Cain puts it best saying “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. ” As a young child and as an only child growing up in Southern California while raised by a single mother I learned a lot and came to realize a few things throughout the years. Out of everything I learned throughout my life one of the things that impacted me the most was watching my mother wake up every day going to work doing a Job that she wasn’t happy with doing.

A Job she did out of personal spontaneously to me, to provide and to take care of me which I truly appreciate to this day. While watching her do this day In and day out, year In and year out I told myself that “l do not want to be like that when I get older, I want to be happy with the job that I am doing, no matter what it is, as long as I am happy doing it. ” To me being happy with your job is the real measure of success. Alexander Jarful states in his article that, “you should start by liking what you do.

The single most efficient way to increase your productivity is to be happy at work. No system, tool or methodology in the world can beat the productivity boost you get from really, really enjoying your work”. As it was my mother’s personal responsibility to take care of me, it’s my personal responsibility to be happy and succeed in everything that I do. Now this hasn’t always been the case for me while growing up but as I have gotten older and gained more responsibility the more I strive to apply what I have learned to make It happen and apply what I have learned In my dally life.

Alexander Jarful gives a list of the 10 most Important reasons why happiness tit your work is the number one productivity booster and these are his 10 reasons:” nappy people work netter wilt toners, nappy people are more creative, nappy people fix problems instead of complaining about them, happy people have more energy, happy people are more optimistic, happy people are way more motivated, happy people get sick less often, happy people learn faster, happy people worry less about making mistakes and consequently make fewer mistakes and happy people make better decisions”.

Now those sound like some pretty compelling reasons on why Ewing happy is so important to have when it comes to the Job that one may have. I think it is imperative to try and be happy with work because it clearly affects one’s well-being, one’s health and one’s relationships with friends and coworkers. How could one not be successful while being happy with work? I don’t think it’s possible. Happiness breeds success and the level of success one has is up to them. Just don’t lose happiness as success is gained. I feel it is up to me to make it my goal to be happy with my career.

To be happy ND a success later in life with my goals lay out in front of me. I need to have success in college first and try to be happy while going to school, let’s face it school is not always the most fun thing to do but I can at least try to be happy doing it. By keeping in mind the end goal which the end goal is graduation so I can really start the process to doing a Job/career I can truly be happy in doing. To me being able to wake up every day being happy or to look forward to going to work would be one of the greatest things I can do in my life.

By me being happy in what I’m doing will trickle own to every aspect of my life; from my business, to my family and being successful and making money will all stem from the happiness in my life and career. I want my son to look at me one day and say to his-self “l want to be like my dad when I grow up. I want to be happy with work and life Just like him. ” I want for him to learn from my mistakes as I learned from my mother’s mistakes. I also want him to learn from the right decisions that I made in my life. It’s my personal responsibility to be successful for myself my family and to be happy while doing it.

Her parents are both Chinese immigrants that moved their children with the dream of providing them with a better education. Both her parents are very educated people and they set high standards for Jung and expected her to work hard for what she wanted and to achieve as much as possible without losing sight of her heritage and values. She has always stated that she was not a very good student growing up, but her parents would offer something in return for her earning straight As. Every time she wanted something she knew she would have to study really hard to get It and It’s because of this that she credits her parents with furthering her resolve and ambition. 1 While In high school she got Involved In extra-curricular activities, specially the student body, she served as class secretary and then president. After high school, Jung attended Princeton university and earned a BAA degree in English Literature. She decided to take a break from school and hoped to attend law school afterwards, but she enjoyed her Job so much that she decided that perhaps that was her calling. Jung attended a college career fair and she was hired by Bloodiness’s for a management-training program. She had at first figured the experience would come in helpful once she started working on her law degree, but she realized that she really enjoyed working In retail. Her parents TLD agree with her decision of working In the retail business and they saw her choice of career as a waste of a good college education. Jung made a smart move along the way and chose a mentor. Having a mentor was good for Jung as she was very successful and had become the company’s first female vice president.

Jung knew she could learn a lot from her and she did. Jung learned that men didn’t see women executives as strong but weak beings and found that the majority of women in the workplace didn’t support other women and it was a tough environment. “Some people just wait for someone to take them under their wing,” he said. “Vie always advised that they shouldn’t wait. They should find someone’s wings to grab onto. “3 Jung made it a point to become successful and she worked hard at It and didn’t let any misconceptions or put downs get In her way or set her back. Jung had other Jobs and as she moved she worked her way up the chain. Junk’s outgoing personality was helpful and she made friends and networked with many then she went on to work at Newman Marcus as the executive vice president in charge of merchandising. L She learned a lot along the way, especially the importance off good self image. If she wanted to be successful she had to look successful and she knew how important it was to have a good image. She really enjoyed her work but she was also hungry for a challenge and she found it when she started working as a consultant for Avon.

The company’s executives really liked Jung ideas as a consultant so they decided to hire her as president of product marketing group for U. S. Operations. L The company found themselves needing a CEO and Jung and three other women thought that they had a good chance of getting picked as they had all worked for the company for quite some time. Unfortunately Avon decided to hire someone from the outside and this was a disappointment because this was a man whom they saw as having no experience in the industry.

Not long after though, Mr… Perrine, the current CEO, resigned and opened the door for Jung to step right in. She became Van’s ninth president and CEO. 2 Avon has gone through many changes since Jung came onboard, the products have definitely become more updated and they now target a wide variety of customers. You can see anything from dresses, shoes, purses, items targeting children, and of course beauty products. They have products targeting women of all ages and the prices easily beat prices on high stores. One thing that has attracted me to Avon lately is the different campaigns that support important causes. Breast Cancer is one of them, Jung grandmother died of breast cancer at the age of 63. 2 This was a deep loss for Jung, who recalled, “It was the early Seventies, and the C-word was forbidden in our house. She didn’t want us around her in case it was contagious. There was fear about the subject” (London Times, June 29, 2002). 2 The other cause is called, “Empower Women Campaign”, this s an important cause because it fights to end violence against women.

Jung has worked hard to get to where she is. She was brought up with good family values and has always made sure her family was not affected by the numerous meetings and business trips she has had to attend. Her family is very important and she has said that she has missed some of her children’s events, but not the important ones. L Jung was featured in the October 2010 issue of Fortune Magazine and was ranked number 5 among the “50 Most Powerful Women. ” She is a great woman and someone I can certainly say I have learned a lot from.

Three most Important elements that contribute to success In business doing. It is said that, “nothing ventured, nothing gained” to indicate that someone should do business if he or she wants to be rich. However, business is not easy and being successful in business doing is a more difficult thing. I myself think that there are three most important elements that contribute to success in business doing. First and foremost, One of the most important factor that contributes to success In business doing Is the employer.

In fact, the leaders are who set up and operate different components of a business such as: direction In enterprise, human supervision, choosing target markets and calling for investment. Actually, in order to establish a business, presidents have to carefully think about what they will sell and who their customers are. In addition, good employers will know how to find out best employees who also contribute to success of business and have flexible and suitable policies to keep employees’ faithful for a long time.

Moreover, they themselves will coverer potential markets with various ways and develop It the support of effective co-workers. Another hard responsibility of masters is calling for investment. It is a difficult progress that requires them to concentrate their own capacity and experiences to convince investors believe in their products and potential developing in the future. So, the leaders who make huge and main success of a enterprise. Another main element contributing to success in business doing is the government support. In order to create favorable conditions for businessmen, the overspent may offer preferential policy In tax.

Accordingly, there will be a period of 5-10 years when businessmen enjoy tax exemption or reduction. Furthermore, the government may give priority to businessmen by assigning land plots as business location with low land use right. There will be more support in site clearance, too. Businessmen can have more advantages in selling their products as they do not bother to find market. The government will use subsidy policy by which businessmen commodity are secured In contracts or enhanced by free remonstration. Last but not least, it is production technology that affect enterprise’s business.

This can be clearly proved in the current society with high competition. Truly, the more are the customers’ requirements stern the more does enterprise’s production line need to be improved better. For example, one of the most successful Vietnamese products In the world Is pottery of Mini Long company. At first, It was built up from craft villages and almost pottery products were made by workmen who have good opacity, then this company invested a lot of modern technological lines to manufacture much more beautiful pottery products.

Nowadays, they have been exporting many products to a great deal of different nations consisting of markets with high criteria such as Europe, United Kingdom, united State… This demonstration represents the success by using modern technology in producing progress. In conclusion, to succeed In business doing we need to have a lot of different think that are most important and it is elements that contribute to success in business doing.

During the middle ages Europeans know little about the rest of the world. Silks, spices were brought overland to Europe from India and china, but sailors didn’t dare to sail the unknown seas. In this essay I will be discussing why Elizabethans were made to go on over sea voyages in the 1550s during the time of the cloth trade collapse. What did England achieve from these successful voyages over sea and what new markets did they find to sell their goods also how did Britain become the most powerful country in the world .

In addition to who were the sailors that helped England claim power and wealth? Between 1430-1530 European sailors began making voyages across the oceans. In 1550 the cloth trade collapsed . Merchants need to find new markets in which to sell their goods. Markets such as the Muscovy company which traded with Russia in timber and lurs also the East Incia Company which traded with India and the Far East in silks, spices, cotton and tea in addition to The Levant company which traded with countries around the eastern Mediterranean in currents and dyes.

They went across the world to sell their English cloth and at the same time giving people in other countries a chance for ‘All savages, so soon as they began to taste of civilisation ‘which was said by Richard Hakluyt in his book ‘The Principle navigations, voyages and discoveries of the English Nation ‘in order to encourage overseas voyages . This encouraged English sailors and more people become interested in these voyages over sea.

Richard Hakluyt thought that from these voyages over see the navy would be enlarged making England more powerful and become the greater country as he says ‘By these voyages our navy shall be enlarged ‘it was stated in his book. In addition the fact that the navy will become bigger just like Spain and Portugal’s, men and women shall work there will be more employment opportunities available which means that more money will be coming in to the nation ‘it will prove general benefit into our country ‘ .

They would also gain more money as they would be going overseas and selling spices , which links into the trade markets especially The East Incia company which traded silks and spices . There were monopolies on the trade companies. Monopolies is when you have control over a given market, you are given a legal piece of paper (warrant)telling you that you could trade with that company , but that warrant didn’t come free you had to bid for it in order to get it . The companies paid Elizabeth money so that they could get their warrant and trade with the country that they wanted to trade with.

The money which was used to pay for the warrants goes to Elizabeth so she can then deal with her economical problems and the debt that her sister Mary put her in of ?250,000. After the monopolies expired you would have to pay again for them and get it renewed or else you could no longer trade in that area. Merchants, nobles, and even the queen invested in these voyages . They made large profits from captured cargoes like gold and silver. Francis Drake stole silver, gold and jewels from Spanish ships coming from Mexico. This gold and silver benefited the economy as it made them more money.

Gold was brought by the rich, who had to pay tax which helped Elizabeth pay her debt as she was the government and received the money. Drake’s successful battles against the Spanish helped England become a major sea power. He was the First Englishman to sail around the world. On the way round the world, Drake landed in what is now California, naming it Nova Albion (New England) and claiming it for his queen. Drake returned from his voyage with his ship packed full of spices from the Indies, and plundered Spanish silver and treasure.

Drake was knighted by Queen Elizabeth l for his courage, and for the treasures he brought back with him. He brought back enough treasure to pay off the entire national debt. John Hawkins was a cousin of Drake. He was the first Englishman to trade in slaves. He bought slaves in West Africa and sold them to the Spanish colonies in the West Indies, often raiding Spanish ships as he went. After retirement he built ships for the navy. Sir Walter Raleigh led many expeditions to America and introduced tobacco and the potato into England. He chose the name of the first English colony in America. He named it Virginia after Queen Elizabeth.

However some sailors were unsuccessful like Sir Humphrey Gilbert who explored the north coast of America but was never seen again. Also Sir Walter Raleigh of 1595 who set to sail for south America hoping to find El Dorado , a legendary city full of gold . He never found the city and never returned with any gold making him useless to the country as he did not benefit it. England had more power, defence and a stronger navy than before as British sailors improved their skills in sailing and fighting at sea. New and faster ships were built by Hawkins. These ships helped in the Spanish armada in 1558.

By 1603 England had become the greatest sea-power in the world. In conclusion the Elizabethans were successful on their voyages overseas as Britain became the most powerful and richest country in the world by 1803. The trading companies became very wealthy in the seventeenth century. England had the greatest sea-power in the world which lasted until the twentieth century. They were encouraged to go on voyages overseas so that they could trade with other companies as they needed new markets to trade with after the cloth collapse and become wealthier as I stated in the essay. Sailors like Francis Drake helped gain success on voyages overseas.

Shepherd Wheel is a water powered grinding workshop located on the River Porter. The site is the earliest industrial building with records going back to the sixteenth century. The grinding workshop was powered by a waterwheel could once house up to ten men grinding blades at the same time. This particular workshop produced edge tools. The key to Shepherd Wheel successfully being built here was that it was built at the right place and at the right time. The workshop relied on local factors and national factors to be run successfully.

There are a few local factors in the site itself, such as the River Porter. This river provided a fast, reliable water source from the Peak District. This meant that it was a good source of power all year round. A piece of evidence to prove that this river was a particular constant and reliable one was that it was popular for water wheel powered services because they are workshops built up and down the river.

Another local factor to do with the site itself was the L – shaped valley. This made the land easier to build on and was a cheaper way of building because it didn’t require excess digging. The steep sides made the river flow faster and the millpond and dam fitted perfectly into the valley floor with no excess digging. A final factor about the site itself is that there is a residential area nearby; Ranmoor. This provided the workshop with workers who became skilled as it was a local job. The quiet, green scenery also encouraged the workers to come to work and increase production. The residential are also provided customers boosting the demand for products and creating a reputation for Shepherd Wheel.

Another set of local factors are the resources nearby. For example, wood. There was plentiful supply on the wooded valley slopes for fuel and building.

Clay was located by fast flowing rivers, such as the River Loxley and the River Rivelin. It was also located beside the River Porter and was used for lining the millpond to prevent water leaking and a waste of power. Clay also was used to build “crucible” pots in the Industrial Revolution. Gritstone from the quarries in the Peak District was used for the grinding wheels and maybe used for excess building, such as steps. Another resource was coal nearby. This was located in Eckington, east of Shepherd Wheel. This was used as a key element to make steel.

For the other ingredient of steel there was a forge nearby; Forge Dam, which produced Iron for steel. Iron was also located at Eckington. These resources’ being so close decreased transport costs and was a constant source of steel for the blades. A final resource was the good transport links. These helped the products to be sent around Sheffield and England to build up a reputation and also to meet growing demands.

Shepherd did not only rely on local factors to be built and run successfully in Bingham Park, but also national factors as well.

Shepherd Wheel was built in the right place as shown by the local factors and a description of the site, but also at the right time. It was built before the Industrial Revolution but benefited from this time of innovation and inventions immensely. The Industrial Revolution was a time of innovation and inventions.

First, the population increased. This provided an increase in workers. It also provided a higher demand for cutlery as there were more people. This lead to production increases and also demands increased.

Second, the population started to demand a higher amount of steel products for jobs and personal use. This meant an increase in production, which gained Shepherd Wheel and Sheffield a bigger reputation.

Inventions also aided to success of Shepherd Wheel. There were 3 key pioneers of the steel industry were Abraham Darby, Benjamin Huntsman and Henry Bessemer.

Abraham Darby found a way to make steel stronger and of a better quality. This lead to production increase and demand increase. This was because the steel was popular, stronger and purer. The steel was produced for personal use, weapons and the basis of other industries.

In 1826, Henry Bessemer invented the “converter” which made up to 20 times more steel. Also he invented the “Puddling furnace”, which also increased the steels quality.

Benjamin Huntsman also helped by inventing “Crucible Steel Pots” which produced a lot more steel. By this invention Sheffield could now make its own steel and this cut down on transport costs and exportation costs. It also meant that Sheffield could now reach higher demands for steel.

Now that Sheffield could specialize in steel, it became well known over the country. Transport was improved to meet demand better and start to export steel globally. This gained Sheffield an enormous reputation and was officially named “The Steel City”.

To conclude, I have proven and explained that Shepherd Wheel relied on local factors and national factors to be built successfully. I believe thanks to the contribution of all these factors Shepherd Wheel was successful. The most important factors were the River Porter and the Industrial Revolution. These two factors fulfilled the theory Shepherd Wheel being built in the right place and at the right time. Thanks to the inventions from the Industrial Revolution pioneers and the layout of the L-shaped valley and surroundings, Shepherd Wheel and in the future Sheffield became a well known and successful place where good quality steel was produced to meet high demands.

“To what extent did the Bolsheviks succeed in the October Revolution and the Civil War due to weakness in opposition? ” The Bolsheviks were not a majority party in Russia, and it is therefore quite an achievement that they not only managed to gain power, but that they held on to it. On paper, you would not have thought the Bolsheviks would have been able to seize power or maintain it if faced with any substantial opposition, so does this mean that their success was dependant on the weakness of their opponents? The military support the Bolsheviks had in the October Revolution was not at all substantial.

It took a mere 500 Bolshevik troops to storm the Winter Palace and overthrow the Provisional Government. It would seem that, despite the achievement the Bolsheviks has gained by creating any form of military help, the weakness of the Provisional governments own military protection was the reason why the Bolsheviks had such an easy time taking power. The Provisional Government’s resistance was almost non-existent in terms of military, only a few Red Guard soldiers were wounded, most of which may have been from accidental friendly fire, and all of the Provisional Government’s forces had completely deserted.

In that sense, the success of their military assault on the Provisional Government was almost entirely dependant on that the Bolsheviks did not have to face any form of opposition with similar troops numbers. Even the famed ex-Menshevik turned Bolshevik Leon Trotsky admitted that 500 good men could have defeated the Bolshevik’s force, but also asked the rhetorical question of where the Provisional Government was to get 500 good men. However, the Civil War was quite different in terms of military conflict. The Bolshevik’s were not facing armies who put up virtually no resistance.

The casualties for both the Red’s and the White’s were high, around 1. 2 million for the Reds and 1. 5 million for the Whites. The Bolshevik’s also faced 2. 4 million white troops in opposition, an infinitely larger force than that which had been protecting the Provisional Government. The Bolshevik’s however, had increased their own military size to an impressive 3 million. This was done through conscription, and the result was an extremely large army, made up mostly of peasants, with the more favourable troops coming from urban backgrounds. The creation of such a ast army was certainly a show of Bolshevik strength, but again, as with the October Revolution, the armies they faced were often of low morale and not entirely devoted to the cause. The 2. 4 million in White opposition came from an eclectic background of tsarists, western anti-communists and other armies with their own agendas, such as the Czech Legion who were only really interested in Czech independence, the Kubans, as well as a number of Generals who were seemingly all out to gain for themselves, such as General Kolchak who was elected ruler of Siberia, but also declared himself supreme ruler of Russia as well.

These clashing ideals and the fact that the White forces were so scattered Geographically proved a major disadvantage, as although the Bolsheviks faced threats from all sides, these threats were part of seemingly very disorganised and uncoordinated attacks, which meant that the very centralised Red forces were able to deal with these attacks very efficiently as they were never facing large concentrated armies. Though the Bolshevik’s advantages were not completely due to the weakness of White coordination.

The Bolshevik’s had decided very early on that in order to defeat the Whites, they needed to centralise their forces around Moscow, the major industrial city and new capital of Russia. Doing this allowed them quick and easy access to munitions and other military equipment, whereas the Whites were often waiting around for ammunition drops from the Western allies. As well as this, the Red Army had access to and control over the railways, which also helped to speed up the transportation of troops and munitions between the battles.

With these advantages, the Red Army ended up being better equipped, more organised and were almost always in the most advantageous positions if it came to a fight. Another factor which can help us to understand the strengths of the Bolsheviks and the weakness of their opposition is the public support that they had. During the October Revolution, the public support that the Provisional Government had was, like it’s military power, practically non-existent.

The Provisional Government had never actually been elected, they had simply assumed power after the Tsar’s abdication, and so had never proved to the public that they were the right people for the job. Under the provisional government, the country had become almost a law unto itself, with the peasants revolting in the rural areas, illegally seizing land from landlords. This was because the provisional government had failed to solve the land problems in Russia, and the peasants were getting so desperate that they resorted to the seizing of land, just like back in the days of the broken Tsarist system.

In addition to this, there were numerous strikes in urban areas regarding the War. The War was, like the land problem, one of the primary reasons for the uprising against Nicholas II’s rule, and that the provisional government had come into power yet seemed reluctant or were unable to solve these problems greatly decreased their popularity with the Russian people. As a result, their favour was leaning more and more towards the Bolshevik dominated Soviets. Though that is not to say the Bolsheviks didn’t show the initiative to pounce on the problems the Provisional Government was facing and turn them to their advantage.

The Bolsheviks themselves led a number of strikes, in which they promised they would end the war and they coined the phrase “Land to the peasants”. They also showed great insight in their dominating of the Soviets, which were really the more powerful of the dual authority. The Soviets had control of the army, and with the Bolsheviks trying their upmost and succeeding in gaining the most influence of all the parties in the Soviet, they were greatly strengthening their own position.

But even then, their dominance could be put down to the weakness and lack of commitment of the other parties. As mentioned before, the Bolsheviks were not the majority party, the SR’s and Mensheviks had substantially greater numbers, but the reason the Bolsheviks continued to influence the Soviets most was that the other parties became lazy, and often did not bother attending soviet meetings, whereas the Bolsheviks turned up as often as possible and had much more time to influence the Soviet. The Civil War was quite different.

The Bolsheviks did not really have the majority of public support. The War Communism strategy that they adopted made them very unpopular with the general populace, and there were various uprisings and protests throughout the war, however, these were all quite easily quelled by the use of either the Cheka or the Red Army. As well as this, although not all of the people agreed with the Bolshevik’s they managed to conscript a huge number of people into the Red Army, even ex-Tsarists, in fact, many officers were ex-Tsarists and were kept in check by the political commissars.

They also took harsh steps, known as the Red Terror, which kept the public, for the most part, cooperative out of sheer fear of being killed by the Cheka or Red Army. The White Army cannot really be said to have had a huge amount of support either. They were a very mixed bunch, and nobody really knew what they were about, and so they had no more support than the Bolsheviks from the Russian population. Perhaps one of the most important things a government needs to survive is a driving sense of purpose.

During the October Revolution, The Provisional Government were far from an inspiring government, they had of course, sort of had power thrust upon them, they had not gained power by any amazing feat or show of power. The Bolsheviks on the other hand, were led by Lenin and Trotsky, who were both very driven individuals. They both had a phenomenal sense of purpose, being international revolutionaries, they truly believed that what they were doing could shape the world for the better.

Similarly, in the Civil War, the White forces did not have a single direction in which they were all aiming to do, besides the destruction of the Bolsheviks. Some wanted power for themselves, some were fighting for the promise of independence, but they were not a particularly unified force, and didn’t really have a leader whom they were led by, there was no white equivalent to Lenin and Trotsky. On the other hand, the Red Army were led by the inspiring Trotsky, who, though he was a harsh leader, instilled a huge sense of belief in the Red Army that they would eventually emerge from the war victorious.

In conclusion, I believe that the success of the Bolsheviks in both circumstances was not something which could have been achieved without both the strength and initiative the Bolsheviks displayed, or the weakness and lack of drive that their opposition showed, because, although the opposition in both cases had many problems, the Bolsheviks were able to take the upper hand by making sure that they were, by comparison, the stronger side, they were always just better enough so that they emerged victorious, whether they had 500 troops or 3 million, they always had the upper hand.