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History > 1.1 Communist Governments in the USSR 1917- 85 > Flashcards

1.1 Communist Governments in the USSR 1917- 85 Flashcards

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1
Q

Death of Stalin (year)

A

1953

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2
Q

Establishment of Bolshevik party (year)

A

1903

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3
Q

Collapse of Tsarist regime (year)

A

Febuary 1917

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4
Q

Aims/ Ideals of the Bolsheviks (3)

A
  • get rid of the upper and middle classes who exploited the workers
  • wanted to replace capitalist system with socialism, where a government that represented the workers would improve living conditions of the people as a whole
  • and then eventually they wanted to espablish communism
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5
Q

October Revolution, where the Bolsheviks seize power (year, month)

A

October 1917

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6
Q

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (month, year)

A

March 1918

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7
Q

Stalin becomes General Secretary (year)

A

1922

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8
Q

Start of the Great Purge (year)

A

1936

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9
Q

Krushchev’s de-Stalinisation policy starts (year)

A

1956

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10
Q

Krushchev dismissed from office (year)

A

1964

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11
Q

Karl Marx’ idea of Socialism (2)

A
  • dictatorship of the proletariat

- food etc. would be distributed fairly

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12
Q

Karl Marx’ idea of Communism (4)

A
  • less need to regulate society
  • government unecassary
  • co-operation would replace competition
  • classless/stateless society
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13
Q

Proletariat

A

term used to represent the industrial workers

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14
Q

Bourgeoisie

A

owners of factories, industries, shops etc.

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15
Q

October Revolution (4)

A
  • Bolsheviks seize power through well planned uprising
  • Provisional Gov. forced from power
  • revolution was portrayed as mass uprising of of the workers (through propaganda)
  • in reality they had seized power with very limited support
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16
Q

Opposition to the Bolshevik rule (3)

A
  • other left wing groups (socialist revolutionaries, Menscheviks), who were denied a share of power
  • groups on right (Tsarist supporters), who represented middle classes who feared the Bolsheviks would take away their business and political freedom
  • Nationalist groups (Ukrainians, Poles, Finns), who saw collapse of Tsarist regime as chance to get independance
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17
Q

Constituent Assembly (2)

A
  • parliament elected by the people

- first step towards forming a democratically elected gov.

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18
Q

Why did Lenin dissolve the Constituent Assembly in 1918? (3)

A
  • the results were not in favour of the Bolsheviks
  • the SRs emerged as the largest single party
  • to use the Assembly as a national parliament would pose a threat to Bolshevik rule
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19
Q

What did Lenin replace the Constituent Assembly with?

A

All-Russian Congress of Soviets, where the Bolsheviks had more influence.

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20
Q

Lenin’s destruction of other political parties (5)

between 1917-24

A
  • removal of bourgeoisie vote
  • Mensheviks and SRs couldnt publish their newspapers
  • SRs lost influence when they walked out of Gov. in protest at the Bolsh. decision to pull out of WW1
  • arrest of Menscheviks and SRs
  • renamed to Communist Party, all other parties banned
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21
Q

The Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) (3)

A
  • commited to democratic socialism
  • believed in the right of groups to govern themselves
  • support from peasantry
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22
Q

Mensheviks (3)

A
  • communist group, more moderate than Bolsheviks
  • prepared to work with Bourgeoisie
  • demanded role in Bolshevik gov., but Lenin refused
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23
Q

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3)

A
  • took Russia out of the war
  • Russia lost control over Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Ukraine)
  • national humiliation for conservatives
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24
Q

Concequences of Treaty of Brest Litovsk (not territorial losses) (2)

A
  • conservatives and military officers, saw overthrowing the Bolshevik regime as the only way to restore Russia’s pride
  • Treaty also offered the Whites the promise of foreign help, spurring them on against the Bolsheviks
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25
Q

Why did Lenin sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

A
  • he knew that fighting a war took energy and resources, and he wanted to concentrate on keeping his hold over Russia
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26
Q

Russian Civil War (timeframe)

A

1918-21

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27
Q

Whites (3)

A
  • those opposed to Bolsheviks during Civil War
  • concervative groups that did not want old social order changed
  • leaders were generals and military men
28
Q

How did Bolsheviks win civil war? (3)

A
  • better organisation (economically, militarily, politically)
  • Leon Trotsky turned the Red army into effective fighting machine
  • active support from workers
29
Q

long-term impacts of civil war (3)

A
  • Bolshevik state became highly centralized
  • terror
  • reinforced militaristic values in population
30
Q

Tenth Party Congress (year)

A

1921

31
Q

On Party Unity (2)

A
  • ban on formation of factions within party was put forward by Lenin at Tenth Party congress
  • penalty was expulsion from Party
32
Q

Sovnarkom (4)

A
  • was the Council of People’s commissars
  • responsible for making key descisions and giving gov. orders
  • members elected by Central Executive Commitee
  • small group, met daily during civil war
33
Q

Central Executive Committee (2)

A
  • larger group elected by Congress of Soviets

- task was to oversee work of gov. and administration

34
Q

All-Russian Congress of Soviets (3)

A
  • supreme law-making body of State
  • all laws issued by Sovnarkom had to be approved by Congress of Soviets
  • made up of members elected by local soviets
35
Q

Politburo (4)

A
  • group of seven to nine leading members of party, chosen by Party’s Central Commitee
  • made key decisions affecting policy
  • took over after the Central Executive Committe wasn’t working
  • became more important than Sovnarkom
36
Q

Central Committee (2)

A
  • group of 30-40 members chosen by Party Congress

- supposed to make descisions on policy, but after 1919 its power went mostly to Pulitburo

37
Q

Party Congress (3)

A
  • made up of representatives of local party branches
  • discussed general programme of Party
  • role in influencing Policy began to decline
38
Q

local Party Branches (2)

A
  • each headed by a party secretary
  • these secretaries could be very powerful, which allowed some of them to play an important part in the struggle to succeed Lenin
39
Q

How could the decline in power of the state vs. the party be seen (under Lenin)? (2)

A
  • infrequency of meetings of the Congress of Soviets, Central Executive Committee and Sovnarkom.
  • the descision to make the secret police directly responsible to the poitburo, not the sovnarkom
40
Q

Lenin’s personal power (4)

A
  • Lenin’s official position in gov was as Chair of the Sovnarkom and as Politburo member
  • Lenin preffered a collective leadership, he did not want a personal dictatorship
  • however, he did have a lot of influence, with many Bolsheviks looking up to him
  • from 1922 onwards, Lenin’s power and influence was limited due to illness
41
Q

In what ways was Lenin not a dictator? (2)

A
  • it was very difficult for Moscow to extend its full control to distant provinces, where local officials held power without much interference
  • it also seems that many local party members welcomed greater direction from above, and were desperate for support
42
Q

Nomenklatura system (3)

A
  • system of appointing people to jobs from a list approved by party leadership
  • evidence of commitment to party was necassary to stay on list
  • system encouraged corruption, because favours were expected from those on list
43
Q

Bureaucracy

A

the civil service administrators who administer government policies

44
Q

USSR (4)

A
  • union of soviet socialist republics
  • official name of the area controlled by communist party
  • established 1922
  • made up of four republics and explanded to 15 after WW2
45
Q

why was the nomenklatura system developed? (2)

A
  • Communist party was now biggest and only party and many joined the party to improve their career prospects in new regime, but were not commited to communist cause.
  • Nomenklatura system was developed to ensure the development of more committed communists
46
Q

Soviet Constitution (year)

A

1924

47
Q

Soviet Constitution (2)

A
  • important step in centralization of power in the Soviet state
  • the Soviet constitution confirmed the power of the communist party in the state, but did give some representation to party members from each of the republics
48
Q

The use of terror (3)

A
  • terror was implemented by the Cheka
  • arrests were planned and prisoners tortured in Lubyanka building in Moskow (where Cheka was based)
  • carried out executions of suspects without official courts
49
Q

Checka (4)

A
  • party committee formed in 1917 to deal with counter-revolution, sabotage and speculation
  • operating outside of law
  • also dealt with enemies within the party
  • played a key role in establishing control over party apparatus
50
Q

specific examples of terror (3)

A
  • left-wing opponents arrested in august 1918 after an assasination attempt on Lenin
  • Red Terror arrests in 1921 and 1922
  • between 1917 and 1923, Cheka was responsible for
    200 000 executions
51
Q

OGPU

A
  • replaced Cheka in 1922, after civil war
  • terror became more bureaucratic and discreet
  • attention was turned to groups within party, and many were purged (example: Chistka)
52
Q

Lenin and terror (3)

A
  • at the end of his life, Lenin seems to have developed an obsession with terror
  • showed a particular interest in executing priests
  • seems he was developing his own personal agenda for the use of terror
53
Q

Disagreements and difficulties within the party (4)

A
  • Kamenev and Zinoviev had opposed Lenin’s descision to launch the Revolution in 1917
  • debate within the party about whether to accept Treat of Brest-Litovsk
  • introduction of new economic policy (1921), led to formation of right and left wing factions within party
  • role of trade unions was a source of much debate
54
Q

by what year was it clear that Stalin was the real power in the communist party?

A

1928

55
Q

What powers of influence did being General Secretary give Stalin? (3)

A
  • had acess to vast range of information, such as personal files on Party members, this could be used against rivals
  • responsible for deciding the agenda for Party meetings (so he could restrict the issues that were debated)
  • he was responsible for supervising the Lenin Enrollment, he always tried to identify with the needs and demands of these new members
56
Q

The Lenin Enrollment (1923-25) (3)

A
  • aim of this membership drive was to increase the number of industrial workers in the party
  • over 500 000 workers were recruited
  • but had consequences= the new members were badly educated and politically naive, thye saw the party as a source of emplyment
57
Q

Who were stalin’s opponents in the struggle for Lenin’s succession? (6)

A
  • Trotsky
  • Zinoviev
  • Kamevev
  • Bukharin
  • Tomsky
  • Rykov
58
Q

Leon Trotsky (2)

A
  • considered by many to be obvious sucessor to Lenin

- arrogant, not a team player, fellow Bolsheviks did not like him because of this

59
Q

Gregory Zinoviev (3)

A
  • worked closely w Lenin
  • had strong power base as Party Secretary in Leningrad
  • was a skilled orator, but was vain and innefective in political matters
60
Q

Nikolai Bukharin (2)

A
  • descibed by Lenin as the golden boy

- relatively young, highly intelligent, but lacked political experience

61
Q

Mikhail Tomsky

A
  • leading figure in trade union movement, but his influence declined with that of the trade unions
62
Q

Alexei Rykov (3)

A
  • suceeded Lenin as chair of the Sovnarkom
  • his outspoken approach upset fellow Bolsheviks
  • drinking problem
63
Q

What did those in power on the left of party want? (with names) (3)

A
  • Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev
  • they had called for a ‘Permanent Revolution’ by encouraging proletarian revolution throughout the world
  • also favoured breaking with Lenin’s economic policy
64
Q

What did those in power on the left of party want? (with names)

A
  • Bukharin, Tomsky, Rykov

- wanted to stick to Lenin’s policy, at least in shortterm

65
Q

Difficulties within party regarding Stalin’s first five-year-plan (debate over NEP) (3)

A
  • those on the right were concerned that the removal of the NEP could cause food production to decline becuase of peasant opposition
  • led to a right opposition group that argued the continuation of the NEP
  • stalin saw the views of the right as standing in the way of ‘Socialism in one country’, thought it would slow doen progress in strengthening the economic base
66
Q

How did Stalin defeat the right? (6)

A
  • stalin issues an official directive to party members (the foundations of Leninism), that presented the case for removing the NEP
  • Stalin undermined BUkharin’s position by stressing his disagreements with Lenin during the early 1920s
  • Bukharin ws accused of Trotskyism because he criticised the growth of bureaucracy
  • Bukharin had arranged a secret meeting with Zinoviev and Kamenev in 1928, this allowed Stalin to accuse him of forming factions
  • supporters of the right and the trade unions were removed
  • Stalin could relie on the votes of those who owed their positions to him, this gave him an advantage over the others

History (21 decks)

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