1.1 Communist Governments in the USSR 1917- 85 Flashcards
Death of Stalin (year)
1953
Establishment of Bolshevik party (year)
1903
Collapse of Tsarist regime (year)
Febuary 1917
Aims/ Ideals of the Bolsheviks (3)
- 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
October Revolution, where the Bolsheviks seize power (year, month)
October 1917
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (month, year)
March 1918
Stalin becomes General Secretary (year)
1922
Start of the Great Purge (year)
1936
Krushchev’s de-Stalinisation policy starts (year)
1956
Krushchev dismissed from office (year)
1964
Karl Marx’ idea of Socialism (2)
- dictatorship of the proletariat
- food etc. would be distributed fairly
Karl Marx’ idea of Communism (4)
- less need to regulate society
- government unecassary
- co-operation would replace competition
- classless/stateless society
Proletariat
term used to represent the industrial workers
Bourgeoisie
owners of factories, industries, shops etc.
October Revolution (4)
- 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
Opposition to the Bolshevik rule (3)
- 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
Constituent Assembly (2)
- parliament elected by the people
- first step towards forming a democratically elected gov.
Why did Lenin dissolve the Constituent Assembly in 1918? (3)
- 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
What did Lenin replace the Constituent Assembly with?
All-Russian Congress of Soviets, where the Bolsheviks had more influence.
Lenin’s destruction of other political parties (5)
between 1917-24
- 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
The Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) (3)
- commited to democratic socialism
- believed in the right of groups to govern themselves
- support from peasantry
Mensheviks (3)
- communist group, more moderate than Bolsheviks
- prepared to work with Bourgeoisie
- demanded role in Bolshevik gov., but Lenin refused
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3)
- took Russia out of the war
- Russia lost control over Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Ukraine)
- national humiliation for conservatives
Concequences of Treaty of Brest Litovsk (not territorial losses) (2)
- 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
Why did Lenin sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?
- he knew that fighting a war took energy and resources, and he wanted to concentrate on keeping his hold over Russia
Russian Civil War (timeframe)
1918-21
Whites (3)
- those opposed to Bolsheviks during Civil War
- concervative groups that did not want old social order changed
- leaders were generals and military men
How did Bolsheviks win civil war? (3)
- better organisation (economically, militarily, politically)
- Leon Trotsky turned the Red army into effective fighting machine
- active support from workers
long-term impacts of civil war (3)
- Bolshevik state became highly centralized
- terror
- reinforced militaristic values in population
Tenth Party Congress (year)
1921
On Party Unity (2)
- ban on formation of factions within party was put forward by Lenin at Tenth Party congress
- penalty was expulsion from Party
Sovnarkom (4)
- 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
Central Executive Committee (2)
- larger group elected by Congress of Soviets
- task was to oversee work of gov. and administration
All-Russian Congress of Soviets (3)
- 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
Politburo (4)
- 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
Central Committee (2)
- group of 30-40 members chosen by Party Congress
- supposed to make descisions on policy, but after 1919 its power went mostly to Pulitburo
Party Congress (3)
- made up of representatives of local party branches
- discussed general programme of Party
- role in influencing Policy began to decline
local Party Branches (2)
- 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
How could the decline in power of the state vs. the party be seen (under Lenin)? (2)
- 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
Lenin’s personal power (4)
- 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
In what ways was Lenin not a dictator? (2)
- 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
Nomenklatura system (3)
- 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
Bureaucracy
the civil service administrators who administer government policies
USSR (4)
- 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
why was the nomenklatura system developed? (2)
- 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
Soviet Constitution (year)
1924
Soviet Constitution (2)
- 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
The use of terror (3)
- 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
Checka (4)
- 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
specific examples of terror (3)
- 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
OGPU
- 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)
Lenin and terror (3)
- 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
Disagreements and difficulties within the party (4)
- 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
by what year was it clear that Stalin was the real power in the communist party?
1928
What powers of influence did being General Secretary give Stalin? (3)
- 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
The Lenin Enrollment (1923-25) (3)
- 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
Who were stalin’s opponents in the struggle for Lenin’s succession? (6)
- Trotsky
- Zinoviev
- Kamevev
- Bukharin
- Tomsky
- Rykov
Leon Trotsky (2)
- considered by many to be obvious sucessor to Lenin
- arrogant, not a team player, fellow Bolsheviks did not like him because of this
Gregory Zinoviev (3)
- 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
Nikolai Bukharin (2)
- descibed by Lenin as the golden boy
- relatively young, highly intelligent, but lacked political experience
Mikhail Tomsky
- leading figure in trade union movement, but his influence declined with that of the trade unions
Alexei Rykov (3)
- suceeded Lenin as chair of the Sovnarkom
- his outspoken approach upset fellow Bolsheviks
- drinking problem
What did those in power on the left of party want? (with names) (3)
- 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
What did those in power on the left of party want? (with names)
- Bukharin, Tomsky, Rykov
- wanted to stick to Lenin’s policy, at least in shortterm
Difficulties within party regarding Stalin’s first five-year-plan (debate over NEP) (3)
- 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
How did Stalin defeat the right? (6)
- 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
