1.1b How did Stalin exercise control over the Communist party and the Soviet state? Flashcards
What did Stalin do to Trotsky to damage his reputation?
Tricked him into not going to Lenin’s funeral
How did Stalin get congress on his side?
Packed Congress
How did Stalin outsmart Zinoviev and Kamenev to remove them as opposition?
They tore each other apart in ‘lessons of October’
What was Stalin’s very popular policy before he got into power?
‘Socialism in one country’
What did Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev do that got them removed from the running?
United to form ‘united opposition’, allowing them to be accused of factionalism
What policy did the leftists want to continue?
the NEP
What were the leftist objective?
Waiting for the whole of Europe to fall to Communism after WW1 (permanent revolution)
What was the Chistka?
Political purging
What did the party secretariat do?
collected information on party members that could be to condemn them
Under the Cheka, what percentage of the party were purged?
22%
In what year did the Cheka become the NKVD?
1934
What change happened when the Cheka become the NKVD?
Became more beuraucratic
Why was there a purge in 1932?
To deal with problems from the 1st FYP
What did Ryutin do as opposition to Stalin?
Issued a critical document on Stalin, accusing him of having a personal dictatorship
Why were party officials critical of Stalin?
Due to unrealistic targets
What did the peasant brutality cause?
Added peasant resistance
Who received a standing ovation in criticism of Stalin?
Kirov
What happened to Kirov after his criticism of Stalin?
He was assassinated by Nikoloyev who’d been government trained to shoot
When was the trial of the 16?
1936
What was the trial of the 16?
Zinoviev and Kamenev were accused of working as agents of Trotsky and the murder of Kirov
What was the trial of the 21?
Bukharin and Rykov were accused of forming a ‘Trotskyite rightist bloc’ after writing criticism of the FYPs
In what year did Stalin become ‘general secretary’?
1922
How did Stalin gain the role of ‘general secretary’?
Nobody else wanted it because it was low down and boring but he worked his way up
How did ‘general secretary’ benefit Stalin in his rise to power?
Gave him access to 26,000 personal files
What was the Lenin enrollment and what was its significance?
An attempt to increase industrial workers in the party rank which Stalin supervised as ‘general secretary’
How did Stalin use Kirov’s murder to his advantage?
Accused Zinoviev and Kamenev on jumped up charges to remove them as opposition
What tactic did Stalin use to intimidate people in meetings?
Walked around the room whilst they were talking
Who did Stalin catch out by using his tactic of walking around the room whilst they were talking?
Rychagov - commander of the airforce who criticised te quality of Soviet aircraft
Why was Stalin’s new constitution introduced?
To seem democratic and gain allies in the fight against Nazi Germany
How did Stalin describe his new constitution?
“the only thoroughly democratic system in the world”
What was the reality of the new constitution?
Only candidates from the Communist party could run in elections
What was ‘high Stalinism’?
The tightening of regulations after a slight relaxation for WW2
Give 2 features of ‘high Stalinism’
- Terror increased to regain control
2. Older generations of the government replaced by youth (specifically Beria)
What was Stalin planning just before his death?
A purge of the Jews called the ‘Doctor’s Plot’
What did ‘high Stalinism’ do to the Politburo?
Enlarged it and renamed it the Presidium
