1928-41 Flashcards
Give a piece of evidence that suggests Lenin didn’t exercise personal rule
When Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922 the Soviet government continued to function with the politburo making decisions
1941 - Stalin leaves to the summer house for days - over meant unable to function
Give 4 facts that demonstrate how Industrilistation was transformative 1928-41
Coal production quadrupled 1927-40
1926 - USSR was 18% urban, 1939 - was 33% (Though Britain was 77% urban in 1900)
By 1940, Russia had built an effective command economy and was able to outproduce the Germans in tanks, artillery and aircraft in the pivotal years of 1940
By 1937 Russia was the largest producer pf hydroelectricity in Europe and Asia
Give 4 facts that demonstrate how Industrilistation was limited 1928-41
Outputs were consistently over-estimated and fabricated by officials to achieve targets. Quality was often sacrificed for quantity - lowering the quality of life until 1989. Worker casualty rates were horrific.
The victory against Germany should not be seen as absolute proof that industrialisation had worked. It had taken the USSR 3.5 years and 10 million deaths to defeat a nation less than half its size
Needed massive industrial support from the USA to outperform Germany (400,000 trucks given)
Economic planning and industrial progress were hampered by the Great Terror. Economic chaos caused by the great terror explains why the war started so badly
Give 4 facts that demonstrate how peasant life was transformed 1928-41
Although a brief retreat in 1930 summer collectivisation was very thorough.
March 1930 - 50% rural households collectivised. 1937 - 93%
8.5 million excess deaths between 1927-36, Majority in the countryside - highlighting state control over peasant life. Kulas made up over half victims 1936-8
By 1939, 19 million had left the countryside to work on towns and cities
State control of countryside dramatically increase - NKVD agents placed at every tractor station
Give 4 facts that demonstrate how peasant life was LESS transformed 1928-41
1913-40 agricultural production per capita didn’t improve at all. Collective farming failed to modernise or motivate peasantry. productivity higher under NEP
Use of technology and machinery = failure. Equipment neglected and not enough tractors bult. 1940 - still common to see ploughs pulled by humans
1937 state relented and allowed peasants small private gardens. Less than 3% of land was soon producing 50% of the country’s vegetables - not socialist
1946 famine killed 1.5 million. Highlights how little improvement the agriculture system had experienced after nearly 20 years fo reform
Why were the farms collectivised
Economic need to industrialise - feed the industrial workforce and present peasant hoarding
Ideological need - to move towards socialism in the countryside and assert more control, anhiliate the kulaks
POLITICAL DESIRE TO ENHANCE STALIN’S INDIVIDUAL POWER BASE - opportunity to eliminate those on Politburo who supported NEP
Give evidence of peasant resistance to collectivisation in the first stage (1939-30)
Burned crops and slaughtered livestock. 30% of cattle, pigs and sheep killed
So much resistance that Stalin announced voluntary collectivisation in summer of 1930 - dropped from 50-20% of collectivisaed rural households
By March 1930…% of rural households were collectivised
58
By 1939, over…% rural households were collectivised
95%
Give some successes of collectivisation stage 2
Exports of grain increased and the industrial workforce expanded as many fled to the cities - no more urban famine
Give some failures of collectivisation stage 2
Grain output did not reach pre-collectivisation levels until 1935
Unrealistic quotas led to peasants giving almost all their grain causing rural hunger
1932 famine was one of the worst in Russian history. Killed 5-10 million
profits on the collectives were non-existent so peasants had no incentive to work hard. Only interested in their private plots.
DIDN’T SOCIALISE THE PEASNASTS
Give 3 similarities in the political authority exercised by Lenin and Stalin
BOTH ATTEMPTED TO LIMIT OPPOSITION WITHIN + OUTSIDE THE PARTY
- Lenin’scosntitution of 1918 only permitting existence of one party was similar to Stalin’s 1936 constitution that only allowed communist candidates ti stand for election
- Like Stalin, Lenin conducted a purge on party members expelling 150,000 in 1921
BOTH ALTERED MARXIST DOCTRINE TO SUIT THEIR OWN AIMS
LENIN OVERSAW THE INCREASE IN THE PARTY’S POLITICAL AUTHORITY - LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF STALIN’S PERSONAL DICTATORSHIP
Give 3 DIFFERENCES in the political authority exercised by Lenin and Stalin
Lenin had tolerated vigorous debate within the party - had been outvoted on key decisions like strategy for ending WWI. Even after Ban of Factions, unable to prevent debate on NEP and Georgia’s repression
Stalin crushing opposition much more widespread and paranoid. No leading party member lost their life under Lenin, compared with Stalin’s great purges and execution of 600,000 members
Under Lenin, there had been a dictatorship of the party, but now there was a personal dictatorship where Stalin was above the Pary and no longer dependent of it. LENIN’S USE OF TERROR WAS TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF THE REGIME. STALIN WAS O ENSURE HIS OWN POLITICAL AGGRANDISMENT
When Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922, the Soviet government continued to function with the Politburo making decisions. When Stalin suffered a breakdown I 1941, the state was paralysed
Sum up Lenin’s use of terror
Used it to achieve the reveloution
Targeted at specific individuals
Give 3 examples of Lenin’s terror
Terror against the bourgouisiese + Kulaks - mass looting of wealth and forced grain requisitioning under war communism
Establishment of Cheka - 15,000 men arrested at Krondsat uprising
1921 ban of factions - 150,000 Blshevikmembers purged (but not killed)
Who was terrorised in phase 1 (1928-32)
Peasants
Kulaks
Social enemies (bourgoise)
How was Phase 1 terror achieved
Collectivisation and Dekulakisation ed to huge forced deportations (1.6m 1931) and some executions for resistance
Gulag system developed. Camps of an average of 50,000 prisoners utilised to exploit Russia’s resources
1928 show trials exemplified the purge of bourgeois managers. Specialists and engineers were accused of sabotage and became scapegoats for any economic failures
Quote Stalin on the use of terror
“The people need a Tsar”
Who was terrorised in Phase 2 terror 1932-36
Party elite opposition groups - Ryutin and Smirnov + Kirov
Give two opposition groups forming in the party elite in 1932
- Informal group of old Bolshevuksm including Smirnov discovered holding meetings discussing Stalin’s removal. Arrested
- Rightest group known as the Ryutin platform disagreed with the political direction of the Party and Stalin’s leadership.
Ryutin appealed to the Central Committee to remove Stalin - some of these papers discovered in Stalin’s wife’s room when she died.
What is Orland Figes view of Pahse 2 terror
Sees the suicide of Stalin’s wife Nadezhda as a turning point that “unhinged” Stalin, who ceased trusting his closest allies
What happened to Ryutin platform
Stalin demanded execution but Politburo overruled him demonstrating Stalin’s less than total power
Expelled 24 members
Ryutin was given 10-year imprisonment but later shot in 1937 under Stalin’s orders
By 1933, Stalin had announced a general purge of the party and by 1935 had expelled …% of Party members as…………..
18
Ryunites
