3.14 The Communist dictatorship Flashcards
When was the 1918 Constitution?
July 1918
What did the 1918 Constitution do?
- Set up RSFSR
- Supreme power rested with All-Russian Congress of Soviets
- The central executive committee to be the ‘supreme organ of power’
- Congress responsible for electing Sovnarkom for purposes of ‘general administration of the affairs of the State’
What was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets made up from?
Deputies from elected local soviets across Russia
Although looking highly democratic on the surface, what were the limitations of the new constituion?
- vote reserved for the ‘toiling classes’, not for former ‘exploiting classes’
- In election to the the Congress, workers’ vote weighted 5 to 1 against that of the peasants
- Sovnarkom was, in practice, chosen by the Communist Party’s Central Committee
- Congress was to meet only at intervals, so executive authority remained in hands of Sovnarkom
When was the Russian Civil War?
1918-1920
What two areas of opposition came together to create a force of ‘Whites’?
- anger at the concessions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918)
- existing political opposition
Who were the Whites?
Really anyone in opposition to the Bolshevik ‘Reds’ - both right- and left-wing: ex-tsarists, conservatives, ethnic minorities, moderates and liberals, SRs, other moderate socialists
Why did Russia’s previous wartime allies - Britain, France and the USA - give support to the Whites?
- ideological, against communism
- to force Russia back into WW1
- to defend their own interests in Russia - Bolsheviks reused to pay back money borrowed in tsarist times
By Spring 1918, what had been created?
an anti-Bolshevik Volunteer Army in the south of the country, partly financed by Germany
Bolsheviks moved their capital from Petrograd to Moscow in anticipation of the growing threat
What was the spark to civil war in 1918?
the spark came from an outburst by the Czech Legion in western Siberia in May
By 1918, what did the Czech Legion number?
45,000 soldiers
By the end of 1920, what were the general effects of the civil war?
- most of the former Russian Empire was in communist hands
- there had been perhaps as many as 10 million deaths from hunger, epidemic disease, and military action
When was the Treaty of Riga?
March 1921 - after the Poles rose again and defeated the Red Army
What did the Treaty of Riga do?
granted Poland self-rule, along with Galicia and parts of Belorussia
The independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was also confirmed
How was the Party structured?
around annual congresses, elected by the mass membership, but actual policies and decisions were made by the Central Committee.
In 1919, the Politburo (theoretically a subcommittee) was created - became real centre for Party policy
How often did the Party Congresses meet during Lenin’s life?
Every year
When was the first elected Politburo? Who did it include?
The first elected Politburo of 1919 included Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin among its original members
How many members did the Politburo have? How often did they meet?
7-9 members from the Central Committee, met almost daily
How many members did Sovnarkom have? How often did they meet?
15-20 members from the Central Committee, issued orders and decrees, met daily (initially at least)
Why did the government increasingly become an instrument for carrying out policies made in the Politburo?
Since those in the key government officials were also members of the Politburo (e.g. Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin)
What happened to the meetings of Sovnarkom during the 1920s?
Sovnarkom gradually met less frequently during the 1920s
What was decreed concerning the local soviets? What was the original theoretical purpose of these soviets?
that the local soviets (where in theory, the workers and peasants could show their voice in elections) should only consist of Party members
What new post was created to coordinate the workings of the Party, which was growing in complexity? When?
the post of General Secretary was created in April 1922
What positions of power was Stalin in?
The only Party member to have a seat on the Politburo and the Orgburo.
He was also a member of the secretariat.
When was the nomenklatura system introduced?
1923
What was the nomenklatura system?
Official lists of c5500 key Party members were drawn up + appointment to these posts depended on the agreement of the Party Central Committee
What was the intention behind the nomenklatura system?
To ensure that people in key positions were trustworthy
How did the nomenklatura system work?
Those who wanted to advance themselves sought positions –> they were rewarded with special privileges (e.g. superior housing), in return for ensuring that central directives were obeyed without question
What formally established the USSR?
The 1922 Constitution, December 1922
What was the USSR?
A federation of republics on a similar footing. The governments of the republics were regarded as regional branches of Sovnarkom, which could, when necessary, be ‘coerced’ from the centre
What statistic shows that Party congresses were called less frequently?
no Party congresses at all were called between 1939 and 1952
(1924, 1925, 1927, 1930, 1934, 1939, 1952)
Through his position as General Secretary, what did Stalin control?
Stalin controlled the more important appointments to the Party ‘apparat’, which, in turn, controlled the nomenklatura
This meant that Stalin had vast patronage over all important positions throughout Soviet society
What doubled the Party’s membership to one million?
the ‘Lenin enrolment’ in 1924-25, in commemoration of Lenin’s death
Despite a fall during the period of the Great Purges, how many members of the Party were there in 1940?
3,399,975
Who was the 1936 Constitution drafted by?
Nikolai Bukharin
What did the 1936 Constitution?
- USSR a federation of 11 Soviet Republics (replacing the previous 7)
- ARCS –> ‘Supreme Soviet’
- promised local autonomy to ethnic groups
- promised 4-yearly elections w/ right to vote for all over 18 (including the ‘former people’ - old elites - who previously had no vote)
- accompanied by an extensive statement of rights - freedom from arbitrary arrest + free speech
What did Stalin claim of the 1936 Constitution?
‘the most democratic in the world’
Reality of the 1936 Constitution - promised rights?
largely ignored
Reality of the 1936 Constitution - regional independence?
the central control exercised over the republic’s budgets ensured the primacy of union laws + very little independence
Reality of the 1936 Constitution - right of union republics to leave the union?
When Party leaders in Georgia allegedly planned secession in 1951, they were purged
Reality of the 1936 Constitution - right to vote?
elections not contested - so right to vote merely to affirm a choice of representative
Reality of the 1936 Constitution - Supreme Soviet?
only met for a few days twice a year - meant that body provided more of a sense of participation, than any actual involvement in policy making
What slogan portray Stalin as Lenin’s true disciple?
‘Stalin is the Lenin of today’
When was Stalin outvoted in the Politburo? on what?
1937 - in his plan to replace Nikolay Yezhov as head of the NKVD with Georgii Malenkov
What was a limitation on what Stalin might do?
the inefficiency of the bureaucracy at local leve;
