8) Stalin's cultural revolution

Question 1

Who was airbrushed out of photographs?

Answer 1

Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev and other ‘enemies’ of Stalin

Question 2

Who was mostly blamed for problems in farming and factories?

Answer 2

Kulaks or saboteurs (wreckers)

Question 3

What was set up in 1932 to check on/control the work of authors?

Answer 3

The Union of Soviet Writers

Question 4

What were the 2 main Communist newspapers?

Answer 4

Pravda (truth) and Izvetiya (news)

Question 5

What did Stalin want from newspapers?

Answer 5

They shouldn’t report news from the outside world

Question 6

What was ‘Socialist Realism’?

Answer 6

Clear and simple messages about the success of Communism and ‘joyfulness’ of living in the Soviet Union through film, art and music.

Question 7

What new city did Kataev write about?

Answer 7

Magnitogorsk

Question 8

Who made the film ‘Alexander Nevsky’?

Answer 8

Sergei Eisenstein

Question 9

What did Stalin try to remove from Russia as a result of them being a threat to the Cult of Stalin?

Answer 9

Religious groups such as Russian Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish

Question 10

By the beginning of WW2 (1941) how many Russian Orthodox priests had not been arrested?

Answer 10

Approximately 5,600 (there were approximately 60,000 in the early 1920’s)

Question 11

How did Stalin treat those from an Islamic background?

Answer 11

1) Mosques and Muslim schools were banned
2) Pilgrimages to Mecca were banned
3) Islamic law was banned
4) Women were encouraged to unveil

Question 12

What Jewish buildings were banned?

Answer 12

Schools, libraries and Synagogues

Question 13

What was set up to promote anti-religious propaganda?

Answer 13

‘The League of Militant Atheists’ or ‘Society of the Godless’

Question 14

Approximately how many Soviet citizens remained religious by 1937?

Answer 14

50 million

Question 15

What made Stalin allow religious freedom again?

Answer 15

Using it to bring about unity when WW2 started.

Question 16

By 1939 what percentage of children were attending school?

Answer 16

94% of urban dwellers (people in cities), 86% of the rural population.

Question 17

What did Stalin’s education system focus on?

Answer 17

Technical and scientific skills needed to make the 5 year plans work.

Question 18

How did education help Stalin stay in power?

Answer 18

Education was used as propaganda (children were taught that Stalin was the ‘Great Leader’ and they were taught ‘Stalin’s’ History of the USSR)

Question 19

What did Stalin’s History of the USSR promote?

Answer 19

The idea that Stalin played a greater part in the October 1917 revolution than he actually did.

Question 20

What was made compulsory in schools ?

Answer 20

The teaching of Communist ideology

Question 21

What youth groups were created to promote Communism/Stalin?

Answer 21

1) The Octobrists (8-10 years old)
2) The Yung Pioneers (10-16 years old)
3) The Komsomol (16-28 years old)

Question 22

What was frequently named after Stalin?

Answer 22

Streets and cities (eg. Stalingrad)

Question 23

What nicknames did newspapers give Stalin?

Answer 23

‘Man of Steel’, ‘Shining Sun of Humanity’ and ‘Voxhd’ (the Boss)

Question 24

The use of propaganda, media and culture created what for Stalin?

Answer 24

‘The Cult of Stalin’

Question 25

What did Stalin do to many famous photographs of Lenin?

Answer 25

He faked/changed many of them so that he was seen as close to Lenin.