Administrative Structures Flashcards
What was the hierarchy in place up to 1905?
(2ish)
- Tsar
- Council of Ministers - Committee of Ministers
- The Imperial Council of State
- Society
- Tsar
- The Senate
- Society
Up to 1905, which way did power go?
(2 main versions)
From top (Tsars) to bottom
Either through the main structure or Tsar-Senate-Society
Define the Tsar pre-1905
Autocrat, complete control, all accountable to him
Define the Personal Chancellory of his Imperial Ministry
Personal advisors, secretaries, and Third Section
Replaced in 1861 by the Council of Ministers
Define the Council of Ministers pre-1905
Chaired by Tsar with ministers appointed by him, discussed legislation
Define the Committee of Ministers
13 ministers including:
- Interiour
- War
- Finance
- Procurator of the Holy Synnod
Administrative roles only
Worked independently of each other
Define the Imperial Council of State
Advisors on financial and legal matters
‘A retirement home for old advisors’
Define the Senate pre-1905
Acted as Supreme Court that upheld the Tsar’s Ukaz and settled disputes between Landowners and Serfs/ Peasants
What was the hierarchy enforced on Alex III with the 1905 October Revolution and consequent Manifesto and then the 1906 Fundemental Laws
- Tsar
- Council of Ministers
- The State Council - The Duma
- Electorate
- Tsar
- Senate
- Electorate
How did the power flow under Alex III after 1905/6?
Ostensibly some democracy with Duma, HOWEVER
- Tsar could dissolve Duma - Fundemental Laws
- Electoral colleges made representation massively squewed for the rich
So really just a slightly diluted autocracy
Define the Tsar post-1905
Autocrat, complete control, all accountable to him through 1906 Fundemental Laws
Alex III used Article 87 allowing Ministers to report directly to him and bypassing Duma
Define the Council of Ministers post-1905
Main law-making and administrative body
Chaired by a Prime Minister
A parliamentary cabinet above 2 houses (State Council and Duma)
Could bypass Council and Duma after Fundemental Laws of 1906
Define the State Council
To act as a check on Duma
Half elected, half nominated
Define the Duma
Elected
Could not pass laws but could block them
Elected through a college system designed to discriminate workers and peasants
After Fundemental Laws 1906 Tsar could disband Duma
Define the Senate post-1905
Acted as Supreme court that upheld Tsar’s Ukaz and dealt with disputes between Landowners and Serfs/ Peasants
Upheld the Fundemental Laws
What were the two hierachies under Lenin?
- A sham demoncractic Government/ State
- The Party system (real power)
What was the structure of Lenin’s (and by extension all following Communists’) democracy?
- All Russian Congress of Soviets
- Sovnarkom (cabinet)
- Local Soviets
- Electorate
What evidence is there that democracy under Lenin was a sham?
- Constituent Assembly closed down within one day
- Chain of elections, village, district, and provincial soviets dominated by Bolsheviks
- SRs and Mensheviks kicked out of ‘All-Russian Congress of Soviets’
- Electorate could only vote for Bolsheviks innit
Define the All-Russian Congress of Soviets
Ostensibly held elected government officials to act as a Parliament, however…
SRs and Mensheviks kicked out, so an annual Bolshevik Party Meeting
Provided link with the Party system - 1/10th members made up Centric Committee
Define the local soviets
(multi-level tasks)
Local party cells would organise meetings and recruit support
Would then choose members of town or district party committees
Would then send representatives to ‘All Russian Congress of Soviets’
(1/10th of Russia Soviet to Centric Committee)
What were the 3 major strands of the Centric Committee?
- Politburo
- Orgburo
- Ogburo
Define the Politbure under Lenin
Small, elite group, decided policy.
Dominated Centric Committee
Directed People’s Commissars, who then effectively passed orders down the chain of Soviets
Define the Orgburo
Organised party affairs
Define the Ogburo
Dealt with opposition to maintain order
What concept was used to justify Bolshevik control
Demoncratic Centralism
Democratic Centralism became highly ____ and grew to a ____ ____
Democratic Centralism became highly centralised and grew to a vast scale
Who took key roles in running the country (2) ?
Definition?
Leading cadres
Top Bolsheviks charged with organising and educating the people
Nomenklatura
Approved fledgling middle-class of the Tsarist era
What happened due to all the undemocractic-ness of Lenin’s government and beyond?
Had a lot of disengaged masses
What was done to recruit peasants into party after Lenin’s death 1924?
Success?
Attempted Lenin Enrolement
Ultimately id not change demographic
What was the structure of Stalin’s party system?
- Presidium
- Supreme Soviet
- Soviet of the Union
- Soviet of the Nationalities
- Electorate
How did the Stalin Constitution of 1936 appear to form a more federal, democratic system?
Abolished long chain of elections
BUT
All people would have a representative in the elected Soviet of the Union
Soviet of the Union comprised half the new Supreme Soviet which elected the Sovnarkom
Sovnarkom headed by Presidium, which linked sham with party system
How did the Stalin Constitution of 1936 not really make the system more democratic?
Other half of Supreme Soviet - Soviet of the Nationalities - was unelected
Article 126 still clearly idenitified the party as the ‘nucleus of all the public and state organisations of the working people’
The Presidium (most powerful organ which oversaw the Sovnarkom) was headed by Stalin with his even more elite leading cadres
Describe the Soviet of the Union
A representative from a district of around 30,000 would be elected for it every 4 years
This meant all people would have a representative
Define the Presidium
Took precedence over the Politburo (most powerful part)
Oversaw the Sovnarkom
Link between sham democracy and party system
Stalin supreme leader
Contained an even more streamlined elite of leading cadres
What did Stalin’s policies of Vashenka and GOSPLAN do?
Oversaw economic targets
What did Stalin’s Cominform and COMECON do?
- Cominform:
- Coordinated actions between all nations’ Communist parties under Soviet direction
- COMECON:
- Economic organisation of Eastern Bloc
Define Stalin’s Soviet of the Nationalities
Contained unelected representatives of the regions of the USSR
More members for more important republics e.g. Russia, Ukraine
Was the first example of regionalism in Russian government
State the 3 ways Khrushchev’s party government changed from Stalin’s party government
- Dissolved Presidium and restablished Politburo
- Initially more collegiate
- Gave more economic planning powers to regional soviets
What was the name of the series of reforms Khrushchev pioneered?
Destalinisation
What evidence is there that Khrushchev upheld the power of the party system?
His response to the attempt to oust him by the Anti-Party Group was to use the organisational structure to support his position
Claimed that only the centric committee had the power to change the system of government
Before 1861, who were provinces largely under the control of?
Who were village issues discussed by?
Nobles and landowners
The mir (a conservative commune of village elders)
How did the Emancipation change the role of peace keeping?
Landowners lost their political role
Replaced by local police constables or Justices of the Peace, appointed by interior ministries
When were zemstvas created?
1864
Why were zemstvos created?
Drawbacks/ negatives?
To administer regions more effeciently
- Had no power to discuss national political issues
- Ministers had to have high property qualifications, excluding most Russians
- Minority regions not allowed zemstvos
What were the Duma in relation to Zemstvos?
When created?
Urban equivalent
Had even more restricted electoral rules
1870
How did the zemstvas still back-fire on the conservatives Tsarist government?
Consequent actions of the upper Tsarist government?
By end of the 19th century these councils were dominated by proffesionals (voted in Social Democrats twice) who demanded a more liberal form of government along their lines (the Third Element)
Zemstvos often silenced or restricted further
What replaced the zemstvos and duma in 1917?
Who led them initially?
Which system?
The Soviets (as in local unions)
Led by SRs and Mensheviks initially
Incorporated into the Bolshevik system
What did the Soveit use to justify their takeover?
Soviet Order Number One
Put all the power in the hands of Soviet (as in during PG bit)
How did Alex II make some reforms with the 1864 Legal Reforms?
Who dealt with political cases? Analysis?
- Juries used for the first time in criminal cases
- Better pay for judges to avoid bribery
Political cases dealt with by the Senate and the SEcret Police - not liberal
What direction did Alex II take after 1881?
2 examples
Moved towards more central control
- Special courts designed for political cases
- Land Captains replaced Justice of the Peace
How did the Communists change the judiciary system?
After 1917 offical judiciary replaced with ‘revolutionary justice’
1920 Criminal Code justified terror to control crime
What proves that under the Communists the secret police and party became the judicial system?
Stalin’s use fo the NKVD an Show Trials in the 1930s
Describe the leadership of the Tsars
- Single leader
- Dictatorial
- Autocratic
- Hereditary
Describe the leadership of the Provisional Government
- Democratic
- Liberal
- BUT unelected
Describe the leadership of the Communists
- Single leadership
- Dictatorial
- Autocratic
- Non-hereditary
Describe the delivery of justice under the Tsars
- Heirarchical
- Centralised
Describe the delivery of power of the Provisional Government
- Hierarchical
- BUT shared power with the Soviet
Describe the delivery of power of the Communists
- Hierachical
- Very centralised
Describe the organs of power of the Tsars
Many
Describe the organs of power of the Provisional Government
Two
- Provisional Government
- Soviet
Describe the organs of power of the Communists
Many
Describe the attitude to democracy of the Tsars
A nod to democracy with Duma - although ideologically completely opposed
Describe the attitude to democracy of the Communists
A nod to democracy with the Soviet system
Describe the local government of the Tsars
- The mir
- Zemstva
- Duma
Describe the local government of the Communists
Soviets soon abandoned
Localities run by party cells and officials
Describe the judiciary of the Tsars
- Some moves towards liberalisation
- Trial by jury
- Political cases still controlled by Senate and Secret Police
Describe the judiciary of the Provisional Government
Liberal - political prisoners released
Describe the judiciary of the Communists
- Dominated by ‘revolutionary justice’, show trials, and purges
- Legalised use of terror
Summarise the Tsarist rule before 1905
Pre-1905 Tsars had advisors and ministers but none had any real power or authority
Summarise the rule of the Tsars post-1905
Some more democratic and western practices but major restrictions maintaining power of Tsar
How does the role of the Tsar and the Communist president overlap?
Both: autocratic, had complete control, all accountable to him
Central and hierarchical government structure
Communists: very personalised rule, government structure justified by Democratic Centralism
Tsars: personalised rule, government structure justified by Pobedonostev’s Tsarist autocracy ideology
How is Communist government similar to Tsarist?
Also not really a democracy - gave illusion of democracy but became highly bureaucratic and vast
