Chapter 1: Structure Of Government Flashcards
What gave the Tsars the right to rule?
God - Divine Right to Rule
What were the three keywords of the Tsars?
Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality.
What concessions did Alexander II make to Autocracy?
Glasnost, Emancipation Edict
What was the effect of the Fundamental Laws 1906?
Reinstated the Autocracy of government - Nicholas was still in charge
Which Tsar was the hardest on Autocracy?
Alexander III
What document set out Marxism-Leninism?
What to do? - Published 1902
What was Lenin’s interpretation of the dictatorship of the proletariat?
A central committee would govern until the workers were ready to take control themselves.
In what way was Lenin’s Ideological stance similar to the Tsars?
He moderated to stave off opposition, but never veered too far from his central ideology
What was Stalin’s ideology?
Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism (Totalitarianism)
How did Stalin cement his leadership of the people of the USSR?
Rule of fear & widespread terror
When did Lenin Die?
1924
When did Stalin Die?
1953
When did Alexander II die?
1881
When did Alexander III die?
1894
Who were the four combatants in the power struggle after Stalin died?
Khrushchev
Beria
Malenkov
Vorishilov
What set out Khrushchev’s plan for Destalinisation in 1956?
Secret Speech
WHo formed the anti-party group to combat Khrushchev?
Malenkov, Kagonovich, Molotov
How was the cult of personality eroded?
Stalingrad renamed to Volgograd
Statues removed
Stalin’s body buried in concrete below the Kremlin
How did the Structure of government change under the Tsars?
It mostly didn’t
(exception in 1861)
What was the Personal Chancellery of His Imperial Majesty?
A body of three sections:
Personal secretariat to the Tsar
Legal advisers
The Third Section
What government body was set up in 1861?
Committee of Ministers
What was the Committee of Ministers?
A body of ministers who administrated for specific aspects of the governmnet, e.g. minister for war, finance, etc.
What was the Imperial Council of State?
A body that gave the Tsar legal & financial advice
What was the Senate?
Acted as the Supreme Court in Russia
What was the Council of Ministers?
A body chaired by the Tsar, and consisted of officials that would discuss draft legislation.
Alexander III disbanded it in 1882.
What political changes were made by the October Manifesto?
The Senate was unchanged
Council of Ministers became the law-making body
Imperial Council of State became the State Council to act as a check on the Duma
The Duma was set up as an elected lower chamber
When were the fundamnetal Laws passed?
1906
When was the October Manifesto passed?
October 1905
How long did the First Duma last?
It was open April to July 1906.
Why was the first Duma shut down?
Disagreed with the government over land redistribution
What was the new way of dealing with dissidents that was used between the meetings of the first and second duma?
Court-martials for civilian rioters (Stolypin’s necktie)
What was the Vybourg Manifesto?
A document that encouraged FInns not to pay taxes or serve in the army until the Duma had been restored.
What was the makeup of the 2nd Duma compared to the 1st?
Less Kadets/Labourists
More SDs/SRs/Octobrists
Why was the 2nd Duma shut?
An SD member of the Duma was framed for attempting to arrange an army.
How long did the 2nd Duma last?
February to June 1907
Why was the makeup of the Third Duma different?
There had been electoral reform, so the makeup was mostly loyal to the crown.
How long did the 3rd Duma last?
Nov 1907 - June 1912
(full term)
What policies were agreed in the 3rd Duma?
Judicial reform
Army & navy reform
Brought back Justices of the Peace
Land Captains abolished
What happened to the Duma in 1915?
The Progressive Bloc called for a National government, so Nicholas shut it down.
How many workers striked in St. Petersburg in January 1917?
Around 150,000 on the 9th January 1917
When was the strike at the Putilov Steel works?`
February 1917
What happened on 25th February 1917?
A general strike, with workers being fired upon by troops.
How many of the Petrograd garrison joined the strikers in 1917?
Around half the troops
When was Soviet Order No.1 passed?
March 1 1917
When did Nicholas II decide to abdicate?
March 2 1917
What slogan was used by the Bolsheviks to gain support?
Peace, Bread, Land
What event strengthened the Bolsheviks?
The Kornilov Affair
What were the 2 leading Bolshevik newspapers that were used by the Communists in government?
Pravda & Izvestiya
When did the Bolsheviks seize complete control of Moscow?
November 2nd 1917
What happened in the Constituency Assembly elections Nov 1917?
Bolsheviks lost to the SRs
What was Lenin’s response to losing the constituency assembly elections?
Shut down the assembly & set up the RSFSR.
What was the Decree on Land?
Sanctioned the requisite of private land by peasants, but stated the divisions and redistributions could only be done by local soviets.
What was the Decree on Peace?
An armistice with Germany
What was the All-Russian Congress of Soviets?
A meeting of delegates from soviets throughout Russia where they discussed policy to be adopted by the soviets.
When was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed?
1918
Why did the Germans withdraw from Russia in 1918?
The Western Front collapsed
What was the central executive commitee?
Made up of 3 sections:
- Politburo: formulated policy
- Ogburo: dealt with opposition
- Orgburo: organised party affairs
What was the Cheka?
A secret police set up by Lenin to combat opposition
Who led the Cheka?
Dzerzhinski
What was the system the bolsheviks wanted to create called?
Democratic Centralism
How many party members in 1921 and 1928?
1921 - 730,000
1928 - around 1 million
When was the USSR formally set up?
1924
Whet was Stalin’s constitution?
1936
What countries joined the USSR 1939-1940?
Lithunia, Latvia, Moldova, Estonia
What bodies made up the Supreme Soviet?
Soviet of the Union - represented all regions of the USSR
Soviet of Nationalities - represented nationality groups
What was the structure of local government before 1861?
Mostly under jurisdiction of landowners & the mir.
What was the Mir?
Local bodies of elders responsibly for keeping order in rural areas
When were the Zemstva introduced?
1864
When were the Dumas introduced? (not the parliament one)
1870
What was ‘The Third Element’?
A group of lawyers, teachers, and doctors that wanted central government to resemble the Zemtsva.
What were the Zemstva?
Local elected councils for rural areas
What were the non-parliamentary dumas?
Zemstva for urban areas
What was local government like under the Communists?
Dominated by the Soviets
What were the 1864 legal reforms?
Jury system introduced
Heirarchy of courts for different cases
Judges got better pay
What did Alexander III do to the police in 1881?
Centralised them
What was the Communists’ approach to Law & order?
Revolutionary justice
What was the Okhrana?
Secret police of the Tsars
When was the Okhrana set up?
1880 - replaced the Third Section
When did Okhrana Activity peak?
1905
What was Lenin’s secret police called?
the Cheka
What were the main policies that the Cheka had to enforce?
War Communism
The Red Terror
When was the Cheka set up?
Dec. 1917
What replaced the Cheka after the CIvil War?
The OGPU
What were Stalin’s new secret police in 1934 called?
The NKVD
When was the NKVD set up?
1934
Who led the NKVD?
Yagoda & then Yezhov
Who replaced Yezhov as leader of the NKVD?
Beria - Yezhov was accused of an anti-purge campaign & executed 1938.
How many members had the NKVD purged by the start of WW2?
20,000
What replaced the NKVD in 1943?
The NKGB
What replaced the KGB in 1946?
The MGB and the MVD
What organisation was formed from the MVD and the MGB in 1953?
The new MVD
What was the MVD split up into in 1954?
The KGB and the MVD (again)
What was the role of the KGB?
External security - specifically Cold War
What was the role of the MVD? (the 1954 one)
Internal security within the Union
How many political prisoners were there by 1960?
Only 11,000
How many soldiers were there in 1855?
1.4 million
What was the army mainly used for 1905-17?
Dismantling protests & riots
How many members of the Petrograd Garrison are estimated to have joined the February Revolution?
150,000
What was the importance of the Red Army?
Fighting in the Civil War & enforcing War Communism
What was the Kronstadt Rebellion?
an insurgency of sailors and civilians against the government in 1921.
What was the outcome of the Kronstadt Rebellion?
10,000 Red Army troops died.
All the rebels were exiled or shot.
What did Stalin use the army for?
Purges & the Red Terror
How much of the top military echelon did Stalin purge in the years 1936-38?
40%
What did Khrushchev reduce army numbers to?
3.6 million to 2.4 million
What was Alexander II’s policy on cencorship?
Glasnost - openness
What was the growth of book numbers 1855-1894?
1855 - 1020 books published
1894 - 10,691 published
What was Alexander III’s view on censorship?
Cracked down on freedom of publication
What was Nicholas II’s policy on censorship?
More like Alexander II - Glasnost
How did the number of newspapers change from 1900-14?
Increased threefold
What did the Bolsheviks do to press freedom?
Removed it entirely
What did Stalin want to present in soviet writings?
The New Soviet Man
How many libraries were there in 1959?
135,000 libraries with 8000m books - tenfold increase from 1913
What was Khrushchev’s policy on Censorship?
He relaxed censorship
What was a technique used by both Lenin & Stalin to promote themselves are heroes?
Cult of Personality
What were some examples of the cult of personality?
Petrograd renamed Leningrad
Traritsyn renamed Stalingrad
Lenin’s body displayed in a mausoleum
What was the name of the youth organisation set up by the communists?
Komsomol
How many cinemas were there by 1917?
1,000+
How many films were made in 1959?
145, nearly 59,000 cinemas
What did Stalin use cinema for?
Promoting the 5-Year Plans
What was Alexander II’s attitude towards reform?
Reform from above rather than reform from below
What reform did Nicholas II undertake?
October Manifesto
When were political parties legal?
1905-1921
What were the Narodniks?
Left wing Intellectuals who were free to criticise Tsarist rule after Alex II’s policy of glasnost
Who led the Narodniks?
Nikolai Chernyevsky & Pyotr Lavrov
What was the People’s Will?
A terrorist group hell-bent on ending tsarist rule
What did the People’s Will do?
Made 4 attempts on Alex II’s life - succeeded in 1881
Who were the SRs?
Emerged from the Narodniks - generally left-wing
How many political killings were the extremist SRs responsible for 1901-5?
2,000
Who was killed by the SRs in 1900-05?
Grand Duke Sergei & Vyachesla Plehve
Who were the SDs?
A party that split into the Bolsheviks & Mensheviks.
What were the results of the 1917 Assembly elections?
SRs - 370 seats
Bolsheviks - 175 seats
What did Lenin publish after the Civil War?
‘On Party Unity’ - made all other parties illegal
Which Bolsheviks called for an alliance with the SDs?
Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Rykov
What was the issue within the party surrounding the NEP?
It was seen as a betrayal of hardline ideology
What was the Triumvarate?
An alliance of Stalin, Zinoviev, and Kamenev that aimed to curb Trostky’s influence after Lenin died.
What happened to Trotsky?
Expelled from the party 1927
Exiled from the USSR 1929
Killed in Mexico 1940
What happened during the party purges of the 1930s?
Party members who failed to implement collectivisation or who disagreed with the idea of liquidating the kulaks as a class were removed from the party.
A further third of the party was then removed for resisting industrialisation.
Who were some prominent party members executed in the great purges?
Bukharin, Kossior, Kirov, Kuibyshev, Rudzuki, Ordhonizke
What was the peasant opposition in the 1900s over?
Redemption payments
What were the results of the Black Earth revolts 1906-07?
Stolypin’s land reforms
What did the peasants do during the Civil War?
Formed militias on both sides
Who led a prominent peasant militia in the Russian Civil War?
Vasily Chapayev
What did peasants do to rebel against Stalin’s collectivisation?
Killed livestock such as cattle
What were the main ways in which workers opposed the government?
Strikes
What was the large strike in 1912?
Lena Goldfields - miners striked and were killed
What was another strike in 1917?
Putilov Steel works
Why were workers docile in the 1920s and 1930s?
They generally accepted the 5-year plans
What happened at Novocherhassk in 1962?
Workers protested over food shortages.
20 workers were killed and ringleaders were later executed.
What can be considered proof that worker opposition was effective?
Average working day in 1897 was 11.5 hours
Average working day in the 1960s was 7 hours.
