Chapter 12 - Government, propaganda and foreign relations 1924-29

Question 1

When did Stalin reach a pinnacle of dictatorial power?

Answer 1

1929

Question 2

How did Stalin reach his pinnacle of dictatorial power?

Answer 2

By outmanoeuvring political rivals and using his central position as General Secretary to manipulate decision-making and place allies and supporters in key positions

Question 3

How did Stalin build the foundations for the cult of personality?

Answer 3

By maximising the cult of Lenin and placing himself in the role of Lenin’s only, indispensable, true successor

Question 4

What were the 5 main features of Stalin’s style of government?

Answer 4

Bureaucratic centralism
Divide and rule
Fear
Continuing Lenin’s legacy
Loyal supporters

Question 5

Bureaucratic centralism

Answer 5

Central control of economy matched by central control of govt
Party leadership controlled appointment of key bureaucratic positions down to a local level

Question 6

Divide and rule

Answer 6

He brought people into favour but if they grew too powerful he encouraged their rivals to bring them down
e.g Yezhov’s rise and fall

Question 7

Fear

Answer 7

Role of the secret police became more pervasive
Policies imposed using fear (e.g use of secret police to enforce collectivisation)

Question 8

When was the secret police renamed and what to?

Answer 8

OGPU in 1926

Question 9

Continuing Lenin’s legacy

Answer 9

Positioned himself as Lenin’s heir and chief interpreter of Lenin’s wishes, responded to any challenge by showing how Lenin’s words supported him

Question 10

Loyal supporters

Answer 10

Ability to influence appointment of Party officials (because General Secretary) key to his control over the govt
Politburo (filled with his loyal supporters) made decisions that the Central Committee approved without question

Question 11

What did Stalin rely on propaganda for?

Answer 11

To launch campaigns and boost enthusiasm for his grand schemes

Question 12

How was Stalin portrayed in propaganda?

Answer 12

As Lenin’s heir

Question 13

Why did Stalin boost the cult of Lenin?

Answer 13

To add to his own status
Lenin was treated like a god which gave Stalin, as his heir, god-like characteristics

Question 14

What was Stalin’s main aim in foreign affairs?

Answer 14

To keep the USSR safe while concentrating on the domestic priority of building socialism in one country

Question 15

Who were the USSR’s main international representitives and what did they do?

Answer 15

Chicherin and Litvinov
They presented a moderate diplomatic image which helped reassure foreign powers about doing business with the USSR

Question 16

How did Stalin’s attitude towards the Comintern change?

Answer 16

It was a low priority for him during the leadership struggle
In 1929 he used it to launch an attack on social democratic parties in Europe

Question 17

Why did Stalin attack social democratic parties in Europe?

Answer 17

He belived they were diluting the appeal of communism to the working classes

Question 18

How was the Comintern to ready itself for the fight against social fascism?

Answer 18

Ensuring all foreign communist parties purged themselves of ‘weak’ elements
Imposing strict Party discipline
Making sure all communist parties followed the line on policy handed down to them by the USSR

Question 19

What are some potential reasons for Stalin’s more aggressive approach after 1929?

Answer 19

It could’ve been:
A way to attack Bukharin (opposed the new focus)
A result of Stalin’s confidence in having removed Trotsky
A ‘Stalin revolution’ in foreign policy
Connected to Stalin’s fear of challenges from power bases in other countries

Question 20

Why wasn’t it possible for the USSR to become completely isolated?

Answer 20

Pressing concerns like instability in China and opportunities in Germany that Chicherin was eager to pursue

Question 21

What does Stalin’s policy towards China show?

Answer 21

How far his attitude towards foreign policy was rooted in his determination to eliminate his rivals and his overriding concern for the security of the USSR

Question 22

Summarise the events in China

Answer 22

Two main groups fighting for power were the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the nationalist Guomindang (GMD)
Trotsky supported the CCP
Stalin backed a bourgeois revolution led by the GMD
Stalin urged the CCP to join forces with the GMD in order to build up a proletarian revolution but the GMD massacred CCP members

Question 23

Why didn’t Stalin support the CCP?

Answer 23

He didn’t think they were strong enough to take control
He worried that an unstable China would threaten the USSR’s borders
The CCP had unorthodox ideas about peasant revolutionaires

Question 24

When was the Rapallo Treaty signed?

Answer 24

1922

Question 25

When was the Treaty of Berlin signed?

Answer 25

1926

Question 26

What was the aim of the Treaty of Berlin?

Answer 26

to build a ‘trustful cooperation between the German people and the peoples of the USSR’

Question 27

What did article 2 of the Treaty of Berlin state?

Answer 27

if one of the two countries was attacked by a third country, the other would remain neutral in the conflict

Question 28

What did article 3 of the Treaty of Berlin state?

Answer 28

that neither country would join in any economic boycott against either of them

Question 29

How did the USSR benefit from the Treaty of Berlin?

Answer 29

economically
it recieved large financial credits from German banks in June 1926

Question 30

Who was the German foreign minister at the time of the Treaty of Berlin?

Answer 30

Gustav Stresemann

Question 31

What strained relations between the USSR and Germany in the 1930s?

Answer 31

Stresemann’s death in 1929
the development of the world economic crisis
Stalin’s more aggressive approach to foreign policy
Hitler’s rise to power