Chapter 12 - Government propaganda and foreign policy Flashcards
Name 3 features of Stalin’s government.
- Bureaucratic centralism - government controlled from the centre (including the appointment of party officials and district officers)
- Factionalism - Crime against the party to oppose policies once they were set out by the leader and supported by the Politburo and Party Committees
- Loyal supporters - Stalin’s success was dependent on his supporters from lower level party leadership who helped him outmaneuver those higher up.
What were his aims?
To keep Russia safe whilst concentrating on domestic affairs to build ‘Socialism in One Country’ but also deal with pressing concerns abroad. Also to maintain trade and friendly relations with countries such as France, Italy and Britain.
Who were the key people in foreign affairs?
Georgii Chicherin - Commissar for foreign affairs
Maksim Litvinov - Chicherin’s deputy
What was Stalin’s aim in China?
To bring stability to a key area on Russia’s eastern border and ensure that communism in Russia wasn’t compromised but the Chinese Communist Party’s misinterpretation of Marxist ideologies.
Who were the 2 main political groups in China in the 1920s?
The Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalists.
How did Stalin view the CCP?
He saw them as less likely to help Russia achieve stability, having misinterpreted Communist ideology. He did not support them and criticised them for focussing too heavily on the peasants instead of the urban working class.
What was the GMD like?
Brutalist and cruel.
- Massacred striking workers in Canton in March 1926 → established military dictatorship
- Viciously suppressed communist-lead workers revolt in SHanghai in April 1927
- Massacred striking workers in Wuhan in 1927
Killed about 30,000 workers total in 1927
What were Soviet-German relations like after the Treaty of Rapallo 1922?
Good, through it they found mutual refuge from their political and economic isolation stemming from their exclusion from the League of Nations following the First World War.
What were the key terms of the Treaty of Berlin?
- Both would remain neutral if the other country was attacked by a third party
- Both agreed not to join an economic boycott against the other
- Maintained friendly political and economic relations
- Remained in force for 5 years until further discussions
When did Stalin’s view on the Comintern change?
In July 1928 at the sixth Comintern Congress when he put forward that world capitalism was in crisis and it was time for an all out attack on European anti-communist social democratic parties (‘social fascists’) → filled it with his loyal yes-men and changed its role.
