Chapter 17 Flashcards
Communist control and Terror
What were the three types of opposition Bolsheviks faced?
- other political groups on the left and right
- many opponents including former tsarist officers and capricious peasants
- ideological opposition from the upper class
How did the Sovnarkom secure its power?
the Sovnarkom banned the opposition press and ordered the arrest of Kadet, Menshevik and SR leaders
When and who was the Cheka established under?
In December 1917 and under Felix Dzerzhinsky
What were the various names of the Cheka?
Cheka, GPU, OGPU and the NKVD
Why did the ‘Red Terror’ begin?
An attempt on Lenin’s life in August 1917
How many SRs and Mensheviks were shot in Petrograd?
500
When were the Tsar and his family shot?
17th July 1918
Which groups suffered during the ‘Red Terror’?
Merchants, traders, professors, prostitutes and peasants
How many priests were executed and why?
8000 priests executed for failing to hand over Church possessions
What was an extreme method of torture used by the Cheka?
A cage of rats was heated so they would have to eat through their victim
Who ran the faction the ‘Workers’ Opposition’?
Aleksandr Shlyapkinov and Alexandra Kollontai
What was the effect of Lenin’s ban on factions in 1921?
All Party members had to accept the decisions of the Central Committee
What was the Shakhty show trial?
53 engineers were accused of counter-revolutionary activity ; 5 were executed and 44 imprisoned
What was another example of a show trial?
1933 Metro-Vickers trial, where British specialists were found guilty of wrecking
Who introduced labour camps in Soviet prisons?
Genrikh Yagoda
What were the labour camps set to produce?
Diamonds, gold, platinum, oil, nickel, coal and timber
When did Nadezdha, Stalin’s wife, commit suicide?
November 1932
Why was Stalin’s position far from secure in 1930?
Nikolai Bukharin had been re-elected to the Central Committee in June 1930
Why did Stalin distrust or dislike Sergei Kirov?
Kirov overruled Stalin’s call for an immediate execution of the Ryutin circle
What percentage of the Party membership was branded a ‘Ryunite’?
18%
What happened at the 17th Party Congress?
Stalin declared that the opposition had been defeated by encouraging his enemies to admit their flaws
How many negative votes for Stalin were written, and how many were recorded?
c150, but only 3 officially recorded
When was Kirov murdered?
December 1934
How did Stalin avoid being implicated in Kirov’s murder?
He claimed that ‘Zinovievites’ did it as part of a conspiracy and gave Yagoda full powers to arrest
