Chapter 17- Communist Control And Terror

Question 1

Who were the three main oppositions identified by the Bolshevik’s at the start of their days in power

Answer 1

Other political groups

Former tsarist officials and supporters

Bourgeoisie, upper classes

Question 2

How did the SR’s and Mensheviks destroy themselves in October 1917

Answer 2

Walkout of the Soviet congress leaving bolsheviks with a monopoly of power

Question 3

What did the Sovnarkom order on 27 October 1917

Answer 3

Banned opposition press

Ordered for the arrest of Kadet, Menshevik and SR leaders

Question 4

When was the Cheka established

Answer 4

December 1917

Question 5

What did the Cheka become in 1922

Answer 5

GPU

Question 6

What did the GPU become in 1923

Answer 6

OGPU

Question 7

When was the OGPU put under the control of the NKVD

Answer 7

1934-43

Question 8

When did the red terror start and what caused it

Answer 8

August 1918- attempted assassination of Lenin and assassination of Cheka leader Moisei Uritsky

Question 9

What did the Sovnarkom give the Cheka in 1918

Answer 9

Authority to destroy the families of any traitors

Question 10

What did the chairman of the Bolshevik central committee say about the red terror

Answer 10

Said it was a ‘merciless mass terror against all opponents of the revolution’

Question 11

How many SR’s and Mensheviks were shot in Petrograd in 1918

Answer 11

500

Question 12

Why did the red terror escalate

Answer 12

Local Cheka agents wanted to show willingness so took matters into their own hands

Question 13

What were the implications of the red terror for people of religion

Answer 13

They were persecuted but to a lesser extent than ‘class enemies’ etc

Question 14

How many priests were executed in 1921 for failing to hand over church land

Answer 14

8000

Question 15

How many people were shot between 1918-21

Answer 15

Between 500,000 and 1 million

Many more were tortured or sent to labour camps where many died

Question 16

What was Lenin’s ‘ban of factions’ in 1921

Answer 16

All party members had to accept the decisions of the central committee

Question 17

What are examples of Stalin scapegoating to explain the poor state of Russia

Answer 17

Shakhty show trial 1928

‘Industrial party’ show trial 1930

Metro-Vickers trial 1933

Question 18

What was the Shakhty show trial

Answer 18

53 engineers from the Shakhty coal mine were accused of ‘counter revolutionary activity’ due to a drop in production

There was a show trial

44 were given long sentences and 5 were executed

Question 19

What was a problem with prisons in 1929

Answer 19

Could not cope with the number of ‘opposition’ that were being arrested

Question 20

What did Yaghoda do to prevent overcrowding in prisons

Answer 20

Made corrective labour camps (gulags) in Siberia where inmates were made to mine for precious metals

Question 21

What did Figes say ‘unhinged’ Stalin in 1932

Answer 21

The suicide of his wife

Question 22

What two opposition groups formed within the Bolshevik party in 1932

Answer 22

‘Old Bolshevik’s’ lead by Leonid Smirnov

‘Ryutin platform’

Question 23

What happened to the opposing old bolsheviks in 1932

Answer 23

Arrested and expelled from the party

Question 24

What happened to the Ryutin platform members in 1932

Answer 24

Arrested

Stalin called for their execution but this was overruled by the Politburo with Kirov being the main figure in this

Ryutin sentenced to 10 years in prison

Members of the platform and people who knew about existence were expelled and exiled (24 people)

Ryutin killed on stalins orders in 1937

Question 25

What did Stalin announce in April 1933

Answer 25

General purge of the party

Question 26

How many members of the party were purged in 1933

Answer 26

18%

Question 27

What happened to ‘former people’ and party members in 1935

Answer 27

11,000 former people arrested

250,000 party members called anti-Leninist and expelled

Question 28

What show trial happened in 1936 and what was the outcome of it

Answer 28

Zinoviev, kamanev and 14 others put on show trial for a ‘Trotsky- inspired plot’ to kill Stalin and other politburo members

All 16 were executed

Question 29

What show trial happened in 1937 and what was the result

Answer 29

17 prominent communists including Radek tried for Trotsky-inspired sabotage

13 were executed

Question 30

What happened to ‘heroes of the civil war’ in 1937

Answer 30

8 were captured tortured and forced to sign confessions and shot

Question 31

How many were affected do by the military purge of 1937

Answer 31

512 of the 767 high command were killed

Question 32

What was the biggest show trial of the purges

Answer 32

1938-

21 Bolshevik’s interrogated

Yagohda, Bukrhain and Rykov and 13 others were shot for Trotsky-inspired sabotage

Question 33

What was the Yezovshchina

Answer 33

Purge of ordinary citizens

Question 34

When was the Yezovshchina

Answer 34

1937-1938

Question 35

Why did the Yezovshchina end

Answer 35

Yezhov replaced by Lavrenti Beria as head of NKVD

Question 36

How many people were put on an arrest list made by the Politburo in 1937

Answer 36

250,000

Question 37

What was Yezhov’s nickname

Answer 37

The bloodthirsty dwarf

Question 38

What did the 18th party declare in 1938

Answer 38

‘Mass cleansings’ were no longer needed

Question 39

What did the end of the purges cause

Answer 39

1.5 million cases to be reviewed

128,000 cases closed

30,000 released from gaol

327,000 released from gulags

Yezhov and Trotsky killed in 1940

Question 40

what was the issue with prisons by 1929

Answer 40

could not hold all prisoners

Question 41

when did the NKVD gain ownership of gulags

Answer 41

1934

Question 42

how many people were killed during the yezhovshchina

Answer 42

700k