Chapter 2 - Impact of Stalin's Rule Flashcards
Describe collectivisation and the impacts it brought about.
Stalin sought to merge the small individual farms of the Soviet Union into larger collective farms. It was believed that larger units of land could be farmed more efficiently through mechanisation, such as the use of tractors.
Measures:
- Land owned by the state
- Crops distributed by the state.
- Quantities of crops that farmers were to produce, as well as their working hours and wages were fixed by the state.
- Farmers who produced low quantities or were absent from work were punished.
Impacts:
- Many peasants killed their own animals, burnt their grain and produce, and hid/ buried their crops in the ground in protest against the state.
- Bad harvest contributed to the Great Famine
Describe the rapid industrialisation of the Soviet Union.
1) Factories in cities produce equipment for the mechanisation of farming, such as tractors.
2) Fewer farmworkers needed, more becoming factory workers.
3) More grain and other crops produced. Larger, more efficient and mechanised farms owned by the state would then be able to produce more food to supply the cities and factories.
4) Emphasis placed on the development of heavy industries such as coal, iron, steel and electricity.
5) Hundreds of new factories built, industrial workforce expanded
6) Set quotas for producing machinery and other factory goods. Working hours and wages also fixed.
Describe the impacts of the rapid industrialisation of the Soviet Union.
1) Helped propel the Soviet Union forward to become an industrial base for a powerful arms industry
2) Little growth in consumer industries
3) Some parts of the economy faced underproduction because factories were held up by shortages of materials
4) Other factories overproduced in their attempts to exceed the targets.
5) Great deal of wastage, and quality of products was also often sub-standard and potentially hazardous.
Describe the Great Terror.
1) Aim: consolidate his power and enforce party discipline
2) Creation of a series of campaigns of political repression and purges to eliminate his enemies and remove any domestic opposition to the Soviet government (from 1934 - 1938)
3) Show trials, arrests and interrogations, widespread police surveillance and executions
Describe the Kirov affair.
1) Kirov was Secretary of the Leningrad Party organisation in 1926
2) Joined the Politburo in 1930, became head of the Party organisation in Leningrad
3) Was approached by a group of Bolsheviks as a potential alternative candidate for Stalin’s position as Secretary-General
4) Assassinated on 1 Dec 1934 before any action could be taken
5) Secret police ‘investigated’; Kirov’s assassination was part of a plot to kill Stalin and other Politburo members
6) Took advantage of this opportunity to eliminate all his political opponents
Describe the purges and show trials.
1) Extensive purge of the Leningrad Party, Kirov’s powerbase
2) Thousands identified and accused of being Trotsky’s supporters
3) Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin accused of conspiring with Trotsky to overthrow the government, were tried in public show trials before being executed
4) High-ranking commanders and tens of thousands of Red Army officers were accused of treason, tortured into confession and shot
5) Promoted younger, inexperienced members in place of the members of the Red Army (owed their advancement and allegiance to him alone)
Describe the arrests and interrogations that happened.
1) Secret police arrested, questioned and forced people to inform against their friends and family who voiced opposition against Stalin
2) Anyone could be arrested as an opposer
3) Either killed on the spot or sent to forced labour camps
4) Nearly 39 million executed and 3 million imprisoned
5) Many died from overwork, poor living conditions and ill treatment
How did the Great Terror negatively impact the Soviet Union?
Loss of intellectuals, skilled workers and officers
1) Greatly affected the strength of the country
2) Execution of numerous engineers, scientists and skilled workers meant that Stalin’s workforce for the push towards industrialisation shrank
3) Loss of administrators, engineers and teachers affected the quality of the Soviet civil service, industrial output and education
4) Efficiency in managing affairs of the government affected
5) No experienced military personnel to lead the army and guide the inexperienced soldiers.
How did Stalin use propaganda to build up his own profile?
1) Loyal/ intimidated artists praised him in films, books, posters, paintings and musicals, giving rise to a new style of art called ‘Soviet Realism’.
2) Carefully policed how he was represented, made sure he was pictured wearing ordinary clothes and retaining the modest title of Secretary-General
3) Pictures and propaganda posters of Stalin placed everywhere
4) Rewrote large portions of Soviet history to boost Stalin’s status and discredit his rivals as disloyal counter-revolutionaries
What were the social impacts of Stalin’s rule?
- State control of society:
- Fall in standard of living
- Famine
- Lack of consumer goods - Living in fear
Describe how the fall in the standard of living came about as a result of Stalin’s rule.
1) Shortage of housing: drive towards industrialisation caused more people to move to the cities where the factories were located + increasing population
2) Controlled by the state: not allowed to buy/ bulid houses or apartments or purchase land. They controlled how and where its citizens would live
3) Hence: forced to live in cramped conditions without running water/ sanitation in overcrowded cities
4) Workers pushed very hard in order to achieve the ambitious targets set by the Five-Year Plans → long working hours, little time off, poor conditions → overworked and not fairly paid
Describe how famine came about as a result of Stalin’s rule.
1) State control of the use of agricultural produce from collective farms
2) Ambitious agricultural targets of FYPs → grain and produce were collected at the expense of the farmers
3) Farmers could not keep produce for themselves because farms owned by state
4) Even though many attempted to hide their produce → forcibly taken by Party officials
5) Great Famine (1932) → state did not distribute its stockpiled grain → sold grain overseas to raise funds for more industrial machinery and development
6) Famine carried on until 1934 → almost 7 mill peasants die of starvation due to extreme shortage of food
Describe how Stalin’s rule resulted in a lack of consumer goods.
1) First two FYPs focused mainly on agricultural and industrial targets → neglected production of consumer goods
2) Stalin did not care for the welfare of his workers but was driven to achieve the targets of his FYPs
3) Third FYP (1939) promised to provide more ‘luxuries’ such as bicycles and radios, but these promises were not kept
4) Economy and industry were geared towards the production of weaponry and resources for war, in anticipation of WWII
5) Third FYP thus disrupted as WWII began in Sept 1939
Describe how Stalin’s rule resulted in people living in fear.
1) Secret police had informers everywhere
2) Slightest indication of anti-Stalin sentiments could warrant an arrest
3) People also knew they were being constantly watched and judged by Stalin’s officials → if they were judged poorly, it would be more difficult for them to apply for housing, jobs, or holidays
4) If they stood out for the wrong reasons or upset officials, they could fall victim to the secret police → sent to labour camps/ killed
Describe the impact of Stalin’s policies on minority nationalities.
1) Various minority republics of the former Russian Empire lost their autonomy with the creation of the Soviet Union
2) Allowed to use their own languages and were governed by their own governments, but were all appointed and controlled by Moscow
3) Modernisation and industrialisation > cultural traditions
4) Envisioned all people in the Soviet Union working towards the common goals of collectivisation and industrialisation → minority republics felt the same effects that Soviet Russia felt under Stalin’s policies
5) Great Terror → targetted many members of nationalist groups which advocated for themselves
