chapter seventeen Flashcards
what were the three types of opposition the bolsheviks faced
the political groups from both the left and the right
their many opponents from the rest of the empire (tsarist officers to capacious peasants)
ideological opposition (the bougeroise and upper classes)
when did Lenin ban opposition press
october 27 1979
what did Lenin do with political opposition/threats
arrested them (so many were arrested that other prisoners were being released to accommodate the political prisoners) as well as exiled or excecuted
when was the civil war
1918-1921
what rights did the sovnarkom give the cheka
authority to find, question, arrest and destroy anyone suspected traitors and their families
how many mensheviks were shot in retrograde alone
500
how did local chekas escalate the red terror
they were kern to show loyalty and would discover opposition/traitors where there were none to fill quotas/have more impressive numbers
when was the tsar and family shot
17 July 1918
how many priests were executed 1921
8000
what did the ban on factions mean for terror within the communist party
had to prioritise unity, and basically agree with anything the central committee/Lenin said
cheka extreme violence
cheka tortured their victims (e.g. boiling water and rats), showing they were largely unregulated and able to perpetuate the terror massively as fear of extreme violence accompanied fear of death or exile
examples of groups in the communist party that disagreed with lenins political and economic policies in the early 1920s
“workers oppositions” demanding workers had more control. over their own affairs
lenins ban on factions
1921
done as he believed the division was weakening the party
meant the whole party had to accept the decisions of the central committee - centralising control of the party massively
shakhty show trial
1928
indication of stalin’s attempt to find a scape goat for the chaos following his economic policies
52 engineers at a coal mine were accused of counter- revolutionary activity after a decline in productivity
5 were executed
gulags
economic colonies - a way of exploiting the prison population to boost economic growth; millions of prisoners were used to dig mines and canals, build railways and clear forests
crisis of 1932
stalins wife comitted suicide november 1932, left a note criticising stalins policies
this apparently unhinged stalins paranoia that anyone could betray him
came at the end of a bad year of famine, workers strikes ad poor economy - lots of criticism in public of stalins 5 year plans and leadership - stalins position was far from secure
opposition groups in 1932 (within the party)
‘old bolsheviks’ - informal
‘ryutin platform’ - more serious threat, sent an appeal for stalins removal to the central committee
stalins response to ryutins platform
arrested and stalins call for their immediate execution was overuled by the politburo, but they were expelled and some exiled from moscow and ryutin himself was shot
shows stalin loss of control and power in decisions
when did stalin announce his ‘general purge’ of the party
april 1933, only months after his wifes suicide + the ryutin platform + old bolsheviks opposition
