Communist Government 1917-85

Question 1

What was the October Revolution?

Answer 1

Over one month in October 1917, the Bolsheviks planned the revolution and put it into action as quickly as possible in order to avoid opposition. They shut off the city of Petrograd, leaving the Provisional Government with no support, so they had to surrender. Prime Minister Kerensky fled on the 25th,leaving the Bolsheviks in power.

Question 2

Why were the Bolsheviks able to seize power in October 1917?

Answer 2

1. Anger amongst the peasants and the workers - Poor living and working conditions, unemployment, inflation, food shortages e.g. 175,000 strikes in June alone.
2. The Failure of the Provisional Gov - Continued in WW2 led to June Offensive, 200,000 casualties, 12,000 desertions in one night, no army.
3. The return of Lenin - Set Bolsheviks apart from other radical organisations eg. slogan ‘Peace, land and bread’ resonated with ordinary Russians and undermined prov. gov. inability.
4. The Kornilov Affair - Kornilov discredited Kerensky and defied him for Bolshevik cause, e.g. arming workers and backing Bolsheviks by opposing prov. gov.
5. The Planning of Trotsky - Exceptional planner e.g. directed the Red Guard to take control of key bridges and railway stations in Petrograd, giving them effective control of the city.

Question 3

What was the most significant reason Bolsheviks were able to seize power in October 1917?

Answer 3

Anger amongst peasants and workers as it started a chain of events. Anger amongst the peasants and workers was caused by another series of failures of the provisional government, that Lenin was able to capitalise on. He then waited for the crisis to deepen, which it did with the Kornilov affair, which allowed Trotsky to exploit the power given to Bolsheviks as a result.

Question 4

What was the Russian Civil War?

Answer 4

The Russian Civil War was a conflict between the Bolshevik Red Army and a collection of other forces opposed to their rule that took place from November 1917 to October 1922. It began as a result of Bolshevik failure to consolidate their rule after the October Revolution.

Question 5

Who was involved in the Russian Civil War?

Answer 5

1. The Reds (The Red Army): Bolshevik forces under the leadership of Leon Trotsky.
2. The Whites: Nationalist groups e.g. Finns and Poles fighting to gain independence from Russia.
3. Foreign Interventions: Foreign troops sent to fight alongside the whites, e.g. Britain sent troops to Archangel in the north.
4. The Greens: Mostly made up of Social Revolutionaries.
5. The Germans: Occupied parts of Russia and fought to defend land gains made in WW1.
6. The Whites: Loose collection of anti-red forces fighting for various reasons but united by their desire to overthrow the Bolsheviks.

Question 6

Why were the Bolsheviks able to win the Russian Civil War?

Answer 6

1. Disunity of the opposition to the Bolsheviks - All groups fought for different reasons and often wasted time fighting each other e.g. Ukrainian nationalists fought the whites as well as the reds.
2. Organisation of the Bolsheviks - Highly organised e.g. new policy June 1918 called War Communism allowed Bolshevik control of all industry and agriculture so they could aid Red Army war effort.
3. Leadership of Leon Trotsky - Highly tactical leadership e.g. created the Red Army which numbered 5 million men by 1921 end making it the largest fighting force in the conflict.
4. Bolshevik control of Russia’s infrastructure - Controlling infrastructure gave advantage e.g. controlling most of Russia’s railway system meant troops and supplies could be moved quickly and
   surprise attacks from other armies were limited.
5. The effectiveness of the Bolshevik Terror - launched campaign of terror led by the Cheka to hunt opponents and their supporters and intimidate them e.g. burning entire villages thought to be hiding political opponents.

Question 7

What was the most significant reason why the Bolsheviks were able to win the Russian Civil War?

Answer 7

The most significant reason why the Bolsheviks were able to win the Russian Civil War was the disunity of their opposition. This is because it meant that they lacked supplies, organisation and a united aim meant they often fought each other. By fighting each other, they helped the Bolsheviks win by lessening their opposition and winning their battles for them, for example Ukranian nationalists fought the Whites as well as the Reds and the Greens were defeated by the Whites.

Question 8

What is an Authoritarian State?

Answer 8

When an individual or small group control all of the power in an area and force everyone to be strictly obedient to their wishes and requirements.

Question 9

What is a Democratic State?

Answer 9

When everyone in an area has the freedom to express their own opinion and have a say in the way in which decision are made.

Question 10

Evidence to suggest Lenin created an Authoritarian state by 1924 (stronger)

Answer 10

1. (Most significant) In October 1922, all political parties other than the Bolsheviks had been banned. This eliminates all chance of a democracy as all other parties were illegal.
2. March 1921 Troops mutiny at Kronstadt naval base over poor treatment. Lenin sent Red Army to crush it with force.
3. October 1922 Lenin replaced the Cheka with the OGPU which wiped out anyone in the party who disagreed with him. Purged 1/3 of the party by 1924.

Question 11

Evidence to suggest Lenin created a democratic state by 1924 (weaker)

Answer 11

1. (Most significant) Lenin introduced the Russian constitution in 1918, guaranteeing all adults would be able to elect a representative to local soviets to present all their wishes to the government. Similar to our GB democratic system today.
2. April 1918 Lenin passed the Decree on Workers’ Control, allowing industrial workers to elect committees to run the factories they worked in.

Question 12

Did the state created by Lenin become progressively more authoritarian over time?

Answer 12

Yes, because he slowly abolished the democratic processes he created over 1917-18, for example the workers’ decrees. Then, through 1920-24 he performed purely authoritarian acts, for example arresting 5000 Mensheviks in April 1921.

Question 13

Why was Stalin able to success Lenin in 1924?

Answer 13

1. Alliances - Made alliances to eliminate other opponents and turned on each of them until only he remained. e.g. Joined with Zinoviev and Kamenev to defeat Trotsky, then joined with Bukharin to defeat Zinoviev and Kamenev. Turned on Bukharin so only he was left.
2. Relationship with Lenin - Presented himself as Lenin’s favourite and clear successor, despite the fact that he had been criticised in Lenin’s final testament. E.g. Gave the eulogy at Lenin’s funeral.
3. Trotsky’s Failures - Many failures e.g. extremist wing of the party made him the least diverse, and the Russians weren’t willing to accept the global revolution he wanted as they had been through a lot. His extreme views also left him isolated with no alliances.
4. Manipulation of Opponents - Cleverly outwitted his opponents to make them appear weaker, e.g. gave Trotsky wrong date for Lenin’s funeral, and his failure to attend was seen as a large insult and greatly disrespectful.
5. Ideology - Stayed in the centre of the party in terms of ideology and wouldn’t commit to any approach, but accepted the potential benefits of all ideas, making him the most diverse potential leader.

Question 14

Evidence that Stalin had complete power over the Communist Party and Russian Government (stronger)

Answer 14

1. Reduced power of the Politburo - Decreased the frequency of Politburo meetings e.g. from weekly during the 1920s to 9 times/year 1930s, allowing him to rule according to his wishes in the meantime.
2. Widespread terror - Control of the secret police which acted outside of the law to purge opponents e.g, Great terror 1925-38
3. Held key positions - Made himself the head of many departments to allow himself the most control e.g. from 1922 was general secretary, giving him access to 26,000 personal files, secret police command, agenda control and control of hiring/firing.

Question 15

Evidence that Stalin had limited power over the Communist Party and Russian Government (weaker)

Answer 15

1. Reliance on others - Stalin still needed Politburo permission for key decisions and was sometimes opposed, e.g. 1932 couldn’t execute Ryutin.
2. Soviet Constitution of 1936 - Stalin’s power was subject to public approval e.g. due to soviet constitution laws passed 1936 which gave citizens the right to vote for soviets and non-Bolsheviks.

Question 16

What was the Great Terror?

Answer 16

• The Great Terror was a campaign of political repression orchestrated by Stalin from around 1934-40.
• Stalin was concerned that members within the Bolshevik party were opposed to him and his policies and were not committed to Communism, so conducted strict surveillance, followed by arresting, interrogating, executing and imprisoning anyone he perceived as disloyal.
• This purged the party of opponents and created a climate of fear to preserve his own power, by convicting, executing and sending to prison camps any possibility of opposing forces.
• About 1/3 of the Communist Party were killed and 20 million ordinary Russians were sent to the Gulag.

Question 17

Why did Stalin initiate the Great Terror?

Answer 17

1. The long term escalation of terror - The use of terror had been a notable feature of Russian gov. over many years e.g. Alexander 3rd set up a secret police force called Okrana to monitor opposition, Stalin then set up his own force called the Cheka.
2. The economic benefits of terror - Many economic benefits of pursuing a policy of terror as people can be scared into doing as you require them to e.g. by 1940, there were 423 forced labour camps, or Gulags, across Russia. The prisoners housed in camps provided a huge amount of free labour that helped boost the economy. Conditions were poor and so many died that workers became referred to as ‘white coal’.
3. Stalin’s paranoia - Although he faced no direct challenged to his authority, Stalin was very paranoid about it being challenged, especially given a history of Bolshevik assassination attempts e.g. Lenin had been the victim of a failed assassination attempt by Fritzplatin in January 1918.
4. Desire to create a personal dictatorship - It has been argued that Stalin used terror to remove any opposition of threat of in order to occupy all key positions and set his own personal agenda e.g. he was the general secretary of the party, ran Central Control Commission, was in charge of the Rabkrin and was Chair of the Sovnarkom 1941. It is also evidenced by his implementation of collectivisation and his Five Year Plans from 1928.
5. The murder of Kirov - Stalin had many political rivals that he felt he needed to take extreme measures against e.g. At the congress of victors in Feb 1934 Kirov topped the poll for the Central Committee, beating Stalin, and was encouraged to stand against him as General Secretary. Stalin saw this as a direct threat to his power, and had Kirov murdered 10 months later in Dec 1934.

Question 18

Who was Stalin’s successor?

Answer 18

When Stalin died in 1953, there was no clear successor, so the Politburo reconvened. Initially, Lavrentiy Beria took control, but the parliament soon became suspicious of him being a British spy. They got rid of him, and Nikita Khrushchev, the General Secretary, began to gain more positions and power until he was the clear leader.

Question 19

To what extent did Khrushchev change the nature of Russian Communist Government established by Stalin?

Answer 19

• Khrushchev is known for his public criticisms of Stalin and his reputation as an authoritarian dictator, famously making a speech criticising Stalin at the 20th Party Congress in 1956.
• Khrushchev made many fundamental changes to Russia’s ruling based on the principle of socialist legality - the idea that actions of the government should be bound by the law. He called this process of change ‘De-Stalinisation’.
• However, it has been argued that many key aspects of Stalin’s government remained throughout Khrushchev’s rule.

Question 20

Changes between Stalin’s and Khrushchev’s policies

Answer 20

1. The role the Politburo played in governing Russia - Stalin reduced the power of the by filling it with allies and lessening the frequency of its meetings, however Khrushchev returned the regular meetings and permitting genuine debate, e.g. Stalin reduced the meetings from weekly to nine times per year during the 1930s, whereas Khrushchev would even allow members to demand his resignation.
2. How government decisions should be made - Stalin forced his will on others and ensured that he alone set the ideological agenda by centralising the government to him and decreasing the power of regional governments, whereas Khrushchev reversed the decentralised Stalin’s system, believing decisions should be made collectively and not just by 1 man. E.g. Stalin forced the entire party to accept his idea of ‘socialism in one country’, whereas Khrushchev returned power back to regional governments from the central government, who’s control of industry fell from 68% to 49%.
3. How prominent the role of terror is in government - Stalin made extensive use of terror to control and eliminate his opponents, whereas Khrushchev allowed made very little use of terror and continued the steps Beria began to reduce terror tactics. E.g. Stalin ordered the deaths or imprisonment of about 10 million people, 10% of the population, during the Great Terror, whereas as soon as Beria came into power he released an amnesty on 27th March 1953 releasing 1 million prisoners from labour camps. Khrushchev released a further 2 million between 1953 and 1960.

Question 21

Continuities between Stalin and Khrushchev’s policies

Answer 21

1. Which personnel formed the Communist Party and Russian Government - Stalin systematically removed his rivals from important government positions and replaced them with allies. When Khrushchev came to power, although he changed the individuals, he used the same technique of filling the party with his own supporters. E.g. between 1953-6 he replaced 44% of the Central Committee.
2. How much power the overall leader of Russia should possess - Both Stalin and Khrushchev accumulated considerable personal power by holding important positions in the Communist Party e.g. Stalin was General Secretary from 1922 and Khrushchev First Secretary from 1953, giving them both control over workings of every department.

Question 22

Who were Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko?

Answer 22

• Khrushchev was peacefully removed from office in October 1964 and was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, who was born in the Ukraine and rose in the party through the Red Army.
• Initially, Brezhnev was forced to share his power with Kosygin, Premier of the USSR, however by the early 1970s he had been eclipsed by Brezhnev and his supporters.
• Brezhnev was generally trusted as a safe pair of hands, and let his officials do their jobs without interference and discouraged reform. He died in November 1982 after years of declining health.
• Brezhnev was replaced by Yuri Andropov, who was already 68 years old when he came to power. He attempted major reform, but lacked the will, power or fitness to instigate major change and died just a a year after his appointment.
• Andropov was then replaced in February 1984 by Konstantin Chernenko, who was 73 years old, very frail and ill and had to use a stairlift to reach the top of Lenin’s tomb. Little changed under his leadership and his health prevented him from taking an active role. He died in March 1985 after only 13 months in power.
• Due to the weak leadership, desire to promote stability and erosion of party authority in 1964-85, historians describe it as a time of political stagnation.

Question 23

Examples of Negative Continuity 1964-85

Answer 23

• Brezhnev’s ‘trust in cadres’ policy allowed corruption to go unnoticed. For example, the ‘cotton affair’ was only uncovered after Brezhnev’s death and involved millions of roubles worth of government money claimed for non-existent cotton with accounts being fiddled with cover the deception. Brezhnev’s own daughter was involved in diamond smuggling. He also attempted ti glorify himself as an individual, awarding himself dubious medals and honours such as the Lenin Peace Prize. Symbols of personal power had been hallmarks of the leadership of Stalin and Khrushchev.
• Chernenko was appointed with the specific intention that he would make no reforms. He was already in his mid-seventies and dying of emphysema when he came to power and when he died 13 months later, had achieved nothing.

Question 24

Examples of Progress 1964-85

Answer 24

• Brezhnev eliminated ‘subjectivism’ from the decision making process, meaning that no decisions would be made according to the subjective wishes of a single all-powerful leader without consultation. He saw himself as ‘first among equals’ and constantly consulted his colleagues before making decisions as well as permitting genuine debate within the Politburo.
• Andropov made some efforts to combat corruption by introducing an anti-corruption campaign, including encouraging media exposure of corrupt officials and prosecuting senior figures to set an example. E.g. Red Army general and Minister for Internal Affairs Nikolai Schelokov and Brezhnev’s daughter Galina were both found guilty.

Question 25

Examples of Regress 1964-85

Answer 25

• Brezhnev was suspicious of the relatively high level of freedom permitted under Khrushchev but knew people would not accept a return to Stalin’s widespread terror, so he tried to exert maximum control with minimum violence. He issued KGB order No. 0051, which increased the surveillance of dissidents and permitted action by the authorities against them. These included highly public trials of artists from 1964-66, and once dissidents had been identified, they were encouraged to emigrate or leave the country. During the 1970s, around 100,000 people left.