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Lenin to Yeltsin - A LEVEL HISTORY > communist government in the USSR, 1917-85 > Flashcards

communist government in the USSR, 1917-85 Flashcards

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1
Q

What were the 5 stages to a one-party state?

A
  1. A democratic and representative government - Decrees
  2. Political centralisation - Politburo > Sovanarkom
  3. Authoritarianism - Cheka, Red Terror
  4. New elite and bureaucracy - Nomenklatura
  5. Ban on factions and on-party unity
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2
Q

Who were the Bolshevik Party’s main opposition?

A
  1. Left-wing Marxist groups - SR’s & Mensheviks
  2. Right-wing Tsarist supporters - liberal groups
  3. Nationalist groups within the Russian empire
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3
Q

What happened during the Constituent Assembly of 1918?

A
  • Didn’t play out in the Bolsheviks favour.
  • SR’s were victorious with 210 seats.
  • Lenin then shut down the assembly and condemned it as an ‘Instrument of the Bourgeoise’.
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4
Q

How did the Bolsheviks destroy opposition?

A
  • Remove Bourgeoise voting rights.
  • Newspaper restrictions on SR’s, Mensheviks.
  • 1921 - all opposing parties banned.
  • Imprisoned 5,000 Mensheviks.
  • SR’s in Party fired.
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5
Q

Why did Lenin sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

A
  • WW1 sopped energy and resourced of the government.

- To focus and consolidate over Russia.

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6
Q

How did the Bolsheviks win the Civil War?

A
  • Red’s were more organised in military, economic and political terms.
  • War Communism.
  • Peasant support.
  • Conscription.
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7
Q

What was banned during the 10th Party Congress?

A

Ban on factions & on-party unity - penalty for breaking this was expulsion from Party.

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8
Q

Why was Democratic Centralism a false reality?

A
  • Soviets undermined because of ruling by decree, not involved in any decision-making.
  • Dominated by Bolsheviks.
  • Representatives turned into rubber-stamping bodies.
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9
Q

What was the Nomenklatura system?

A
  • Ensure the development of a more committed communist bureaucracy.
  • Included drawing up lists of approved party employees suitable for certain jobs from which appointments can be made.
  • Encouraged loyalty to party leaders and an effective tool of centralisation.
  • Increased membership.
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10
Q

What did the Soviet Constitution of 1924 say?

A
  • Bolsheviks could extend control through Russian Empire.

- Confirmed the power of CP.

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11
Q

What were some examples of opposition in the Party towards Lenin?

A
  • Kamanev & Zinoviev opposed Lenin’s decision of revolution in 1917.
  • Fierce debate of BL Treaty.
  • NEP caused factions (left + right wing).
  • Stalin appointed as General Secretary in 1922 to keep an eye on opposition.
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12
Q

Stalin became Party Secretary in 1922, what powers of influence did this give him?

A
  • Access to 26,000 personal files.
  • Decided agenda of Party meetings, restrict issues of debate.
  • The right to appoint Party positions, promote his own supporters.
  • Launched Lenin Enrolment to increase industrial workers in Party ranks, members were uneducated and politically naive.
  • Able to outvote and outmanouvre opponents.
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13
Q

Who were Stalin’s opponents in the Politburo?

A
  1. Leon Trotsky - the obvious successor
  2. Gregory Zinoviev - strong power base in Leningrad
  3. Nikolai Bukharin - ‘golden boy’ of Party
  4. Mikhail Tomsky - leading figure in trade union movement.
  5. Alexei Rykov - chair of Sovnarkom
  6. Lev Kamanev - Moscow party secretary
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14
Q

The Party was divided into the Right and the Left by 1928, who was on both sides and what did each division want?

A
  • LEFT : Trotsky, Kamanev and Zinoviev - called for ‘permanent revolution’ by encouraging proletarian revolution throughout the world and favoured breaking the NEP.
  • RIGHT : Bukharin, Tomsky and Rhykov - prefered to stick to Lenin’s policies, (at least short term).
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15
Q

How did Stalin deal with the Right of the Party?

A
  • Undermined Bukharin by stressing his disagreements with Lenin in 1920s.
  • Accused him of Trotskyism and forming factions.
  • Undermined his support for the NEP by highlighting it’s failures.
  • April 1929, forced to admit errors of political judgement.
  • Right removed from all posts, except Rykov.
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16
Q

How did Stalin deal with the Left of the Party?

A
  • 1926, their views criticised at the 15th Party Congress, accused of forming factions, expelled and demoted from the Politburo.
  • In 1928, Zinoviev & Kamanev readmitted after renouncing previous views.
  • Trotsky exiles to Asia and a year later expelled from the Soviet Union.
17
Q

What were the two key instruments of terror in Stalin’s reign?

A
  1. Party Secretariat : collected information on Party members that could be used to condemn them as enemies of the people.
  2. The Secret Police : carried out surveillance, arrests, executions, ran the labour camps.
18
Q

What happened in the Chitska of 1932-35?

A
  • Response to the difficulties experienced during the launching of the FYP’s & collectivisation.
  • Chitska removed criticising officials in order to speed up economic policy.
  • By 1935, 22% removed from posts, non-violence process, but showed opposition to Stalin’s policies were mounting.
19
Q

What happened at The Trial of the Sixteenth?

A
  • Involved leaders of the Left.
  • Accused for working as agents for Trotsky.
  • Under pressure to admit absurd crimes.
20
Q

What was the Shakhty Trial of 1928?

A
  • Lack of commitment not tolerated.

- Managers and technical experts put on trial for holding back industrialisation.

21
Q

What two groups did Stalin purge?

A
  1. Secret Police - 3,000 purged.

2. Red Army - 35,000 officers purged.

22
Q

How did Stalin ensure control over the CP?

A
  • Terror against previous opponents sent intimidation messages to current members.
  • Power focused on sub-groups.
  • Intimidation techniques - walking around room whilst others spoke.
23
Q

Why was the Soviet Constitution of 1936 NOT democratic?

A
  • Limited restrictions on rights of citizens.

- Nothing could threaten the CP.

24
Q

What were Stalin’s limits on power imposed from within the leadership?

A
  • Politburo filled with cronies : Molotov remained loyal even after his wife was imprisoned.
  • Politburo refused to execute Rhyutin.
  • Stalin’s ambitions for 2nd FYP doubted.
  • Concern over use of brutality.
25
Q

What were the differences between Stalinism & Leninism?

A
  • Move away from Proletarian dictatorship to Stalin’s own dictatorship.
  • Stalin was a product of the situation inherited from Lenin.
26
Q

What happened during the high Stalinism years (1945-53)?

A
  • Stalin cult of personality - facade of power, his health was in decline and those around him rivalled for power.
  • Terror used to reinforce control.
  • Mingrelian Affair 1951 - remove Beria’s allies.
27
Q

What did Beria do straight after Stalin’s death?

A
  • Signed an amnesty which released millions of prisoners.
  • Doctors plot denounced.
  • Kremlin doctors released.
28
Q

What did Khrushchev do at the 20th Party congress of 1956?

A

Gave a Secret Speech accusing Stalin of:

  • a cult of personality
  • using unnecessary terror
  • making economic mistakes
29
Q

What were some of Khrushchev’s de-stalinisation reforms?

A
  • Regular meetings of Presidium & Central Committee.
  • Secret police under firm party control, no longer used for personal interest.
  • De-centralised decision-making, more power at regional levels.
  • Party & Government officials no longer faced prison for failure of meeting targets.
  • 2 million prisoners released.
  • Secret police lost control over Gulags.
30
Q

Did fear disappear after de-stalinisation?

A

NO heavy punishment remained for corruption and critisism (internal exile, psychiatric hospital).

Secret police has even more methods of surveillance.

31
Q

What did the crisis of 1957 show that change had occurred?

A

The anti-party group who wanted Khrushchev to be removed from leader power were not purged for exiling him.

32
Q

What further reforms did Khrushchev introduce during the 22nd Party Congress?

A
  • Stalin’s body removed from Lenin’s monsoleum.
  • Major purge of Party Secretariats.
  • Divided Party into agriculture and industry departments (reduced power of officials).
  • 3 year tenures.
33
Q

What led to the downfall of Khrushchev?

A
  • Cuban missile crisis.
  • Erratic and unpredictable behaviour.
  • Economic policies led to disastrous harvest in 1963.
  • Reforms made bureaucrats uneasy.
34
Q

What aspects of de-stalinisation did Brezhnev reverse?

A
  • Agriculture and Industry divisions.
  • Limits on tenure removed.
  • Guiding principle : collective leadership and trust in cadres.
  • No subjectivism.
  • SC of 1977 enshrined right for citizens to criticise Party secretaries.
35
Q

Why did Brezhnev like the trappings of power?

A
  • Awarded himself medals : Lenin’s peace prize.
  • Enjoyed luxuries of life at top.
  • Preferred to trust Party comrades.
36
Q

How did Brezhnev increase political stagnation?

A
  • Oligarchy
  • Party full of his cronies
  • Allowed corruption to go unnoticed
  • Nepotism
  • Gerontocracy
  • Loss of control symbolised lack of family control

Lenin to Yeltsin - A LEVEL HISTORY (3 decks)

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