Communist Russia Flashcards
Communism
A system of government where the state controls all aspects of the economy eg: no rich no poor
Briefly describe the monarchy before Stalin
- Nicholas II abdicated his throne at February 1917 .
- why :
- unpopular due to famine( gave most of the food to the army and not the people
- unpopular wife,
- took control over army without experience and failed
Describe the impact of Lenin’s death (long answer)
- Died in 1922
- wrote a testament (plan for the future of communism) unsure who he wanted as leader leading to a power struggle between Stalin and Trotsky
- what Stalin did : organised Lenin’s funeral, edited photos to make him appear closer to Lenin (propaganda), and played party members against each other
Collectivisation
Joining of small unproductive farms together to create a large state owned farms
Impact of collectivisation
- who refused to surrender were sent to gulags,
- previously farm owners became farm labourers
Five year plan
A set of targets over a period of 5 yrs
Describe the 1st 5 yr plan
- focus on heavy industry, like coal, oil, steel,
- food sent to cities = famine in the countryside
Describe the 2nd 5 yr plan
- industry
- transport: Moscow underground, rail road, canal
Describe education in communist Russia (long)
- propaganda used in schools( textbooks were rewritten in favor of Stalin)
- school compulsory to combat illiteracy and improve efficiency in the workplace
- children learned to be the greatest possible for their country
- youth organisations like young communists to convince youth the importance of communism
Dictator
Someone who has gained almost full control over their country and uses a variety of means including terror and propaganda to hold onto that power
Describe terror in communist Russia
- dictator
- nkvd formed arrested/ killed/ tortured so called enemies of the state( anyone who spoke out against Stalin)
- great fear in ordinary people of gulags and they report suspicion
- gulags
- show trials
Describe Gulags
- Forced labour camps
- extreme weather conditions ex: Siberia
- carry out hard manual labour
- poor food rations
- violence ( from gangs of real criminals)
- high death rates ( over 1 million)
Show trials
A staged trail held in public to influence popular opinion
Describe show trials (long answer)
- used to remove those who challenged stalins authorityh pige of his party)
- the defendant already signed their cfession
- press invited
- families of defendants threatened
- 1st show trial: trial of the sixteen, August 1936, 16 people tried for assassination and trying to overthrow the government, pleaded guilty (executed)
- 2nd show trial: January 1937, trial of the 17, 13 executed other sent to the gulags
- 3rd show trial: march 1938, trial of the 21, got rid of Nikolai bukharin and genrik yagoda (the head of the nkvd) accused of trying to assinate Lenin and Stalin and took him( bukharin) 3 months to confess and only did so when his family was threatened ( executed)
Describe Progaganda
- to keep control
-ex: show trials, - Pravda ( newspaper meaning truth, that praised Stalin and criticised his enemies)
- posters to show a successful country, happy workforce and the greatness of communism
- described Stalin as a cult of personality, as a godlike figure and people believed that he was responsible for the god in their lives
- edited photos to show himself closer to Stalin and to edit out enemies.
Describe the role of women (long)
- under Lenin,
- they could, vote,
-have an education,
-contraception and divorce,
-cheap dining halls - launderies,
-childcare - under Stalin, he wanted the birth rate to be high,
- married parents received a child allowance
-divorce was discouraged - abortion and contraception illegal
- 1935 women were 44% of the workplace and 1937 50%.
