Dictatorship and Stalinism

Question 1

In what ways was the machinery of state terror already established under Lenin?

Answer 1

USSR was already a police state in 1928
People kept under close surveillance by party activists
Cheka had been established in 1917 and 1922-34 the OGPU carried out security functions, assisted by labour camps since 1918

Question 2

How did Stalin extend the use of terror during his rise to the leadership position?

Answer 2

Destroyed the Kulaks to enforce collectivisation
1930 he expelled some of his former supporters for criticising collectivisation and in 1931 put former Mensheviks and SRs on trial
During five year plans he sent specialists who he accused of sabotage to labour camps

Question 3

What is state terror?

Answer 3

A means to control the population and remove opposition through control and fear - Stalin made terror an instrument of government

Question 4

What was the Shakhty Trial of 1928?

Answer 4

1928 managers and technicians at the Shakhty coal mine who questioned the speed of industrialisation were accused of counter-revolutionary activity. They were given a public show trial in which they were forced to confess, five were executed and others received long prison sentences.

Question 5

What happened following the Shakhty show trial?

Answer 5

Gosplan was subsequently purged of critics and ex-Mensheviks and further trials took place in the USSR
In the ‘Industrial Party’ show trial of November 1930 a random group of industrialists, Mensheviks and SRs were accused of sabotage and in the 1933 Metro-Vickers trial British specialists were found guilty of wrecking activities

Question 6

By the end of the first plan what was there renewed signs of and what was the outcome of this?

Answer 6

Opposition to Stalin’s leadership, particularly since forced collectivisation had culminated the 1932-33 famine- This weakened Stalin’s position leading to further party purges

Question 7

What is an example of this opposition?

Answer 7

Martemyan Ryutin (former Moscow secretary and a rightist who had been expelled in 1930) called for changes in policy - he circled a 200 page document entitled ‘Stalin and the Crisis of the Proletarian Dictatorship’ among party members in March 1932 - this became known as the Ryuitin platform and was followed by another urging Stalin’s removal

Question 8

What were the consequences of the Ryutin opposition ?

Answer 8

Stalin called for the execution of these ‘traitors’ and although he was over-ruled (particularly by Kirov)- Ryutin was imprisoned for ten years while Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others were expelled from the party. for failure to report the existence of the document
There were a further 24 expulsions the next month and by 1934 1/5 of the party had been branded ‘Ryuitinites’ and expelled in a non violent purge or Chistka

Question 9

What happened in 1934 regarding the USSR’s internal security?

Answer 9

Internal security was passed to the NKVD and led by Yagoda then Yezhov and Beria
In the same year the ordinary police was also put under the control of the NKVD and the labour camps were reorganised into a national network known as Gulags

Question 10

What happened at the 17th Party Congress in 1934?

Answer 10

A split formed between Stalin (who wanted to maintain the pace of industrialisation) and others within the Politburo (who spoke about stopping forcible grain seizure and increasing workers rations - only two members of the Politburo firmly supported Stalin, while Kirov received a standing ovation.

Question 11

What then happened to the title General Secretary and what was Stalin’s view?

Answer 11

It was abolished and Stalin and Kirov and two others were given the title ‘Secretary of Equal Rank’ .
Stalin may have been in favour of this in terms of spreading responsibility for the economic crisis but it meant he was no more important than the other secretaries

Question 12

What happened to Kirov and what did Stalin claim?

Answer 12

He was murdered in December 1934 - the circumstances were suspicious and Stalin was quick to claim that this was part of a Trotskyite plot to overthrow the party

Question 13

What decree was published a day after the assassination and what were the consequences?

Answer 13

Giving Yagoda (as head of the NKVD) powers to arrest and execute anyone guilty of 'terrorist plotting' 
Over a hundred Party members were shot and thousands more arrested and sent to prison camps- in January 1935, Zinoviev and Kamenev and 17 others were arrested, accused of instigating terrorism and sentenced to between 5 and 10 years of imprisonment

Question 14

What happened after the murder of Kirov?

Answer 14

12 NKVD members in Leningrad were found guilty and imprisoned
In June 1935 the death penalty was extended further, to anyone aware of subversive activities

Question 15

What were the events of the murder?

Answer 15

As Kirov approached his office in the Leningrad Party Headquarters on 1st of December 1934 he was shot in the neck by Leonid Nikolayev

Question 16

Who was Nikolayev?

Answer 16

A disgruntled party member (once expelled but reinstated) whose wife may have been having an affair with Kirov but was not linked to the Left opposition

Question 17

What two pieces of evidence point towards the NKVD’s involvement in the murder?

Answer 17

When questioned, Nikolayev suggested the NKVD ‘knew’ about the murder. Kirov’s bodyguard and some NKVD men were mysteriously killed in a car accident before they could give evidence and despite some NKVD men being sentenced for failure to protect Kirov , their terms were short and the treatment lenient

Question 18

What did Yagoda plead in 1938 and what was the problem with this?

Answer 18

Guilty to allowing Nikolayev to reach Kirov, however, since Yagoda himself was then on trial, it is possible he wasn’t telling the truth

Question 19

What did the assassination become the signal for?

Answer 19

The regime to tighten its grip and begin widespread purges - Stalin’s suspicion of rivals and potential plots verged on paranoia and his determination to exercise total control over both party and country can be dated from this time

Question 20

What were show trials?

Answer 20

Public trails to which foreign journalists were invited and their function was to ‘prove’ that the USSR and Stalin were facing opposition from ‘enemies of the state’, whose crimes might previously have been hidden behind a cover of loyalty and that the disposal of such enemies was entirely justified - a political tool

Question 21

What else can the show trials be viewed as?

Answer 21

A means by which Stalin could remove his enemies and those who challenged (or might in the future) his authority), while still retaining his own popularity

Question 22

What was the purpose of the trials?

Answer 22

To demonstrate the accused’s guilt, preferably with a public admission of betraying the revolution and the people - they were meticulously staged so the verdict was never in doubt

Question 23

In the months preceding the trial what was the task of the NKVD?

Answer 23

To extract a signed confession - every form of interrogation was used, from subtle pressure and promises, to starvation, physical and mental torture and threats to the defendant and his family

Question 24

What law was passed in April 1935 and what did this allow the NKVD to do?

Answer 24

Children over the age of twelve who were found guilty of crimes would be subject to the same punishment as adults, including the death penalty.
This allowed the NKVD to obtain confessions by suggesting that false charges would be brought against the accused’s children.

Question 25

When was the first major show trial and who was involved?

Answer 25

August 1936 when Stalin decided that Kamenev and Zinoviev (who had already been secretly trailed in 1935) , should be made to undergo a show trial for propaganda purposes.

Question 26

What happened at the first major show trial?

Answer 26

Both were accused of an alliance with Trotsky (who had been expelled from the USSR in 1929), stirring up discontent and plotting to kill Stalin.
14 others were accused with them and Yagoda oversaw the interrogation proceedings

Question 27

When was the first major trial held and what was the evidence?

Answer 27

19-24th of August 1936
No material evidence was presented and the defendants confessed their guilt and all the defendants were sentenced to death and were subsequently executed in the cellars of a prison in Moscow on 25th August and Trotsky was sentenced to death in absentia

Question 28

In September 1936 who was Yagoda replaced with and why?

Answer 28

Yezhov - it was alleged that Yagoda had not been active enough in uncovering the ‘conspiracy’ and he failed to secure the confessions of Rykov and Bukharin, who Stalin was determined to implicate - the trial of Bukharin therefore had to be called off (for a short while)

Question 29

What else was introduced in the same year as the first great show trial and why?

Answer 29

A new constitution drafted by Bukharin - it was intended to mark the progress towards socialism )Th constitution declared that socialism had been achieved so the next step would be Communism)

Question 30

What did Stalin claim about his constitution?

Answer 30

That it wad the most democratic in the world

Question 31

What changes did the constitution involve?

Answer 31

Proclaimed the USSR to be a federation of 11 Soviet Republics (replacing the previous 7)
The Congress of Soviets was replaced by a new ‘Supreme Soviet’ made up of the ‘Soviet of the Union’ and ‘Soviet of Nationalities’. Each republic had its own supreme soviet
It promised local autonomy to ethnic groups and support for national cultures and languages
Promised yearly elections with the right to vote for all over the age of 18 including the ‘former people’ who had previously been denies this right

Question 32

Who were the former people?

Answer 32

The old noble and bourgeoise elites who lost their social status after the 1917 Revolution ; they also included the imperial military and clergy

Question 33

What was the new constitution accompanied by?

Answer 33

An extensive statement of civil rights, such as freedom from arbitrary arrest, the freedom of the press and religion and the right of free speech.
Citizens were expected to work and were guaranteed the right to work, education and social welfare
Elections would involve all citizens and not be dominated by representatives from party branches
The Republics of the USSR were given some jurisdiction in their own territories, including primary education

Question 34

How did the new constitution look from the outside and how did this differ from the reality of it?

Answer 34

Looked democratic (its main intention may have been to impress foreigners) 
In practice, the promised rights were largely ignored, and the central control exercised over republic's budget ensured the primacy of Union laws and little real regional independence 
The constitution acknowledged the right of any Union-republic to leave the union, Stalin did not allow this to happen

Question 35

What did witnesses later report about the show trial of August 1936?

Answer 35

`When Stalin was told, before the trial, that Kamenev refused to confess, he became enraged and told the officials not to return until he had a signed confession
Half-way through the trial, Stalin visited Tomsky carrying a bottle of wine
Tomsky, Bukharin and Rykov were under investigation for complicity with Zinoviev
Tomsky ordered Stalin to leave and promptly shot himself

Question 36

What was the 1936 Constitution in practice?

Answer 36

When party leaders in Georgia allegedly planned secession in 1951 were purged
Elections were not contested so that the right to vote was merely to affirm a choice of representative and the Supreme Soviet only met for a few days twice a year - this was said to be so members could continue regular employment but it meant that the body provided more of a sense of participation than any actual involvement in policy making
It was viewed by the Party as a forum for imparting decisions back to the localities rather than for electors to present their views to the centre