essay plans

Question 1

“The February revolution of 1917 is best described as a spontaneous revolution from below” How far do you agree with this statement?

Answer 1

Point 1: spontaneous
Point 2: organised by revolutionary groups
Point 3. coup d’erat by people building Nicholas was leading them to a disaster

Question 2

What were the causes of 1917 feb rev

Answer 2

Point 1: industrial problems
Point 2: political problems
Point 3: economic problems
Point 4: peasant + worker discontent

Question 3

It was Stalin’s position in the party which best explains his rise to power by 1928’ To what extent do you agree?

Answer 3

Point 1: Stalin’s position in the party = large steppingstone
Point 2: personal characteristics + qualities
Point 3: the weaknesses of opponents

Question 4

Collectivisation was a political success but brought economic + social disaster. assess the validity of this view

Answer 4

Point 1: political success
Point 2: economic disaster
Point 3: social mixture

Question 5

To what extent was the USSR’s economy transformed in the years 1928-53?

Answer 5

Point 1: 5 year plans transformed USSR’s economy

Point 2: they did not

Question 6

To what extent was the destruction of the kulaks the most important outcome of Stalin’s campaign of forced collectivisation?

Answer 6

Point 1: most important

Point 2: it was not the most important

Question 7

Stalin’s foreign policy in the years 1943-53, was solely driven by the need to protect soviet borders” Assess the validty of this view

Answer 7

Point 1: soviet security drove Stalin’s foreign policy
Point 2: ideology
Point 3: expansionism, opportunistic, land grabbing

Question 8

How far was Stalin’s creation of a Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe after the Second World War the result of his obsession with ensuring international security for the USSR?

Answer 8

Point 1: it was security

Point 2: it was not security

Question 9

The reason for the defeat of the Germans was to do with the Soviet people?

Answer 9

Point 1: Soviet people
Point 2: propaganda
Point 3: mistakes of the Germans
Point 4: allied contribution or Geography

Question 10

February rev

spontaneous

Answer 10

• peasants disliked Nicholas (ill-suited to the job, weak + hesitant) -> didn’t care about working conditions + rejected TU, half-heartedly supported Stolypin’s reforms, could have been successful is tsar wasn’t so scared of losing power
• Reliance on one person was outdated -> divisions between those w power + those without -> new industrial classes, created tensions as conditions worsened -> demand for democracy was only increasing due to lack of activity of tsar
• social + economic dislocation -> food shortages, rising prices
• deep discontent in the army -> many supported revolutionary Bolsheviks by 1917 (est. half of Petrograd garrison of 150,000 troops supported rev), streets full with people from every possible background

Question 11

February rev

revolutionary groups

Answer 11

Bolsheviks had been one of the groups that had wanted to overthrow the tsar, they claimed that you need preparation in order to perform a rev

CA - they had not organised the strikes of workers, or workers being locked out of factories which led to more strikes, they did not know army was going to join in, lenin was in Switzerland at the time, members were more concerned with economic issues than political, Trotsky was in new york

Question 12

February rev

coup d’état

Answer 12

• middle classes, aristocracy + liberal groups unhappy w the way Nicholas was running the country -> esp shown in the war eg activists in zemstvo appalled at battle causalities + lack of supplies to the army
• tsar left his wife in control -> influence of Rasputin + also she was G princess -> she appointed weak + ineffective ministers as she didn’t want them to overshadow the tsar w intelligence, bc Nicholas went to the front line = scapegoat
  – liberal group inc Milyukov, Konovalov, Guchkov -> planning coup + at the end of 1916 came together to discuss how to establish a new govt in Russia that would fight to victorious conclusion, council of united nobility called for tsar to step down 1916
• appalled by influence of raspution at court -> aristocratic plot to murder him in Dec, tsar continued to ignore advice from progressive bloc

CA – they were surprised by events in Feb, they had ordered the tsar to abdicate but this was only due to the events that had took place

Question 13

Causes of feb rev

political problems

Answer 13

• Tsar unable to rule effectively -> refused to accept any reduction in power, went to the front line even tho he didn’t know tactics for war, his absence weakened gov in Petrograd -> left his wife Tsarina in charge (German princess = suspicion), she appointed less threatening sometimes incompetent minsters as didn’t want to challenge authority of the tsar -> disaster for monarchy.
• Rasputin -> influence Tsarina -> Russian people said he symbolised everything wrong w imperial govt -> monarchy became despised
• Revolutionary groups continued to attract support -> assassinated Stolypin 1911, Pravda was highly popular amongst workers

Question 14

Causes of feb rev

economic problems

Answer 14

Industry -> crisis, vital raw materials overseas could not be reached -> army faced shortages of supplies + weapons
Transport -> underdeveloped railways – taken over by govt, had to cope w pressures of moving large quantities of troops + supplies to battlefronts -> city was not supplied w food
Agriculture -> backwards methods, peasants conscription into armies = shortage of production, price of basic food rising, inflation reached 200% = difficult for poorer ppl

Question 15

Cause of feb rev

Impact of WW1

Answer 15

• 2 mill soldiers killed, morale very low -> blamed the Tsar
• Tsar believed that taking charge would inspire army but he knew nothing so defeat + humiliation continued -> responsibility for military disasters

Question 16

Causes of feb rev

peasant + worker discontent

Answer 16

• Peasants -> 1916 1/3 of peasants injured due to war, ‘scorched earth’ policy -> destroying great deal of farmland, peasants livelihoods obliterated, shortages in grain = poorer land workers hoarding what they product
• Workers -> severe shortage of food = social unrest, crowds attacked bakeries in desperate search for bread = bread rationing, awful living conditions

Question 17

Stalin’s position explains rise to power

his position

Answer 17

• aim of Lenin was to have a collective form of leadership -> He had info more quickly and easily than his opponents.
• role as commissar for nationalities from 1917-1923 - in charge of the officials in the republics outside Russia, 1919 liaison officer between both the Politburo and the Orgburo - allowed Stalin ability to monitor party personnel + policy, head of workers’ and peasants’ – gained lots of info, about opponents also, role of General Secretary – power of patronage (could appoint people to the party)

CA – the party in 1920s was growing at a rapid rate + Stalin could not gave had have had such detailed info at his disposal (party was so large), there is also no evidence that he used his position to remove opponents

Question 18

Stalin’s position explains rise to power

personal characteristics + qualities

Answer 18

• no one had suspected Stalin’s strategy, he hadn’t been seen as the collective form of leadership that Lenin had wanted thus no one thought he would be a threat. He stayed in the background pretending to be a moderate peace maker, so no one realised. His loyalty = valued as few had proletarian roots, suggested would not cause splits
  – perceived as dull + mediocre, a grey blur, less high minded than Trotsky, he took General Secretary as no one wanted, the previous secretariat had not been coping with his task – Stalin showed he was the most able administrator -> able to gain respect

CA – if Trotsky had not been on the radar more than anyone, Stalin would not hide behind his shadow -> lucky. Trotsky’s weaknesses of not realising what stalin was doing eg telling him the wrong date of Lenin’s funeral -> people thought he purposely didn’t turn up = bad rep. + that Stalin was the next best choice as he was by Lenin’s side. Lenin’s testament had also not been read out = lucky ‘Stalin had more power than he could handle and might be dangerous if he was Lenin’s successor’.

Question 19

Stalin’s position explains rise to power

weaknesses of opponents

Answer 19

• they had not realised what Stalin was doing, more focused on Trotsky. Zinoviev + Kamenev were more worried about Trotsky. Stalin used the left and right coming together to stop Trotsky so that he could disguise what he was doing.
  – Trotsky = didn’t like ‘drudgery of politics’ + was not good at making alliances + trade offs -> Stalin took adv + became face of alliances + trade offs. T = disliked + arrogant -> he had no personal loyalty but Stalin did -> people didn’t think he would cause splits. Trotsky didn’t go out of his way to create a power base but stalin did.
• Stalin, Kamenev + Zinoviev had all been against Trotsky in 1923, Zinoviev called for him to be removed from Central Committee which stalin refused instead he was dismissed as war commissar (Stalin got what he wanted + Z and K realised but was too late). 1926 United opposition tried to argue against Stalin’s policies but said they were guilty of factionalism + Zinoviev was removed from politburo
  CA – Stalin had become so powerful that his opponents could not bring him down -> he used his opponents against each other which was his originally strategy and due to his “grey blur” no one had suspected a thing.

Question 20

“Collectivisation was a political success but brought economic + social disaster”

political success

Answer 20

• succeeded aim of exporting more grain ( exports rose from 30,000 tonnes to 5 mill tonnes) investment made from this = fund rapid industrialisation led to benefits eg Moscow Metro -> justified Stalin’s ‘Great Turn’ away from NEP and helped to back up dekulakisation. -> developing a socialist society, centralised planning resulting in all power being wielded by the Politburo and Stalin.
• Collectivisation allowed the regime to extend its political control over the country eg Machine Tractor Stations + enabled them to create Kolkhozes. -> able to strengthen hold of communist party in the country side by replacing people with ideologically committed + loyal ppl

CA peasants failed to buy into political changes, culture war = those who resisted branded as kulaks + arrested -> peasant resistance grew as local radicals + young crusaders tried to enforce socialism too strongly = govt retreat. deeply unpopular esp with the annexed territories eg Ukraine.

Question 21

“Collectivisation was a political success but brought economic + social disaster”

economic disaster

Answer 21

• peasant opposition bc harsh conditions eg little incentives (earnings varied according to how much they make), mass starvation, cannablism appeared
• agricultural production fell dramatically did not exceed pre-collectivisation levels until after 1935 -> agriculture was one of Russia’s main industries = declining production
• livestock numbers fell by 25-30% and didn’t recover until after 1953 -> peasants killed them as they feared they would be branded as kulaks -> farms had poor organisation + productivity was low as more worried about dekulakization. Forcing peasants into collective farms caused problems as lots of people got labelled as kulaks = hard to distinguish.
• introduction of MTS = failures -> did not produced more efficiently = a chaotic system. killed successful farmers + made central decision without precise knowledge, didn’t increase mechanisation in ST, not enough tractors

CA - export of grain allowed for greater foreign investment in rapid industrialisation, allowing for USSR to become more protective than Germany by 1943

Question 22

“Collectivisation was a political success but brought economic + social disaster”

social mixture

Answer 22

• living standards fell in both urban + rural areas, despite peasants trying to escape to the cities + towns their wages were also declining, workers had no money to buy food + peasants couldn’t even produce enough for themselves
• famine across the USSR killed approximately 6-8 mill people – the state demanded grain quotas despite the drop in production = high social cost + they lost most of the successful knowledge peasants who could of helped. Ukraine 1932-33 - famine (worst in R history)
• didn’t achieve collective spirit of working together

CA - achieved social aims of the party -> 1941 100% of farms were collectivised + capitalism in the countryside was eradicated. The poor social conditions help fuel industrialization as the urban population increased from 22 million to 63 million from 1922 – 1940 meaning they could help work in the cities instead.

Question 23

To what extent was the USSR’s economy transformed in the years 1928-53?
YES

Answer 23

5 year plans transformed USSR’s economy

• USSR grew from 5% to 6% 1928- 40
• They built Moscow Metro, the Dam biggest hrydo electric power station, Turksib Railway, new industrial cities Komosomolk + Magnitogorsk
• 1st FYP coal + iron doubled, railways built, HEP scheme
• 2nd FYP plans ‘the good years’ 1934-36, steel output trebled, coal doubled, 1937 basically self-sufficient, electricity + chemical industrial grew rapidly
• The use of Stakhanov movement encourage workers to produce more -> aleski Stakhanov produced 102 in 6 hours record breaking -> others followed and it upped output
• Rapid growth 1946 ‘rebound effect’ -> improvements far better than WW1 + civil war
• 4th yr plans saw improvements in production of consumer goods, some targets had been equalled + also exceeded due to central planning + committed soviet workers

Question 24

To what extent was the USSR’s economy transformed in the years 1928-53?
NO

Answer 24

• The war disrupted the 3rd FYP -> invasion of G 1941
• 4th FYP were successful, but agriculture did not reach any of its targets and had barely improved till Stalin died in 1953 -> labour shortages due to war
• Emphasis on quantity rather than quality
• Aims were too ambitious, majority of the time managers had to lie about output led to Stalin saying in the 1st FYP plans that they had accomplished aims in 4 yrs rather than 5 yrs
• Consumer industries were neglected throughout most of the FYP
• 2nd FYP oil production targets not met, there was a shift to rearmament
• Stalins purges skill intellectuals + managers who were key
• Due to the war coal, electricity + mining all fell below half of the 1940 level, food production was 60% of 1940 level

Question 25

the destruction of the kulaks

most important

Answer 25

• the destruction of the kulaks removed the most successful, ambitious and generally hard-working element of the rural community; it deprived agriculture of those who had striven to modernise it and improve output
• destruction began the path of repression, showed the regime placed little value on human life; encouraged ‘informing’; disrupted relations in countryside
• boosted gulags where ex-kulak labour used for industrialisation projects – building canals, roads, new industrial centres
• gave peasants a new equality; kulaks had benefited at the expense of others; poorer peasants benefited and their destruction (backed by a propaganda campaign) was popular in some areas harnessing peasant support.

Question 26

the destruction of the kulaks

other most important was the..

Answer 26

• main ideological purpose was achieved: collectivisation created socialism in the countryside; fairer distribution of wealth + permitted the emergence of the ‘socialist man’ in rural areas; the Party gained control of villages
• providing resources needed for industrialisation: the state collected grain to feed workforce + export for industrial equipment; forced dispossessed peasants to move to towns to add to labour force
• the agricultural impact was key; 25-30% of farm animals were slaughtered in campaigns and agricultural production was severely disrupted; economic disaster in 1930s
• outcome: the famine of 1932–34; left permanent legacy of bitterness, e.g. in Ukraine (suffered millions of deaths) and turned areas against Stalinist system
• condemn the agricultural system to a rigidity that meant growth only became possible through central control: it removed personal incentives (save private plots); created conditions of ‘second serfdom’.

Question 27

Stalin’s foreign policy in the years 1943-53

soviet security drove Stalin’s foreign

Answer 27

soviet security drove Stalin’s foreign

• mistrust from the west led to the soviets needing to protect their borders, scared of invasion
• the creation of eastern bloc and buffer zone to protect themselves from future invasion, finding out about creation of atomic bomb from US, Navi society pact distrust, pariah state in a capitalist sea

CA – bufferzone goes beyond just their borders, superpower why did they need to protect themselves so much-> Poland was destroyed, how could they off security?

Question 28

Stalin’s foreign policy in the years 1943-53

ideology drove Stalin’s foreign

Answer 28

• Russia want to contain communism within USSR + thus needed to protect their borders
• comintern, Cominform -> Russia had central control, socialism in one country established -> time to expand, confirms Truman doctrine

CA – however, they did not want the West to have Poland as it is in the Moscow Sphere, went too far for ‘security’

Question 29

Stalin’s foreign policy in the years 1943-53

expansion drove Stalin’s foreign

Answer 29

expansionism, opportunistic, land grabbing

• although soviets wanted to protect their borders more evidence suggest that they focused on expanding. They seized the opportunity + now had the respect + the power in order to expand control on other countries
• they are respected + have the opportunity to. Superpower by 1946/47

CA – however, although they are expanding this is still a way of protecting their borders by creating a buffer zone, ideology = expansion.

Question 30

was Stalin’s creation of a Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe

security

Answer 30

• bc Russia had been invaded + almost destroyed twice in his lifetime (WW1 + WW2), Stalin = paranoid about the possibility of another attack -> wanted friendly, Communist governments controlling those states close to Russia. The Soviets supported those Communist parties taking over Eastern European states and actively intervened when they thought it prudent. These regimes adopted Stalinist Soviet methods of administration + control
• Russia was exhausted by war, did not have the nuclear weapons which the USA possessed + needed both security + bargaining power. Stalin was convinced that a new war was very likely
• Stalin’s influenced by what he saw as anti-Russian moves by the West – the ending of Lend Lease, the Truman Doctrine + the Marshall Plan. Control over Eastern Europe was one way of responding to these threats
• important for the Soviets to have a friendly ally in East Germany – the prospect of a united, non-Communist Germany emerging after 1945 was a frightening prospect for the USSR

Question 31

was Stalin’s creation of a Soviet bloc in Eastern Europe

not for security

Answer 31

• in 1945, when relations between the USSR + the West were still reasonably good, the fact that the USSR expected considerable influence in E Europe was generally accepted on both sides, and not regarded as just a security issue or considered as Stalin being ‘obsessive’
• the Russian economy had been enormously weakened by the War. Control over E Europe gave the USSR the opportunity to coordinate the economic growth of the bloc (Comecon 1949) + influence those economies to operate for the benefit of the USSR, eg through trade agreements. The USSR took resources from E Germany. Economic control made it less likely that the Bloc countries would fall under any Western influence
• Stalin indulged in wishful thinking + made mistakes, e.g. over Berlin and Korea – therefore it would be wrong to necessarily assume that the USSR had a consistently coherent + well-ordered approach towards the Eastern Bloc and European politics generally
• there is some evidence that apart from Germany, initially the USSR might have been content to see ‘people’s democracies’ in power in the states of Eastern Europe. However, as Cold War tensions quickly developed after 1945, the hardening of the E bloc under Soviet control possibly became inevitable and any concessions became more unlikely.

Question 32

reason for the defeat of the Germans

Soviet people

Answer 32

• they kept replacing soldiers, G couldn’t do this (USSR had 3x their pop. 171mill)
• soviet women stepped in 53% of workforce was women, determination of people
• Stalin proved to be an effective war leader, his generals were competent
• women -> killed 12,000 G through snipers, tank captions eg Battle Of Kursk, more women than any other country
• determination -> “Einsatgruppen” massacred many jews, led to increased motivation they became “tigers” in their offensives

CA - propaganda

Question 33

reason for the defeat of the Germans

propaganda

Answer 33

• impacted peoples state of mine, patriotic, Stalin fuelled them to be resilient
• soldiers had gathered together at anniversary of rev in red square = patriotical identify, stalins speech in returning from two weeks away fuelled the soldiers started speech w “brothers + sisters”, in the Moscow panic he stayed put guided peace of mind
• red star -> communist symbol, propaganda posted here inc writers such as Ehrenburg

Question 34

reason for the defeat of the Germans

German mistakes

Answer 34

• Hitler made many mistakes which led to USSR taking adv of them, he was overconfident -> lead to recalling troops
• hitlers ideology 1942 of rapid victory contradicted by USSR advances + recapturing of Kharav 1943, wanted to capture Moscow before winter -> unprepared for conditions, defended Stalingrad to the death -> running out of food, ammunition
• Hitler sacked his best generals + replaced them with yes men

CA: the soviet people and army took advantage of these mistakes and used them to progress in the war eg USSR decided use 1 million to counterattack the battle of Stalingrad when they knew G were suffering

Question 35

reason for the defeat of the Germans

allied contribution

Answer 35

• Lend Lease 1941
• LL -> provided vehicles + helped rebuild railways , US + Br mass bombing campaign from 1943 which destroyed many German factories + also Dresden Feb 1945
• USSR’s allies also put pressure on G by threatening on other fronts -> distraction in the E, secret intelligence to code break German threatening G war effort even more

CA: German mistakes