Extra detail: 'High Stalinism' 1945-53 Flashcards
In what ways was Stalin’s dictatorship relaxed during the war?
- Persecution of religion was slackened
- There were many appeals to patriotism, national unity and the ‘spirit of the people’
- fear of Stalin’s regime had been overtaken by fear of the German invaders
What did wartime propaganda promise?
A ‘better world’ after victory
How old was Stalin in 1945?
66
What may have been partly responsible for Stalin’s increasing paranoia in the post-war years?
The mild stroke he suffered in 1946
How did Malenkov lose his position as Party secretary? (example of the divisions in Stalin’s inner circle)
Zhadanov challenged his policy and an investigation under Mikoyan was set up and condemned his actions. Zhadanov became Stalin’s new closest advisor
How did Zhadanov’s political downfall in 1948 come about? (example of the divisions in Stalin’s inner circle)
Malenkov and Beria schemed against him and engineered his downfall
What was the role of the Politburo?
Reduced to an advisory body who waited for Stalin or a spokesman to tell them what official line was to be followed
How were big decisions made?
In ‘ad hoc’ gatherings of Stalin’s inner circle
What was Party membership like?
It stayed high but new members were less likely to be committed ideologists and more likely to be obedient bureaucrats who didn’t show initiative and avoided ideological debates
When did Malenkov join the Politburo?
1941
What did Malenkov do after 1945?
Worked with Beria on rockets and atomic weapons
What did Malenkov do in 1948?
Organised the purge of the Party leadership in Leningrad with Beria
Who briefly led the USSR after Stalin’s death?
Malenkov
What was so special about Mikoyan?
He was the only Old Bolshevik to remain high in the governing elite through the rule of Lenin, Stalin and their successors
When did Mikoyan join the Politburo?
1935
What was the GKO?
The State Defence Committee
When was the GKO dissolved?
September 1945
What was Boris Pasternak condemned for and what happened as a result?
His ‘apolitical’ poems
His girlfriend was sent to the gulag
How was anti-semitism present in the cultural purge?
- Many Jewish artists were suppressed or ignored
- Jewish newspapers were shut down
- Nazi wartime atrocities were portrayed as ‘fascist crimes’ without mentioning Jewish people
What was the climax of the Stalin cult?
When Moscow’s Red Square was dominated by a giant portrait of him suspended in the sky and illuminated by a halo of lights for his 70th birthday
What were Stalin’s motives for inspiring fear in his subordinates and engineering an atmosphere of jealousy and rivalry?
- Paranoia about possible conspiracies against him
- The tactic of ‘divide-and-rule’ to prevent any of his subordinates from becoming too powerful
- Megalomania
Give examples of Stalin’s isolation
- Hadn’t visited a peasant village or kolkhoz for 25 years
- Spent most of his later years at his daha outside Moscow
Name 5 towns named after Stalin
- Stalingrad
- Stalino
- Stalinsk
- Stalinabad
- Stalinogorsk
What was the effect of anti-Jewish hysteria caused by the press during the Doctor’s plot?
Non-Jews feared to enter hospitals and shunned all Jewish professionals
