government Flashcards
1
Q
When did Lenin come into power?
A
Oct 1917 (removed the provisional gov of Feb 1917)
2
Q
What policies did Lenin introduce to justify coming into power?
A
- Decree on Land, seized land from nobles and gave it to peasants
- Decree on Peace, withdrew from WW1
3
Q
What was the government like at first?
A
Democratic (until Jan 1918)
4
Q
What was the initial government layout?
A
- locally elected soviets
- All-Russian Congress of Soviets (basis of new gov)
- Sovnarkom (13 People’s Commissars)
5
Q
What did Lenin to do end democracy in Jan 1918?
A
He closed the Constituent Assembly after a Bolshevik minority in the election
6
Q
What was the government like during the Civil War 1918-21?
A
Centralised and authoritarian
7
Q
Features of centralisation and authoritarianism in the Civil War
A
- Lenin used the Politburo rather than Sovnarkom (faster, more loyal)
- used Cheka as the secret police of the revolution
- War Communism for the economy
- by 1921, gov was made up of the nomenklatura (middle classes), no longer for the workers
8
Q
How did Lenin solve problems in 1921?
A
- economy: solved with NEP
- Tambov peasants, Krondstadt sailors, Petrograd strikes were all crushed ruthlessly by the Red Army
- opposition parties were persecuted by the Cheka and destroyed, led to the creation of a one-party state
- factions: solved with On Party Unity 1921, members in factions were expelled from the Party
9
Q
When did Lenin die?
A
21 Jan 1924
10
Q
Who was involved in the power struggle after Lenin’s death?
A
- Stalin: had bureaucratic positions to advance careers, on Politburo, General Secretary, Commissar for Nationalities, Head of Central Control Commission
- Trotsky: masterminded Com. seizure of power, head of Red Army, Politburo
- Bukharin: Pravda, favourite of the Party, not on Sovnarkom
- Zinoviev: Head of Comintern, least appealing and not on Sovnarkom, disloyal to Lenin
- Kamenev: disloyal to Lenin, bad public speaker, head of Moscow branch of Party but 0 respect, acting chair of Sovnarkom when L ill
11
Q
What were the key events of the power struggle?
A
- Lenin’s Testament (which condemned Stalin (to fire him), Zinoviev and Kamenev) was hidden
- Triumvirate of Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev meant that Trotsky lost power
- 1925: Duumvirate of Stalin and Bukharin so they gained the majority in the Politburo
- Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were expelled from the Party on accounts of threatening the Party
12
Q
What were the main changes to the Party when Stalin came into power?
A
- ideological orthodoxy, discrediting opposing ideas
- socialism in one country, no longer striving for global revolution (Marxist) but claiming that socialism in one country was what Lenin wanted
- abandoned NEP (claimed L’s commitment was only pragmatic)
13
Q
How did Stalin’s government change 1928-34?
A
- 1924 Lenin Enrolment = 128k new members, poorly educated and seeking good paying jobs so loyal to Stalin and suspicious of intellectuals like Trotsky and Bukharin
- patronage = Stalin was General Secretary + Head of the Central Commission, able to gain loyalty in exchange for patronage
- chose an appointed list of delegates = by 1923, 1/3 were selected by Stalin. Stalin had more control over Congress
14
Q
What happened before the 1934 Congress of Victors?
A
- 1932-33, moderates w/ Kirov overruled the decisions on the Ryutin Affair and the 2nd FYP
- Ryutin had circulated a Stalin critical document, Stalin wanted to execute him but Kirov overrided this choice and wanted only prison time
- Stalin also blamed workers and managers for economic problems. His power was undermined as senior gov officials were aware of the economic problems
15
Q
What happened at the Congress of Victors?
A
- 1934 Feb
- Kirov gained the majority vote (1225 votes while Stalin only had 927) which established Kirov as a rival to Stalin
16
Q
What triggered the Great Terror of 1934-38?
A
- The murder of Kirov in December 1934
- There was speculation that Stalin ordered the murder but there is no confirmation
- Stalin used the murder as pretext to claim the Party was in danger and therefore enemies should be arrested
17
Q
Show trials in the Great Terror
A
- Trial of 16 in 1936, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 supporters
- Trial of 17 in 1937, Trotsky supporters
- Trial of 21 in 1938, Bukharin + supporters
- show trials were the public removal of trials as their reputation was destroyed due to confessions such as murdering Kirov/working with capitalist nations
18
Q
Secret trials in the Great Terror
A
- 1937 onwards
- 37,000 officers purged
- mainly purged the Red Army, 8 senior generals in 1937. They worked with Trotsky
19
Q
Other key features of the Great Terror
A
- Trotsky was murdered in Mexico in 1940
- eliminated rivals and created a new generation of loyal Stalinist members
- increased the power of the NKVD, demonstrated Stalin to be the only trustworthy figure
20
Q
Changes to Stalin’s government during WW2
A
- Stalin became the Chair of Sovnarkom in 1941
- the GKO (State Defence Committee) was formed. This was responsible for both economic and military coordination
- state power increased as the Politburo was given important jobs, state + Party activity coordinated
- reduced terror
21
Q
How did Stalin’s government change post-WW2?
A
- Stalin made rivals compete with each other instead of himself e.g. Zhdanov and Beria (Zhdanov made head of Beria’s NKVD)
- shifted power consistently between party and state, neither could grow to rival him
- restarted terror e.g. the 1949 Leningrad Affair where 100 were shot and 2000 were arrested, 1952-53 Doctors’ Plot
- tested loyalty of members such as Molotov: his wife was arrested and initially Molotov abstained from the vote to expel her from the Party but later when she was arrested, Molotov apologised to Stalin and did nothing to stop her arrest and explusion in 1948
22
Q
Key members of the power struggle after Stalin’s death in 1953
A
- Khrushchev, powerbase in the Party (Head of Central Committee after Stalin’s death)
- Beria, powerbase in the MVD
- Malenkov, powerbase in the State (Premier after Stalin’s death)
23
Q
How was Beria removed in the power struggle after Stalin’s death?
A
- Beria led a reform of the MVD as he gave amnesties to non-political prisoners with short sentences in March 1953 and later some counter-revolutionaries in April, stopped using prison labour and the Gulag population dropped to 1.6 mil 1956 from 2.4 mil 1953
- also led a reform of the republics to make them more representative e.g. all officials to speak language of republics
- Khrushchev and Malenkov still feared his use of the MVD against them so they accused him of treason in June 1953 (giving secrets to Britain) and he was executed
24
Q
How did Khrushchev remove Malenkov?
A
- Khrushchev restructured government to shift power away from the government (M powerbase) to the republics
- This led to Malenkov losing the February 1955 Premiership
25
Q
Features of de-centralisation under Khrushchev
A
- all republic representatives to speak the language of their republic
- ministries reduced from 55 to 25
- central economic control 68% to 44%, more economic power to the republics
26
Q
Secret Speech
A
- 25 Feb 1956
- critical of Stalin’s rule and use of terror, ended his cult of personality
- crucially didn’t criticise industrialisation / collectivisation / foundation of communist ideology
- some delegates had heart attacks or committed suicide due to the shock
27
Q
Problems caused by the Secret Speech
A
- student demonstrations at Moscow University 1957, in favour of multi-party democracy. Crushed by communist authorities
- Hungarian Uprising in 1956, started own process of de-Stalinisation by electing own leader (Imre Nagy). Crushed by Soviet troops
- eventually Khrushchev retreated on his stance at the end of 1957 and issued a statement revising the Secret Speech. Acknowledged all communists were Stalinists
28
Q
Features of democratisation under Khrushchev
A
- increased Party membership from 6.9 mil 1954 to 11 mil 1964, more democratic
- fixed terms for 2/3 general secretaries
- moved Ministry of Agriculture away from Moscow to be ‘closer to the fields’, many officials demoted/lost job/forced to move, criticism of K increased
- more decentralisation, devolved power to 105 new economic councils after abolishing some central ministries
29
Q
When did the Anti-Party Group act?
A
June 1957
30
Q
What did the Anti-Party Group try to do?
A
- Presidium attempted to remove Khrushchev
- the movement was lead by Malenkov
31
Q
Why did the Anti-Party Group fail?
A
Khrushchev argued that only the Central Committee could make these decisions. By March 1958 Khrushchev was Prime Minister
Malenkov was exiled to Kazakhstan and made in charge of electricity (no use of terror)
32
Q
Khrushchev’s final reforms
A
- fixed terms for all jobs, 16 years for Central Committee members
- return of de-Stalinisation in October 1961 (22nd Party Congress), accused Stalin of Kirov’s murder
- Party split in half in 1962 (agriculture and industry), hoped for economic benefits
33
Q
What did Brezhnev initially do when he came to power?
A
- aims were ‘stability’ and ‘restoration’, remove Khrushchev reforms
- government was dominated by Brezhnev and Kosygin until 1970 where Kosygin was sidelined and he lost the Premiership
34
Q
Gerontocracy under Brezhnev
A
- average age of Party officials was 60+
- only 2 promotions to Politburo 1964-71
- 1966 Congress nicknamed ‘The Congress of Silences’ as so little was discussed. Stagnation
- Created a generation gap between the government and society, could no longer understand the society they governed.
35
Q
Stability in cadres under Brezhnev
A
- no opportunities for promotion/demotion BUT job security
- led to corruption due to no rewards/punishments
- e.g. Boris the Gypsy (lover of Brezhnev’s daughter) was caught smuggling diamonds
36
Q
Recentralisation under Brezhnev
A
- Article 6 of 1977 Soviet Constitution officially recognised the Party’s leading role in Soviet society, Party superior over state
- ended the agriculture/industry split
- re-established ministries that Khrushchev had abolished
37
Q
Andropov and Chernenko
A
- both old and ill
- Andropov = anti-corruption campaign, ended stability in cadres, investigated Boris the Gypsy, removed old and corrupt officials + allowed a younger generation to rise in government
- he died 1984
- Chernenko achieved little, died 1985
