High Stalinism 1945-1953 Flashcards
What was High Stalinism?
A period at the peak of his reign whereby he held authority over the state, the party and the people - complete totalitarianism and there was a mass emphasis on the Stalin Cult
How did control + the totalitarianism style in the USSR differ during wartime?
During WW2;
There was a relaxation of the persecution of people on a religious basis as more of a focus was needed on mass appeal for national unity for warfare so terror was relaxec.
After WW2;
Return to dictatorship + totalitarianism style; Military hierarchy downgrades, state defense committee dissolved
How did High Stalinism + the stalinist Cult present/view Stalin?
It was raised to new hights after 1945 + built on Stalins reputation as the father + wartime hero of USSR.
- Portrayed stalin as a genius whos superior in philosophy, economical decison making + military strategies which was cultivated in films, news, speeches and educational books.
- Academeic books commonly had to aknowledge stalins genius in the last couple of pages. Many regarded him as a gold-like figure + a bestfriend to the children of the USSR.
- Even though he haddnt visited a kolkhov in 25 years he was portrayed as a man knowledgeble of what everyone was thinking + doing at all times depsite his isolation.I
- In reality he was utterly reliant on others supplying him with information. It reached a climx on his 70th birthday were Moscow squar was doninnated by giant portraits of stalin.Stalin’s dictatorship seemed unchallengeable and as the heroic leader of the great patriotic war basking in victory presiding over a new world superpower. S
- Stalin ruled supreme whilst those around him competed for the privilege of fulfilling his will.
However not even high Stalinism could successfully make Russia a compete for totalitarian state aa despite his fearsome authority 175 million people could never be entirely controlled by one man.
How did Stalin control central party members + retain power?
Stalin had always played leading figures in the regime off against the other + this continued after 1945.
- Men like Molotov, Malenkov, Mikoyan, Bera and Zhandov all came in and out of favor according to stalins wims and through the schemes of their political rivals.
- Zhandov was Stalin’s closest adviser until Malenkov and Beria schemed against him + engineered his political downfall in 1948 + These rivalries and jealousies helped to confirm stalins overall dominance.
- The central committee and the politburo met really but stalin was often able to bypass bot government and the party and exert direct central authority.
What were the key characteristics of High Stalinism?
High Stalinism is characterised by the revival of red terror and he ruthlessly enforced isolation from the non-soviet world which was partly due to concern for national security at a time when the cold war was emerging but also cause of his obsessive fear of ideological contamination (people who had seen a non-sovit world and spent time outside russia).
- One sign of this fear was stalins harsh treatment of returned prisoners of war n his purge of former army officers even the relatives of those who spent time outside the USSR were also considered suspects.
- Within the USSR in areas newly incorporated into it ie Baltic states people needed to show unwavering respect and lloyalty as even the smallest word or brief contact with foreigners coil get someone denounced and arrested.
- Anyone - even friends or colleagues could be possible informers. In February 1947 a lw was passed that outlawed marriages to foreingers.
Who controlled the Red terror + NKVD
Beria = NKVD cheif + aso deputy prime minister - hugely influential (2nd in comand of govermet)
How did the NKVD change under Beria?
Beria presided over a vast expansion of prison labour camps and gulags. His sadistic, psychopathic personality cast a long shadow over the USSR.
The NKVD wad reorgnaised into two separate ministeries;
MVD - Ministry of internal affairs - which controlled domestic security of the gulags
MGB - Ministry of state security - handled counter-revolutionary intelligence + espionage (however far less people were killed than in the greta terror of 1930s than during this period, tens of thousands were arrested yearly for counter revolutionary activities and in total around 12 million wartime survivors were sent to labour camps suffering in appealing conditions.
What was the Leningrad Affair of 1949?
In 1949 stalin decided to follow up the removal and death of Zhanov by purging the leningrad party in 1949.
Stalin (egged on by Malenkov + Beria ) wanted to bring the Leningraders to heel. The leningrad affair escalated from attacks on Vozeneshki to a major purging of leading officials. The accusations against them was orgnaised by Malenkov + Beria + all were executed in october 1950 and by which time more than 2000 officias from the city had been dismissed from posts, exiled or rpelaed with pro-stalin communists.
Explain the background of the Leningrad Affair
There had always been party rivals between leningrad + mosco as leningrad wa the capital of Russia and stalin always too care to prevent politicians with a power-ase in Leningrad from beocmong too powerful.
- Trotsly had been prominent in 1905 and again in 1917 as leader of the Petrograd soviet .
- Zinoviev controlled the leningrad party until he was removed from power + replaced with Kirov.
- When Kirov became too powerful + popular by 1934 he was then eliminated.
- There were a variety of reasons why Zhandov was pushed aside in 1948 but one key factor was his power-base in Leningrad and another was stalins resentment of the pride leninrad took from its heroic role in the great siege of 1941-44.
Many leningradders promoted to senior posts in moscow during the time of Zhandvos ascendancy induclidng Nikoli Voznesenki an economic expert and rising star in the politburo.
What were the key consequences of the Leningrad affair?
The leningrad affair was a return to the methods of political control of the lat the 1930s + was the first major purge within the party since 1938.
- Many purges followed + the climate of fear deepended.
- In reality leningrader were never any direct threat to stalin politically however his defult appraoch was to set rival elements within the reigme against each other which is shown in the following purge ‘ The Mingrelian Case’ launched in 1951.
What was the Mingrelian Case of 1951?
The target of the Mingrelian case was party ofifcials in georgia whom were accused of collaberation with western powers . These officials swere mainly Mingrelians - an ethnic group.
Explain the Mingrelian case 1951
The target was party ofifcials + the ethnic minority in georgia whom were accused of collaberation with western powers. What made the accusations against the Mingrelians more significant was that they were followers of Beria who was of Mingrelian origin.
- The case rumbled on into 1952 and wan fully settled by th time stalin died in March 1953 however it served its purpose as a way of limiting Berias power.
- The Misgrelian case was also key through its suppression of non-russian nationaliites.
- The rouge also had anti-semetic undertones as the misgrelians were charged with having consipired with Jewish Plotters + later in 1952 antisemitism was a dirivng force in the most menacing purge of stalins last years - The Doctors Plot.
What sparked the Doctors plot of 1952?
The trigger for action against the doctors plot was a ‘consipiracy’ revealed by Lydia Timashuk a female doctor (+ secret police informer) who wrote stalin accusing the doctors who treated Zhandov in 1948 of sloppy methods contributing to his death.
Explain how the Doctors Plot of 1952 unravelled
At the time (1948 when Lydia wrote to Stalin) nothing was done However in 1952 stalin used the file as an exuse to arrest several doctors for being a part of a ‘Zionist conspiracy’ to murder Zhandov + there members of leadership.
- Stalin placed huge emphasis on the issue of ‘anti-Zionism’ claiming all jewish doctors were in the pay of the israelis + abusing their powers in positions of medical profession to harm the USSR. These accusations drove a wave of anti-semitisim which already had deep routes in Russia + the jewish wives of politburo members were arrested.
- Overall the dDoctors Plot was an exuse for politial action + terror.
- Men high in the regime (Beria, Mikoyan, Molotov )all feared becoming victaims of stalins new terror.
- Stalin threatened his minister of state security with execution if he diddnt obtain peoples confessions, hundreds were tortured and arrested and jews were rounded up+ deported to gulags + Nine senior doctors were condemned to death however they survived as stalin died before thy were carried out.
