High Stalinism-1945-1953

Question 1

What was High Stalinism?

Answer 1

this was the culmination of Stalin’s regime in the years 1945-1953

Question 2

When did Stalin’s authority over state, party and people and the cult of personality that was the face of the dictatorship at its peak?

Answer 2

1945-1953

Question 3

Stalin’s dictatorship seemed unchallengeable, the embodiment of totalitarianism. What is totalistriarism?

Answer 3

a political system that demands absolute obedience to the state and that each is subject to central authority

Question 4

What was the population of Russia?

Answer 4

175 million

Question 5

Despite Stalin’s fearsome authority, 175 million people could never be entirely controlled by one man. Like most dictatorships, what did Stalin have in place?

Answer 5

he rested on the complex bureaucratic structure, a balancing act between the Party and the government and playing off key subordinates against each other

Question 6

During the war there had been many appeals to the patriotism, national unity and ‘spirit of the people’ why was the fear of Stalin’s Great Terror almost ignored?

Answer 6

because of the more direct fear of the German invaders

Question 7

Although wartime propaganda promised a better world affair victory, what was the reality?

Answer 7

any tendencies towards liberalisation were obstructed

Question 8

What was the GKO?

Answer 8

the State Defence Committee

Question 9

What was dissolved in 1945 which reflected the downgrade of the military system after the war?

Answer 9

the GKO, the State Defence Committee

Question 10

How was Marshal Zhukov treated after the war?

Answer 10

he was demoted to a minor command at faraway Odessa

Question 11

How was Stalin after the years from 1945? (3 words)

Answer 11

he was reclusive, capricious (sudden mood changes) and unpredictable

Question 12

How old was Stalin in 1945?

Answer 12

66

Question 13

By 1945 how long had Stalin been at the centre of power?

Answer 13

25 years

Question 14

When did Stalin suffer a mild stoke?

Answer 14

1946

Question 15

What may have been reason for Stalin’s increased paranoia?

Answer 15

his mild stroke in 1946

Question 16

Although High Stalinism is a term usually applied to Stalin’s last years, what have many historians taken the view of?

Answer 16

that the developments of post 1945 were not new but a reversion of what had already existed in 1930s

Question 17

What did historian Moshe Lewin suggest?

Answer 17

that high stalinism began in 1934 after the death of Kirov

Question 18

Who are 3 examples of leading figures in the Party who fell in and out of favour with Stalin?

Answer 18

Zhukov, Beria, Molotov, Malenkov

Question 19

Why did Malenkov lose his position as Party secretary during the war?

Answer 19

as Zhukov challenged his policy resulting in an investigation which condemned Malenkov’s actions.

Question 20

What is a prominent example of how Stalin played leading figures against each other during the war?

Answer 20

Zhukov challenged the policy of Malenkov which resulted in an investigation which condemned his actions and lost him his position as Party Secretary. Malenkov and Beria then schemed against Zhdanov and engineered his political downfall in 1948.

Question 21

When did Beria and Matlenjov secure Zhdanov’s political downfall ?

Answer 21

1948

Question 22

Molotov held great power in the regime during and after the war but fell out of favour in what year?

Answer 22

1949

Question 23

Between what years were no Party Congresses held?

Answer 23

1939-1952

Question 24

What was not held between 1939-1952

Answer 24

Party Congresses

Question 25

What undermined the Party and its institutions? (3)

Answer 25

the fact there were no Party Congresses from 1939-1952, Politburo was reduced to an advisory body to Stalin’s personal official line

Question 26

What happened to the Politiburo after the war?

Answer 26

it was reduced to an advisory body to Stalin’s personal official line

Question 27

Where were big decisions made after the Politburo was reduced to an advisory body?

Answer 27

they were made in ad hoc gatherings of Stalin’s inner circle

Question 28

What happened to the members of the Party after 1945?

Answer 28

membership remained high, but individuals were unlikely to be committed ideologists from the ranks of peasants or workers. The ‘new men’ were obedient bureaucrats who avoided ideological debates

Question 29

How did the ‘new men’ in the party’s membership differ to the memberships of the early Bolshevik take over?

Answer 29

they were obedient bureuacrats who avoided ideological debates as opposed to committed ideologists from the rants of peasants or workers

Question 30

What was a key feature of high Stalinism?

Answer 30

inertia (leaving things as they were)

Question 31

In what year did Beria and Malenkov organise the purge of the Party leadership in Leningrad?

Answer 31

1948

Question 32

What happened to Malenkov after Stalin’s death?

Answer 32

he was briefly leader of the USSR until Khrushchev took over

Question 33

Who was Mikoyan and why was he so significant?

Answer 33

as he was the only Old Bolshevik to remain high in the governing elite all the way through Lenin, Stalin and their successors

Question 34

Along with Molotov, who was also saved by Stalin’s death during an intended purge?

Answer 34

Milkoyan, the only Old Bolshevik to remain high in the governing elite all the way through Lenin, Stalin and their successors