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Russia A-level > Key terms > Flashcards

Key terms Flashcards

1
Q

Absolute Monarch

A

a monarch with complete control over the state and its people

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2
Q

agrarian socialism

A

taking estates from landowners and splitting the land between peasant farmers

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3
Q

anti-Semitic

A

having a prejudice towards Jews

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4
Q

apparat

A

the party ‘apparatus’ or administrative system

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5
Q

autocratic

A

having no limits on a ruler’s power

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6
Q

Black Hundreds

A

nationalist gangs devoted to ‘Tsar, Church and Motherland’

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7
Q

bureaucracy

A

a system of government where the important decisions are made by state officials not elected representatives

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8
Q

burzhui

A

anyone considered a hindrance to worker or peasant prosperity

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9
Q

capital accumulation

A

building up money reserves in order to invest

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10
Q

capitalism

A

private enterprise, which includes making money out of a ‘capital’ investment

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11
Q

central committee

A

elected by the party congress and, in turn, elected the politburo between each party congress

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12
Q

Cheka

A

the name given to the Bolshevik secret police

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13
Q

civil servant

A

someone working for the government

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14
Q

closed court session

A

a trial held in secret to which no observers or media were permitted

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15
Q

Comecon

A

the council for mutual economic assistance, established in 1949 to coordinate the economic growth of the Soviet bloc

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16
Q

Cominform

A

the communist information bureau, established in 1947 to disseminate propaganda and establish soviet control over all communist parties

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17
Q

command economy

A

making the government responsible for economic coordination

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18
Q

conscription

A

compulsory enlistment of a person into the military service

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19
Q

constitution

A

set of rules by which a country is governed

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20
Q

constitutional monarch

A

a monarch who rules in conjunction with an elected assembly which limits his power

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21
Q

cottage industry

A

work done in the workers’ own home or a small workshop

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22
Q

Dacha

A

a second home in the country, often used by Russians in the summer

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23
Q

democratic centralism

A

communist idea where local soviets elected higher-level soviets to sit at the assembly

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24
Q

Dual power

A

whereby Russia was governed by an alliance of the Provisional Government and the Soviet

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25
Duma
an elected governing assembly
26
edict
an official order issued by a person of authority
27
electoral colleges
a system where individuals vote for others who can then vote on their behalf
28
emancipation
freeing from bondage
29
former people
dispossessed old elites from Russia who had no place in the new russia
30
general strike
a strike that involves all workers so the country is brought to a standstill
31
Gosplan
the state general planning commission (1921-91); helped coordinate economic development and, from 1925, drafted economic plans
32
Great Turn
the move from NEP to the five-year plans and collectivisation of agriculture entailed a move to central planning and a 'command economy'
33
gulags
economic colonies where millions of prisoners were used to dig mines and canals, build railways and clear forests
34
Holy Synod
a group of bishops which forms the ruling body of the orthodox church
35
indirect voting
a citizen elects a delegate to vote in the general election on their behalf
36
intelligentsia
the more educated members of Russian society, including writers and philosophers with both humanitarian and nationalist concerns
37
internal market demand
the desire and ability to buy the products of manufacturing within the country
38
Kolkhoz
a collective operated by a number of peasant families on state-owned land
39
Komunalki
communal family dwellings formed of formerly private apartments that were resettled shortly after the revolution
40
Komsomol
the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, the youth division of the communist party which was represented in its own right in the supreme soviet
41
Kulak
a prosperous landed peasant
42
landowning elite
those who owned land and who were a privileged minority in Russian society
43
Lend-Lease
a programme under which the USA supplied the USSR (and other nations) with food and wartime material between 1941 and 1945
44
mandate
the authority to carry out a policy; this is usually given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election
45
martial law
an extreme measure involving the use of military force; military leaders are used to enforce the law and normal civil liberties are suspended
46
military colony
where the conscripts lived (with their families) and trained, all under strict military discipline
47
mir
a peasant commune
48
mortgage
involves borrowing money by providing a guarantee
49
national ideology
a belief in the strength of one's own country, language and traditions
50
nationalisation
taking businesses out of private hands and placing them under state control
51
Nepmen
speculative traders who brought up produce from peasants to sell in the towns, and consumer items in the towns to sell in peasant markets - making a profit on both transactions
52
Nomenklatura
a category of people who held key administrative positions in areas such as government, industry, agriculture and education, appointed by the communist party in the region
53
orthodox church
following a split in the catholic church in the eleventh century, the eastern orthodox church developed its own beliefs and rituals
54
over-procurator
appointed by the Tsar from the laity, this was the highest church official
55
pan-Slavism
a belief that the Slav races should be united
56
partisan
a member of the military force behind the frontline opposing the control of the area by the enemy
57
Party of St Petersburg Progress
a loose title given to the more liberal nobles and officials who frequented the salons of the Tsar's aunt, or gathered around his brother
58
patriarchal
fatherly; in Russia, the male had almost unlimited authority over his family
59
payment in kind
payment in goods or services, such as accommodation, rather than money or wages
60
petty-bourgeois
derogatory term for peasants who were middle class or 'bourgeois' in there outlook, thinking only of themselves and how they could make profits
61
pogrom
an assault by one ethnic group on another; after 1881 it gained the special connotation of an attack on Jews
62
polarised
opposite extremes such as the North and South poles
63
police state
a state in which the activities of the people are closely monitored and controlled for political reasons
64
politburo
the highest policy-making government authority under communist rule
65
pragmatic
dealing with matters realistically based on practical rather than theoretical considerations
66
presidium
Stalin re-named the politburo as the presidium in 1952; this name was retained until 1966
67
procuracy
a government office responsible for ensuring all government ministries and institutions, as well as individual officials and citizens, obeyed the law
68
proleteriat
urban working class
69
proleterianisation
to turn the mass of the population into urban workers
70
provincial
living away from the capital
71
pud
a Russian measure of weight
72
purge
getting rid of those regarded as 'impure' i.e. believed to hold different political views
73
reaction
implies actions and policies that are backward looking in an attempt to restore the past
74
red guards
paramilitary voluntary soldiers serving the Bolsheviks to January 1918 when they were reorganised into the red army
75
redemption payment
serfs were required to pay money in exchange for their freedom
76
russification
forcing everyone within the Russian empire to think of themselves as Russian by enforcing the Russian language and culture
77
samizdat
dissident activity whereby individuals reproduced works that would not pass the censor, and distributed them
78
scorched earth policy
destroying anything useful to the enemy before retreating
79
seminary
a training college for priests
80
serf
a person who was the property of the lord for whom he or she worked
81
show trial
a trial that took place in front of the general public, usually for 'propaganda' purposes
82
socialism
the political and economic theory that the means of production, distribution and exchange should be owned by the community as a whole and that people should work cooperatively together
83
socialist economy
one in which there is no private ownership and in which all members of society have a share in the states resources
84
socialist
person who believes that society should be egalitarian
85
soviet
workers' council; the one in Petrograd (known as the Petrograd Soviet) was the most important
86
sovnarkom
the cabinet made up of the important ministers who, between them, would run the country
87
tamizdat
printing banned writings abroad
88
Tsar
the title by which the Russian 'emperors' were known
89
veshenka
the council of the national economy
90
volost
a peasant community consisting of several villages or hamlets
91
war credits
raising taxes and loans to finance war
92
whites
the forces ranged against the Bolsheviks 'Reds'

Russia A-level (13 decks)

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