Life in communist Russia Flashcards
Tsar
An emperor. The last tsar of Russia was Nicholas II
Bolshevik
Lenin and his followers were called Bolsheviks
Reds
The red army fought for the Lenin’s Bolshevik government
Whites
Anti-communist forces formed for the purpose of overthrowing the communists
Peasants
A farmer or agricultural worker of low status
Communism
A system of government where the state controls all aspects of the economy and of society, with limited rights for individuals
Capitalism
An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods
Vladimir Lenin
Russian communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist
Karl Marx
A German political thinker
Cheka
The Bolsheviks’ secret police
The Red Terror
During the civil war the Cheka ‘removed’ any person who was an ‘actual or potential threat’ to the government- so-called ‘enemies of the state’
Leon Trotsky
Leader in the communist party
USSR
Russia was renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Socialism in One Country
The plan to first strengthen communism in the USSR before spreading it further afield
Collectivisation
The joining of small, unproductive farms together to create large, state-owned farms
Kulaks
Wealthy independent farmers
Gulags
Soviet forced labour camps
Five Year Plans
A set of targets over a period of five years
Dictator
Someone who has gained almost total control over their country and uses a variety of means, especially terror and propaganda, to hold on to power
NKVD
In 1934 the Cheka were reorganized and renamed the NKVD
Purges
To rid a group or organization of unwanted people
Show Trials
A staged trial held in public to influence popular opinion
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view
Pravda
The communist Party newspaper. “truth”
