Nature Of Government Under The Communists Flashcards
When was the treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed?
1918
When did Lenin die?
1924
When did Stalin die?
1953
When was Khrushchev removed from power?
1964
When did Khrushchev, Malenkov and Beria form the collective leadership?
1953
When did De-Stalinisation start?
1956
What did Lenin replace war communism with in 1921?
- New Economic Policy.
What did Lenin publish in 1902?
- “What is to be done” a collection of ideas on how Russia should be governed.
In what years were Lenin exiled?
- 1897.
- 1906-1917
When was Stalin appointed general Secretary of the Communist party?
1922.
When did Stalins power struggle take place?
1923 - 1927.
Who were Stalins main rivals during the power struggle?
- Zinoviev.
- Kamenev.
- Tortsky.
When did Stalin introduce the planned economy and the police state?
1928 - 1933.
When did the great terror take place?
1936 - 1938.
Who was appointed head of the secret police in 1939?
Beria.
When did Khrushchev become prime minister of Ukraine?
- 1944.
When did Khrushchev become secretary to the central committee?
1949.
When did Khrushchevs power struggle take place?
1953 - 1956.
When did Khrushchevs power struggle take place?
1953 - 1956.
Who were Khrushchev’s main rivals during the power struggle?
Malenkov and Beria.
What is dictatorship?
- Absolute rule with no legal, economic, political or social restrictions.
How did Stalin change the way Russia was governed?
Implemented a superstructure to control the base of society.
How did Stalin implement his superstructure?
Command based economy.
Five Year Plans.
Collectivisation.
How did Stalin keep control of his Superstructure?
Relied on one person being in control.
Cult of Personality.
Censorship.
Why did Stalin implement his superstructure?
Practical solution to economic problems.
Serve his own megalomaniac personality.
Continue the work of Lenin.
How did government change after Stalins death?
Move away from Stalinisation.
Roles of key communists changed.
Third of Party Central Committee were new.
What form of leadership came about after Stalins death?
Collective leadership, rule by a group equally and not as one.
How well did the collective leaders get on with each other?
Some arguments between Malenkov and Khrushchev.
Malenkov wanted consumerism and westernisation.
Khrushchev offered Virgin Land Campaign as an alternative.
Why did Khrushchev introduce De-Stalinisation?
-Make Russia look better on the world Stage.
-Uphold his position
-Personal beliefs
-Denounce rivals
What were Khrushchev’s criticisms of Stalin?
Never accepted by Lenin as competent.
Created a state unprepared for war.
Committed crimes against the people.
Committed misdemeanours against outsiders who should have been accepted, Bela Kun of Hungary.
What was the anti-party group?
A group who attempted to abolish role of First Secretary of the Party to weaken Khrushchevs power.
Who was the anti-party group made up of?
Molotov, Kagonovich and Malenkov.
Why were the anti-party group unsuccessful?
Only Party Central Committee could change the party structure.
Group was illegal.
All members involved removed from presidium.
What was the Central Executive Comitee responsible for
-The Politburo
-The Orgburo
-The Ogburo
What was the Politburo
-A small elite group of Bolsheviks responsible for formulating policy
-Dominated the Central Commitee and running the party
What was the Orgburo
-Office organising party affairs
What was the Ogburo
-Responsible for maintaining order and dealing with opposition
What changes did Stalin make to central government
-Establishment of autonomous soviet republics
-Supreme soviet met twice every year to discuss government policy
What was Agitprop?
Agitation and Propaganda department.
Set up in 1921.
Promoted an idealised picture of Russian life.
Controlled broadcasting.
What was the USW?
Union Of Soviet Writers.
All writers and literacy publishers had to join.
Control censorship and ideology.
What was the MVD
-Established 1953 initially in the hands of Beria
-After Beria’s arrest MVD placed in the control of the Party Central Comitee
-1954 separated into the MVD and KGB
-Responsible for arrests of 11,000 counter revolutionaries
How did Lenin use the army
-Used it to seize power during the October Revolution
-Used to the win the civil war under the guidance of Trotsky
-Army imposed war communism and grain requisitioning
-Numbered 5 million at the end of the civil war
-Put down Kronstadt rebellion
How did Stalin use the army
-Helped to administer economic policy including grain requisitioning
-Played a role in the Great Terror and the Great purge
-Found itself purged with 40% of the upper echelon disappearing including Tukhachevsky
-Fought in WW2 against the Nazis
-After WW2 Zhukhov was removed and exiled
-Played a role in the Doctors plots
How did Khruschev utilise the army
-Reduction in size from 3.6 million to 2.4
-Khruschev followed a policy of détente
-Flashpoints emerged in the shooting of a US spy plane 1960 and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1962
What are the impact of the Civil War on peasant attitudes
-Numbers of peasants supported the red army
-Peasants also supported the white aaa there was significant opposition to war communism
-NEP attempted to appease the peasants
What influence did collectivisation have on peasant unrest
-Program ignited peasant unrest as thousands died from the siffeeent phases
-Significant opposition arose as a result of the scale and speed of reform along with the loss of the mir in 1930
-Sugnificant numbers of peasants refused to cooperate and slaughtered numbers of cattle
What was rural unrest like under Khruschev
-Relative stability
What was the Cheka
-Established 1917 led by Dzerzhinsky
-Clamped down on any opposition and counter revolutionaries including the left SRs
-Implemented the Red terror and War communism
-Carried out grain requisitioning
-Eliminated the kulaks
-Administered labour camps
-Replaced by the GPU and later OGPU 1922
What was the NKVD
-Formed 1934 headed by Yagoda to combat opposition to Stalin’s personal dictatorship
-NKVD crucial in the purges gathering evidence against Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev
-Administered the gulags with 40 million people sent to the prison camps
-1938 Stalin purged the NKVD replacing yezhov with Beria purging 20,000 members
How did the role of the secret police change under the communists
-Used to initiate a class war e.g Dekulakisation
