Opposition Flashcards
‘X’ leader was the most successful at dealing with opposition
Para 1- Political opposition:
What ‘X’ did.
-AII least successful- assassinated-reform not successful tactic.
-Emancipation- poor land distribution etc.
-‘Glasnost’- educational reforms- meant that the nation was a lot more educated- created a politicised opposition.
-The ‘reaction’- Lenin’s brother & 4 others executed in 1887- fully used Okhrana for spring on, arresting, imprisoning, exiling opposition- success proved by fact that no other political groups really emerged until NII- October manifesto supressed them until 1917.
Para 2- Internal Opposition:
What ‘X’ did.
-Tsars never really experienced any-dissidents usually dealt with by removing miscreants from their pasts.
-Stalin-most successful- yet difficult to judge whether Stalin’s perception of threat after 1929 were genuine- purges-show trials.
Lenin’s arguably more successful- didn’t completely alienate those loyal to him.
Para 3- Peasant Opposition:
What ‘X’ did.
-Unrest taken seriously- made up 80% of pop.
-AII seemingly most successful- had opposite effect- after emancipation 10,000 peasants protesting at any one time-only quelled when AIII came to power- land captains-proves AII failed.
-Stalin successful on practical level, but too harsh- to make collectivisation work- 10,005 peasants died, man made stalin famine 1932-3- dekulakisation- proved successful by ww2 as 90% of land worked by collectivised/state farm- Khrushchev best at dealing with peasants- v. little rural unrest.
Para 4- Workers opposition:
What ‘X’ did.
-NII failed: despite introducing workers insurance scheme 1903, reducing work day to 11hrs 1896,- October manifesto- workers opposition increased-wave of sympathy strikes after bloody sunday- 1912 Lena Goldfields-200 deaths. Lenin most successful- gave impression they were part of something integral ‘dictatorship of proleteriat’-manipulative- workers docile in 1920s/30s.
How far was opposition effective?
Para 1- Political:
More effective under Tsars.
Tsars: AII assassinated- peoples will successful but not long term- no overhaul of Tsarism. Socialist revolutionaries successfully carried out 2000 political killings- Big threat to tsars- v. effective- split in to Bolsheviks/Mensheviks- achieved aim of carrying out Bolshevik takeover in 1917.
Comm: v. ineffective- all political parties destroyed during civil war- furthered by Lenin’s ban on factions- no outlet for political opposition.
Para 2- Social:
Peasants + workers effective under Ts but not really under Cs.
PEASANTS: effective under Ts- 80% of pop so unrest taken seriously- riots under AII after emancipation. Black earth revolt- Stolypins land reforms. Green Army during civil war>NEP. During collectivisation peasants rebelled/gained concessions- Stalin allowed them to opt out of collectives but only for temporary- by start of ww2 90% of agriculture land worked by collectives.
WORKERS: more effective than peasants, crucial to revolution- Bloody sunday/wave of sympathy strikes- Lena Gold fields- sparked Feb rev> fall of Romanovs.
Para 3- National Minorities:
Really effective- poles most successful group- Polish National Democratic Party gained seat in Duma + full independence from Treaty of Brest Litovsk. Reds suffered huge defeat trying to put down polish uprising>effective opposition. Finns gained full autonomy (1905) but Stolypin took back- under NII gained parliament but later Russified to have Russian’s language>not effective opposition. Jews targeted through porgroms- banned under Cs.
Para 4- Individuals:
Not effective throughout.
Tsars: little internal opposition-dealt with v. easily- demoting opponents from past e.g. Witte moved from Finance Minsiter> chairman of Ministers.
Comm: More individual opposition BUT dealt with using purges- Lenin banned factions>never became effective.
Except Khrushchev-overthrown by Politburo- but due to his wrong doing?
Why was opposition generally ineffective?
Para 1- Use of Repression:
Strong repression=weak opposition.
Tsars: AII comparatively liberal=assassination-lack of repression=successful opposition. Glasnost-books proliferated. AIII used more repression- army used to enforce Russification. Okhrana used to infiltrate Peoples will. NII also used army on strikes e.g. bloody sunday- 200 dead+ black earth-Lost support of army during ww1- overthrown- without army-most effective tool of repression- opposition=successful.
Comm: Used more=less opposition. Lenin- cheka implemented war comm, grain req. Militarisation of labour etc. Stalin most effective- little to no opp- NKVD enforced 5.Y.Ps + collectivisation- 40m sent to gulags. Purges-internal repression.
Para 2- Use of Reform:
Effective use prevented opp but ineffective didn’t.
Tsars: Didn’t use effectively-only dealt with short term.
AII- allowed serfs some autonomy-BUT-following year 500 riots. NII Duma (1905) gave greater representation-successful in short term as limited reform while quelling unrest BUT long term forced to abdicate.
Comm: more successful long term- NEP return to private trade- Lenin experienced little opp.
Para 3- Weak opposition:
Disorganised/divided- not successful.
DISORGANISED: Pre-1917- opp didn’t achieve aims (either overthrowing Tsars/making constitutional monarchy). Political parties divided e.g. SRs into radicals/moderates- 1901-5-2000 political killings. Couldn’t align aims. Peasants rarely politicised/unified-tended to act independently so weak- Used backward methods - not v. intelligent. During civil war- whites lacked unity- Green peasant armies divided- some sympathised with whites- others with Bolsheviks.
ORGANISED: Bolsheviks showed when organised=success. Lenin used slogans- ‘Peace, Bread & Land’ to win peasants over- excellent tactics during civil war- organised/united army- Introduced war comm to help war effort + militarised labour.
Para 4- Context:
Whenever war lost/bad economy, opp grows=more successful.
WAR: Russo-jap- 1905 rev. WW1- overthrow of Tsar. Proved by fact that when war is won=little opp e.g. ww2-
comm strengthened. ECON: Great spurt-SDs/SRs not effective until economy starts to deteriorate- Lenin’s NEP- stabilised econ- no opp. After Khrushchev’s land scheme failed- gave internal opp in politburo excuse to oust him.
