opposition and fall Flashcards
define tamizdat:
printing banned writings abroad
define samizdat:
when individuals reproduced works that would not pass the censor originally, and then distributed them
define dissidents:
people not subscribing to the idea of the soviet system, who were committed to greater democracy, human rights and rights of nationalities
BUT they weren’t outright physical opposition
define social parasitism:
intellectuals whose writings were considered hostile to the regime
define hardliners:
those who wanted to restore Stalinism
define reformers:
those in favour of Khrushchev through fear of a return to the old regime and police rule
describe cultural dissidents - publishing
-used tamizdat, hoping ideas would be relayed to soviet citizens through foreign broadcasts e.g. Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago
-used samizdat to duplicate material by hand, copies were then circulated by personal contact
-spread through underground societies e.g. The Youngest Society of Geniuses
-regular readings of poetry known as the Mayak (named after satirical poet Mayakovsky
-official publication Novy Mir changed its political stance and adopted a more dissident position in 1960s
how did the state respond to cultural dissidents through publishing?
-with samizdat people ran the risk of being arrested or sent to labour camps
-1961 = 130,000 people identified as leading an ‘anti-social, parasitic way of life’ - some of these people avoided prison by taking up different jobs, whilst others were sent to labour camps/mental hospitals e.g. Brodsky (poet) was charged with social parasitism and sentenced to 5 years in exile
describe cultural dissidents - music and art
-musicians made illegal recordings called Magnitizdat
-forbidden music styles e.g. rock n roll and Western pop spread quickly underground
-emergence of non-conformist art e.g. Sretensky Boulevard Group = non-conformist artists
-some figures used the newly open relationship with the west to defect e.g. famous ballet dancer Nureyev defected to Paris
how did the state respond to social dissidents through music and art?
-artists mostly avoided persecution - authorities found their activities less potentially damaging to the regime than those of writers
describe opposition from within the party and how K dealt with this:
-attempts to oust Khrushchev in 1957 -opposition group wanted to remove him as they wanted to restore stalinism
-he appealed to the wider central committee over the vote against him and expelled the anti-party group
-he then expelled zhukov
how did the state respond to opposition within the party?
less harsh treatment than under stalin - people were generally demoted rather than killed e.g. Malenkov was made the director of an HEP plant in Kazhakstan
by how many people did the gov. lower the prison population by?
in 1956 8-9million former or present political prisoners were rehabilitated
how did Khrushchev’s more lenient treatment of political opponents cause further dissent?
-cultural dissidents began discussing issues such as multi party elections and full human rights
-hardliners were vocal in their opposition e.g. violent nationalist demonstrations in Tblisi, Georgia in march 1956
when did K. receive the emergency call summoning him to a presidium meeting?
october 1964
what happened at this meeting?
-several of his former supporters voiced criticism of him
-K refused to resign but was denied access to the media, which he could have used to whip up support
what happened the next day?
-resignation papers were presented to K and he had no choice but to resign
which figures led this ousting?
Brezhnev, Podgorny and Suslov
