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Tsarist and Communist Russia > Political Authority, 1945 - 53 > Flashcards

Political Authority, 1945 - 53 Flashcards

1
Q

What was the Cold War?

A

Not an actual war just threats and tensions

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2
Q

What did peace talks between Russia, American and Britain highlight?

A

Highlighted ideological splits between capitalism and socialism

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3
Q

What happened at the Yalta conference?

A
  • Stalin wanted influence in Poland, Churchill agreed, Roosevelt though it should be independent
  • How to divide and control Germany
  • Created a world peace organisation
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4
Q

What happened at the Potsdam conference?

A
  • Truman, Roosevelt had died, he didn’t like Stalin or communism
  • Tensions over atomic bombs
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5
Q

What was the ‘Iron Curtain’?

A
  • Soviet Union had control over numerous republics

- Extended influence of Moscow

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6
Q

What were the Republics?

A

Estonia. Latvia. Ukraine. Georgia

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7
Q

What were the Satellite States?

A

Poland. Romania. Bulgaria. Hungary.

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8
Q

What was post war Russia like externally?

A

Looked like a super power - greatest military power, strong, empire expanded

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9
Q

What was post war Russia like internally?

A

Weak, mixture of terror and propaganda to control and still had gulags

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10
Q

What was said in the Two Camps Speech?

A

Suggested he wanted to carry on expanding industrially. Meant not much would change.

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11
Q

What was meant by High Stalinism?

A

Stalins leadership indisputable. Hero of of World War II. Authority of State and Party reached its pinnacle.

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12
Q

What had happened during the war politically which Stalin didn’t like?

A
  • Party membership had increased greatly, thought it was now unreliable
  • Didn’t like the high reputation of the military
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13
Q

What changes were made politically under Political High Stalinism?

A
  • Wartime institutions dismantled and GKO dissolved September 1945
  • Military hierarchy downgraded, Stalin took the high posts high ranking officers moved to inferior posts
  • Zhukov demoted
  • Major players played off against each other
  • Stalin manipulated people
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14
Q

What were the features of Political High Stalinism?

A
  • Stalin held positions as Head of Government and Head of the Party
  • Very few Party Congresses and Politburo reduced to an advisory body
  • Party members recruited from industry, government and education, no peasants or workers
  • The ‘new men’ waited to receive Party Policy rather than helping to formulate it
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15
Q

In what ways had Stalins Political Leadership changed from Pre-war Peacetime?

A
  • New Party members more cautious and reluctant to formulate policies
  • Before war people had been willing to challenge eg Ryutin
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16
Q

In what ways had Stalins Political Leadership changed from Wartime?

A
  • Stalin more tight with the government
  • Dismantled wartime institutions and the GKO
  • Feels threatened by wartime leaders so demotes them
17
Q

In what ways hadn’t Stalins Political Leadership changed from Pre-war Peacetime?

A
  • Uses similar tactics as he did to gain power, manipulation

- Holds very few central committee meetings which limits their impact on decision making

18
Q

What was Zhdanovshchina?

A

Zhadnov launched a cultural purge in 1946. Fear of western ideas after the war

19
Q

What were the features of Cultural High Stalinism?

A
  • Everything Western condemned
  • Literary novels banned, eg Adventures of a Monkey
  • Poetry banned, described as poisonous
  • Publishers purged and authors expelled
  • Socialist Realism, people had works banned
  • Antisemitism flourished
20
Q

In what ways had Stalins Cultural Leadership changed from Wartime?

A
  • There was a slackening on cultural policies during war
  • More contact with the West during the war
  • Cold war tension led to an end to cooperation with the West
21
Q

In what ways hadn’t Stalins Cultural Leadership changed from Pre-Wartime?

A
  • Stalin reverts to Socialist Realism which was the same
  • Soviet Union praised/West criticised
  • Complete segregation of Russia from Western influence
22
Q

What was terror like during High Stalinism?

A
  • Prisoners of war returning sent to gulags
  • Purging of former army officers
  • Vigilance
  • NKVD was reorganized and strengthened
  • Feb 1947, outlawed hotels and marriages to foreigners
  • Beria responsible for expansion of gulags
  • Used fear and terror to control
23
Q

Name some examples of how opposition was dealt with by Stalin during High Stalinism?

A

The Leningrad Case, 1949. Antisemitism. The Doctors Plot 1952.

24
Q

What was the Leningrad Case, 1949?

A
  • Took a stand against the Leningrad Party
  • Showed independence in views and actions
  • Leading officials arrested, including heads of Gosplan
25
Q

What was Antisemitism?

A
  • Originally favoured a Jewish State in Palestine but they turned pro-USA so Stalin changed his stance
  • Jewish wives of some Politburo members arrested
  • New campaign against ‘anti-patriotic’ groups
26
Q

What was the Doctors Plan, 1952?

A
  • Doctor accused highly placed doctors of failing to treat Zhdanova
  • Arrested and accused of murder
  • Blamed on Jewish doctors
  • Hundreds of doctors arrested and tortured, deported to labour camps
  • Anti-Jewish hysteria created
27
Q

What was the Cult of Personality like under High Stalinism?

A
  • Stalin became increasingly paranoid
  • Received a God like status
  • Portrayed as a man of the people
28
Q

How had the war impacted industry?

A

Destroyed 70% of its industrial capacity and severely reduced the workforce. Land-lease ended.

29
Q

What Industrial developments were there after the war?

A
  • Established the Cominform, counter Western propaganda
  • Established the Comecon, link Eastern European countries
  • Redistributed industry, broad base for recovery
  • Fourth Five Year Plan and the Fifth Five Year Plan
30
Q

What happened under the Fourth Five Year Plan?

A
  • Catch up with USA
  • Rebuild heavy industry and transport
  • Became 2nd to the USA, most targets met
  • Production trebled and workforce increased
  • Industrially stronger than pre-war
31
Q

How had the war impacted agriculture?

A
  • ‘Scorched earth policy’ left agriculture in a desperate state, only a third of farms were operational
  • Shortage of men decreased output of farms
  • Livestock destroyed
32
Q

What agricultural developments were there after the war?

A
  • The Fourth Five Year Plan increased the output of Kolkhozes
  • High quotas, low wages, high taxes
  • Still not at 1930s level
  • Rise in certain products eg milk and flax
  • Number of pigs and sheep increased
33
Q

What social developments were there after the war?

A

Living Standards weren’t improved

  • Peasants squeezed by the quota system
  • Poor diets, housing and services
  • Very few consumer goods
  • Working week remained at wartime levels
  • Women expected to make up for war dead
34
Q

What happened after Stalin died in 1953?

A
  • Left the nation demoralized
  • Didn’t leave a successor
  • Satellite states saw it as an opportunity to rebel
  • Could mean change towards liberalisation
  • Led to collective leadership
  • Doctors Plot aborted and prisoners in gulags released
35
Q

What were the political successes between 1945-53?

A
  • Regime continued to manage the vast territory

- Victory in war resulted in expansion in Europe

36
Q

What were the political failures between 1945-53?

A
  • Stalin shifted people from post to post, instability
  • Stalin didn’t want to be blamed if things went wrong so solutions never found
  • Stalin surrounded himself with mediocrity so there was no threat to his position
  • Didn’t call Party Congresses, dictatorship
37
Q

What were the social success between 1945-53?

A

After 1948 there was a gradual improvement in living standards in the cities

38
Q

What were the social failures between 1945-53?

A
  • Workers tired and hungry
  • Poor living and working conditions
  • Terror and purging was still used in order to keep control

Tsarist and Communist Russia (23 decks)

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