political transformation under Stalin: growth of the Party, use of terror, show trials, gulags, propaganda and censorship Flashcards
Growth of communist party
Stalin led the Communist Party through a period of exceptional growth in his first years of power. Membership increased from 350 000 in 1923 to over 1 million in 1927. Soon, more members worked for the Communist Party than in the industry sector.
These new members (“new Bolsheviks”) were young and inexperienced but they were fully aware that their position and status in the Party depended on public loyalty to whoever had invited them to join ranks: STALIN!
The expansion of the Party directly benefited Stalin and tightened his control over it. It provided him with a reliable bloc of support. Over 60% of local secretaries had joined after 1921 BUT the “old Bolsheviks” still dominated the upper ranks of the Party.
Changes to the communist party
Under Lenin’s leadership, party congresses allowed for genuine discussion. After his death, there was less debate and divisions within the Party were condemned (10th Party Congress “Ban on Factionalism”)
This change benefitted Stalin immensely. As his control of the Party grew, he could resist challenges to his authority by arguing that opponents were engaging in divisive factionalism. He could effectively quash any internal criticism.
This was how he removed Trotsky: threats of expulsion from the Party that were eventually carried out in 1927. Trotsky’s was banished from the Soviet Union in 1929 and his citizenship was revoked in 1932
1936 constitution
In December 1936, the constitution of the USSR was proclaimed.
On paper, it was a democratic document: it guaranteed freedom of speech, religion, and of the media and provided for elections.
These very guarantees were being systematically abused by the Communist Party at the time. It was a piece of propaganda devised to show to the international community that socialism had succeeded in creating a classless society.
The Constitution also made it clear that all the democratic rights it guaranteed were subordinate to the interests of the working class, who were represented by the Communist Party. In other words, the Communist Party would decide what these interests were.
Purges and terror
The purges of the 1930s are defined by the show trials which had thousands of party members be sentenced to death, imprisoned or deported
Party expulsion was a common punishment, pre-dating the 1930s; when Stalin got more power, the punishments got harsher
Once collectivisation caused setbacks in the drive for modernisation, scapegoats had to be found Those who were purged previously (expulsion and other minor punishments) were now being accused of serious crimes and subject to severe punishments
The purges were Stalin’s means of consolidating his hold on power. It would ensure the total elimination of any opposition.
However, the escalation of the purges (their extent and severity) were also a unique political development under Stalin driven by his paranoia and deep suspicions.
Shakhty Trial of March 1928 -
● 53 engineers from Shakhty area (South) were accused conspiring
against and sabotaging the Soviet Union
● This was during the first Five-Year Plan - they were scapegoats for
the problems the Plan caused
● 5 shot
● 44 sent to labour camps
‘The Industrial Party’ Trial of
Nov/Dec 1930 -
● Group of economists and engineers were accused of sabotage, and
conspiring with France
● The charges were false
● Allegedly, these people met up with long-dead tsarist ministers
● They were sentenced to death but most did life imprisonment
The Party Purges of 1933 -
● 20% of the party was purged
● Zinoviev and Kamenev were purged
In 1934 the purges eased as the second Five-Year Plan was more realistic
○ This ended in December as a popular party member in Leningrad, Sergei Kirov, was murdered
○ Stalin used this as an excuse to launch a massive wave of terror on the Soviet Union
○ New criminal code was introduced to the Soviet Union
○ The death penalty could be carried out on people 12 and older
○ Secret police could name anyone a ‘parasite’ and if you associated with them you would be labelled a ‘parasite’
● In 1935 thousands of people (party members and citizens) were denounced as saboteurs, traitors, or parasites
○ Most of these people were innocent
● The principal orchestrator was head of NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov (‘the bloodthirsty dwarf’)
○ His name was used to name the trials as a whole, Yezhovshchina
○ Innocent or guilty was irrelevant
○ As well as party members, intellectuals and artists were also targets
○ Free-thinking was no permitted
○ Trotsky was murdered in Mexico in 1940
○ People volunteered names in order to save themselves or gain the jobs of those arrested
The show trials
● Jan 1935 - Trial of Zinoviev and Kamenev Charged with organising opposition groups
○ Zinoviev sentenced to 10 years
○ Kamenev sentenced to 5 years
● Aug 1936 - Trial of the Trotskyist and Zinovievist bloc
○ Charged with Sergei Kirov’s murder, planning Stalin’s murder, creating a terrorist centre
○ (Trotsky was accused of masterminding these)
○ All those accused were shot (including Zinoviev and Kamenev)
● Jan 1937 - Trial of 17
○ A group of ‘old’ Bolshevik leaders were accused of economic sabotage and conspiring with Japan and Germany
○ All 13 were shot
● Mid-1937 - Trial of the Red Army leaders
○ They were accused of plotting with Nazi Germany to remove Stalin from power
○ The leading figures were shot
○ Full purges of the army and navy were undertaken
● March 1938 - show trial of ‘anti-Soviet rightists’ and Trotskyists Accused with economic sabotage
○ Plotting with Germany, Britain, Poland, and Japan
○ Accused of working with Trotsky to assassinate Stalin All those accused were shot
● The reason why so many men confessed to false accusations was due to: physical torture, threats of loved ones being harmed, even for pride and loyalty to the Soviet system
● To oppose Stalin meant showing the Soviet Union was weak against Germany and Japan
● (once Stalin was dead in 1953, new Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev condemned Stalin for all that went
wrong in the Soviet Union - communism was not to blame, it was the fault of one man)
● Over three years (1936-9) the purges caused 14 million deaths
○ 12 million died in labour camps, the rest were
Gulags
Gulag: ‘Main Administration of Collective Labour Camps’
● They were a form of ‘re-education’ for political opponents and ideological oppositionists to Stalin’s regime.
● These camps were located in inhospitable regions in the USSR; Living Conditions were terrible with scarce food and prevalence of disease.
○ As a consequence fatalities were very high. By the end of the 1930s, all undesirables were subjected to forced-labour. Statistics
● 179,000 prisoners reported to be in the Gulag penal system in 1929, reaching a figure of almost 2.5 million the 1950s.
● 1.5 million ‘counter-revolutionaries’ were imprisoned in the 1930s.
● In 1933, 45,755 people escaped with ⅔ being recaptured - following this, escape became more difficult.
Impact of purges on the armed forces
- 60 out of 67 corps commanders
- 75 out of 80 members of the supreme military council
- all 8 admirals of the soviet fleet
- 3 out 5 army marshals
half (35,000) of the armies officer corps - 11 deputy of commissars of defence
- 136 of 199 divisional commanders
- 14 out of 16 I and II commanders
glavlit 1922
Main Administration for Literary and Publishing Affairs - responsible for censorship, which came later in the creative process. The party’s guidance had already affected the process long before the manuscript reached the censor’s pen.
Propogonda and censorship
● The party ensured that no truths of the industrialisation drive or the brutality of collectivisation did not
appear in the media
● Stalin’s images dominated everyday life
● Stalin rewrote history in The Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
where he portrayed himself as always correct and the sole role in transforming society
● 42 million copies were printed
● From 1918 all independent journals and newspapers were shut down, the party completely controlled
Publishing
● Films and theatre were heavily censored
● In 1936 all art galleries had to remove paintings that were ‘formalist’ - these were replaced with realist
Works
● Censorship was not straightforward or clear
○ In the first decade of Bolshevik rule churches were not shut down, but from 1929 all priests were
arrested and churches were closed
■ This was done without announcement or published instruction
● During the 1930s it was noticed that Stalin was making Lenin’s works greater for the Soviet Union
○ Stalin was portrayed as the ‘father’ of the nation
○ He was all-knowing and all-powerful, his picture was everywhere
How stalin used censorship
Removal of opponents names from important documents
Control of historical writing to embellish his own participation in the revolution and ‘write out’ his opponents
Strict police control of historical archives
Doctoring photographs to remove opponents
Stalin changed the political structure, culture and methods of the Communist Party. It became his personal dictatorship with tighter centralised control and members had to prove their loyalty to him or face expulsion, imprisonment or death.
Increased use of terror was a significant political transformation that occurred under Stalin. Stalin’s purges were widespread and targeted the Party, the army and society. It led to the removal of the “old Bolsheviks” who were replaced with loyal Stalinists. Millions of ordinary people were also targeted in the yezhovshchina, with severe consequences.
He made greater use of the gulag system for economic, political, ideological and foreign policy reasons. This was all made possible by the enhanced role of the secret police which grew in power and came under his direct control.
Stalin also heightened the use of censorship and propaganda within the Soviet Union. C + P now became focused on embellishing and exaggerating his role in Russian history and promoting his cult of personality.
Evolution of secret police
Cheka
1917-1922
Formed under the leadership of Felix Dzershinsky. Temporary post to deal with immediate threat. Grew strength in civil war.
GPU
1922-1923
Under control of commissariat of internal affairs. State police meant became offical organ of government.
OGPU
1923-1934
Unified political administration of the state. Dzerhinsky was incorruptible, however, on his death, he more easily influenced predecessor Menzhinsky was controlled by Stalin
NKVD
1934-
Changing control of Yagoda to Yezhov., the NKVD was able to increasingly control and carry out Stalin bidding. It was under Yezhov from 1936 terror increased.
