Robert Service - History of 20th Century Russia Flashcards
By how much did manufacturing and mining output rise annually in the last decade of the 19th century?
8%
By how much did manufacturing and mining output rise annually between 1907-WWI?
6%
Was the Tsars’ industry neglectful of market goods for popular consumption?
No - the Soviets was
How did Russia compete compared to other countries in grain export?
Russia was the worlds greatest grain exporter
How much government interference was there in rural life in Tsarist times?
Little interference in rural affairs as long as peasants complied with the states demand of taxes and conscripts
How much land were peasants left with after emancipation?
13% less
How many workers were there in large-scale industry by 1913?
2.4 million
Were workers allowed to form TUs in Tsarist times?
Not until 1906
By 1916 how many households in European parts of the Empire had broken away from the commune to set up consolidated farms?
1/10
How did NII look weak due to not protecting Serbs?
- Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina - everyone knew there had been a diplomatic defeat due to the newspaper and Duma
- Didn’t back Serbia when they declared war on the Ottomans
Why did Russia’s ruling circles want a short, victorious war? (WWI)
Though this would bring society together
What effect did WWI have on the Romanov empire?
Shattered it and made it possible for Bolshevik seizure of power
How many men had been conscripted by the end of 1916?
14m, mainly peasants (= no change to conscript methods)
By how much did factory and mining work force rise by in the first 3 years of WWI?
40%
What were Russia’s war aims in WWI?
Defensive and expansionist
What was the secret treaties that NII signed with Britain and France?
Expansionist policies
Why did these secret treaties have to be kept confidential?
4th Duma may have not supported the war
- socialist parties were already classing the war as ‘imperialist’
How much less was agricultural output in 1916 compared to the 1909-1913 level?
10% below the record annual level in 1909-1913 (not hard for NEP to beat)
Why did peasants have little incentive to sell grain in 1916?
Depreciation of currency + shortage of industrial goods
What was the output of large enterprises in 1916 compared to 1913?
20% higher than 1913 BUT only from factories producing weapons
How did NII treat the leaders of the Duma?
With disdain = gradual alienation
What happened within the Council of the United Gentry in 1916?
Were reconsidering its loyalty to the Tsar
What happened to small and medium firms across Russia after 1914?
Output was decreasing and many went into liquidation
Why was there a shortage of farm labour in 1917?
Conscription
How much were workers getting paid by 1917?
15-20% less than before the war
When did the ‘general strike’ begin in Petrograd?
24th Feb 1917
What radical reforms did the PG introduce?
- Universal and unconditional civil freedoms e.g. opinion, faith etc
- Elections promised for CA
- All adults over 21, including females, were able to vote = wartime Russia freer than another country even at peace
How was the PG not pursing a defensive policy?
The Kadets saw nothing wrong with the expansions aims agreed by NII and B+F
Why did the Mensheviks and SRs allow the PG to form?
Thought the country needed a ‘bourgeois government’ for the foreseeable future
What did people like about the PG?
The fact that they could voice their opinion without the Okhrana
Why did many politicians, generals and businessmen not want a return to monarchy?
The thought the state would become a republic
How did Russians respond to slogans such as workers control, bread land etc?
Positively - similar to words used by the Bolsheviks = appealing to the peoples interests
Why was the party divided when Lenin returned on 3rd April 1917?
Many Bolsheviks were eager to support a policy of opposition to the PG while many wanted to provide support
During the PG who did Stalin and Kamenenev want to co-operate with?
The Mensheviks
What was Lenin’s April Thesis?
Called on the Bolsheviks to build up majorities in the soviets and other mass organisations to expedite the transfer of power to them
What did other Bolsheviks think about the April Thesis?
None thought the transition to socialism might be inaugurated instantly after the monarch’s removal
What happened to those who disliked the April Thesis?
They either joined the Menshevik party or abandoned political involvement
How many Bolsheviks were from w/c backgrounds?
3/5
What did Prince Lvov and War Minister Kerensky want to prove to Russia’s allies?
Their usefulness and wanted to gain support at home through military success
When did Lvov resign in favour of Kerensky?
June 1917
What did Kerensky see for the future of the PG?
Though socialists should take a majority of ministerial positions (had his own party of SRs)
How did Kerensky treat the Mensheviks and SRs?
Placed no obstacles in front of them
What did Kerensky aim for agriculture?
To secure a more regular supply of food from the countryside
Why did peasant refuse to release their stocks under the PG?
Until there was a stable currency and more industrial products
How did Kerensky respond to the peasants demands?
Initially refused to increase the price for their products
BUT on 27th August licensed a doubling of prices offered for wheat
Before Kerensky upped the price for wheat how much grain was the state procuring?
Only 56% of grain procured in the same month in the previous year
Why did Russian soldiers loose the will to fight during the PG era?
Began to suspect that the PG had expansionist aims
Why were the m/c and u/c annoyed at Kerensky?
Due to him maintaining support among the Mensheviks and SRs - regarded the Kadets as also weak BUT other anti-socialist organisations were weaker still
How did Military commanders feel about Kerensky?
Began to loose respect for him (Just like with NII)
What did the soldiers, peasants and workers want from the PG?
Soldiers - peace
Workers - job security and higher wages
Peasants - land
How could Kerensky satisfy the wishes of the population?
By withdrawing from the war
What did Lenin claim about Kerensky?
That he was planning to hand Petrograd over to the Germans
What slogan gained appeal among the w/c?
‘workers control’ = shows appeal of the Bolsheviks
How many cases of peasant seizures of gentry land were there in October and July?
October = 237 July = 116
How many destructive raid were there on gentry land in October?
144
What did the miners at Don Basin do?
Took managers captive
What effect did the version of ‘workers control’ have on the PG?
Had massive interference with capitalists practices
What happened at the Democratic Conference in September?
It was too divided to be able to supply a census of support for Kerensky
What was Lenin urging by September?
For the Bolsheviks to take control
- Central committee rejected his advice and they saw that popular support was insufficient for an uprising
What did Trotsky and other Bolsheviks believe about the time the revolution should take place?
Should coincide with the opening of the Second All-Russia Congress of Soviet Worker’s and Solider’s Deputies = appear not as a coup but as a transfer of ‘all power to the Soviets’
What had the left-wing faction of the Mensheviks been calling for since July?
For an all-socialist coalition committed to radical social reform
When did the left-wing SRs break from their party and formed a separate one?
October = Lenin willing to deal with these SRs and Mensheviks
What did Kamenev and Zinoviev do about Lenin’s plan?
They were appalled by Lenin’s uprising that they informed the press of his plan
What did Lenin call for once he gained power?
An immediate end to WWI and for w/c people across Europe to establish their own socialist administrations
What did Lenin do with the peasants and workers once he gained power?
Transfered land to the peasants and workers control imposed on factories
What did Lenin announce giving to the non-Russian people once he gained power?
National self-determination
What did the Bolsheviks say the cause of WWI was?
Capitalism and said there would be further global struggles until capitalism was ended
What did socialists around the world and Bolsheviks think about central state planning?
Though that central economic planning was crucial to the creation of a farer society - seen throughout the Soviet era
How did Lenin want to rule?
Advocated dictatorship, class-based discrimination = caused revulsion among many socialists
What did Lenin say about ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’?
Claimed this was an intermediate stage that communism required - dictatorship would then wither out to create communism
What did other socialists think about ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’?
That it would not wither out but would become more oppressive
Why was Lenin impatient for the revolution?
Because he anticipated that the Bolsheviks would not have a clear majority at the Congress of Soviets - gained only 300/670 delegates
What did the Mensheviks and SRs want with the Bolsheviks
An exclusive socialist coalition - Lenin could think of nothing worse
Why did Lenin want the Military-Revolutinarty Committee to grab power hours before the Congress?
To annoy the Mensheviks and SRs enough to prevent them from forcing a coalition
What did the other socialists describe the revolution as?
A coup détat - stormed out of the hall giving Bolsheviks a clear majority
What did the Railwaymen’s Union do?
Threatened to go on strike until a coalition was formed
What did the Cossack continent loyal to Kerensky do?
Moved on Petrograd - were defeated and the strike petered out
What was the Decree on Peace?
26th October 1917:
plea to all governments and to ‘all the warring peoples’ to bring about a ‘just, democratic pease’ = proposed an immediate withdrawal from the war
How did Lenin describe WWI?
Said it was the ‘greatest crime against humanity’
What was the Land Decree?
Said all land belongs to all peasants
When was the 8 hour day confirmed?
29th October
What was introduced on 14th November 1917?
A code on workers’ control in factories and mines
What was the Decree on Press?
26th October 1917:
could close down any newspapers publishing anti-Bolshevik material
What did Lenin offer to Finland?
Complete independence + offered a similar proposal for German occupied Poland
= very different to Emprie goals of the Tsars BUT ideological motive to encourage Bolshevik governments
What did Lenin want to do with the rest of the empire?
Retain it
What was new for many Bolsheviks?
Public life - they were used to political theorising
What influence did the Land Decree have on peasants?
Had a large impact on their opinion - became known as Lenin’s decree
How did Bolsheviks come to power locally?
By means of local resources
What happened with the transfer of power in Moscow?
The Sovnarkom sent armed units but elsewhere this was typically unnecessary
What was the Constituent Assembly in November?
First free parliamentary elections in the countries history
Why did the Bolsheviks go ahead with the CA?
Because their propaganda played heavily upon the necessity of a democratically chosen government
How many votes did the Bolsheviks and the SRs gain in the CA?
Bolsheviks got 1/4 while the SRs got 37%
What was the reaction of the Sovnarkom to the CA results?
Reacted ruthlessly - if people failed to perceive where their best interest lay, then they had to be protected against themselves
When did the CA meet?
5th January 1918
What happened at the CA?
Deputies for the Assembly were told to leave and a demonstration that was held in support of the CA was fired upon by Sovnarkom troops
- Bolsheviks declared the CA dissolved the next day
What did German negotiators at Brest-Litovsk argue the Sovnarkom should do?
Allow national self-determinism to the borderlands and cease sovereignty over them
What did Central powers in Russia claim about the war in January 1918?
That unless a separate peace was quickly signed on the Eastern front they would be overrun
What did Lenin tell the party regarding BL?
That they had no option but to accept the German terms
What was Trotsky policy which opposed BL?
‘neither war nor peace’ - was temporarily adopted as the party rejected Lenin’s advice
When and why did the central committee accept Lenin’s policy of accept BL?
Germans were not fooled by Trotsky policy and took Dvinsk 18th Feb
When was the treaty of BL signed?
3rd March
What effects did BL have on the USSR?
- It was disjoined from Ukraine, Belorussia and the Baltic region
- Hald the grain, coal, iron and human population of the former Russian Empire was lost
What was the harvest of summer 1917 like?
Was 13% below the average for half a decade before WWI
How did the output of large and medium sized factories fall in 1918?
Fell to 1/3 of what it was in 1913
How could the Bolsheviks explain the results of the CA?
Because the candidate list did not differentiate between the Left SRs and the SRs
How were central powers and the allies hiding the growth of anti-war sentiment?
By censoring newspapers
What happened to Bolshevik popularity after the CA
Declined drastically in 1918
What did the w/c want with socialist parties?
A coalition of all socialist parties
What was the interest of the w/c like in politics?
Lack of interest for the soviets and other mass organisations after the Romanov downfall
Why were there splits in the central committee in November 1917 and March 1918?
Over war vs peace
Why did the Bolsheviks have difficulty in the borderlands?
The regime was regarded as illegitimate
What did Lenin propose at the 3rd Congress of Soviets?
The formation of the Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic (RSFSR)
What did Lenin emphasis about the RSFSR?
That all peoples and territories of the former Empire were welcomed on equal terms = v. different to Tsars (Russification)
What did the Bolsheviks aim to do at home and Europe?
Wanted to remake politics in Europe and transform the Russian empire into a multi-national socialist state of free and equal nations
Due to the Land Decree how much land did peasants gain in central regions and Ukraine?
Central regions = an area 1/4 bigger than before 1917
Ukraine = 3/4 bigger
How was the revolution affecting rural relationships in village?
Women began to put themselves forward in decision making
How did workers feel after the Land Decree?
They relished their new status - palaces etc were seized from the rich and turned into blasts for W/C families
After the revolution what happened to the remaining owners of enterprises?
Fled south determined to take their financial assets with them
What did the Factory-workshop committees do?
Unlocked closed premises and informed the Sovnakom hat they were ‘nationalised’ - state gained enterprises at a faster rate than approved by official policy
What did the Movement Proletarian Culture (Proletkult) do?
Sought to facilitate education and cultural self-development of workers
What was Lenin’s opinion on the Proletkult?
Thought it might be difficult for the party to regulate
- was seeking to limit the rights of workers in 1918 and in 1920 he moved against the Proletkult
Who tried to form counter revolutionary groups?
A few upper class individuals
Who was the right to vote withdrawn from?
All citizens who hired labour in pursuit of profit, who gained income from financial investment or were in private business
What did Lenin want clearly understood about the RSFSR?
That is was going to be a class dictatorship
When and what was the Decree on the Separation of the Church from the State?
Forbade the teaching of religion in schools and the church could own no property
How were the structures of administration falling apart in 1918?
- Policies created by Sovnarkom were not enforced by the lower soviets if local Bolsheviks objected
- TUs made their own supreme bodies
- Lack of respect for hierarchy inside the party
- Country lacked all system of order
What did the Bolsheviks agree would be the next big step in politics and economics around the world?
The dictatorship of the proletariat, gathering of society into larger organisational units and the dissemination of Marxism
What were Lenin’s views on Industrialisation and Collectivisation?
Wanted a cautious pace - Bukharin wanted the opposite
What was the Sovnarkom (Council of People’s Commissars)?
Created shortly after October revolution to lay the foundations to form Russia into the Soviet Union:
- the policy forming and directing part of the Soviet government.
- became the council of ministers in 1946
What was the Politburo?
The policy forming and directing part of the Party
Why did the Bolsheviks want the help of the intelligentsia?
To counter anti-Bolshevik opinion - but they were not sympathetic to Bolshevism
How did the teachers behave?
More or less like the Bolsheviks wanted - material benefits offered to those who wanted to comply
How did intellectuals feel about the Decree on the Press?
Saw it as a preliminary step towards a cultural clampdown
Due to Russian industry’s backwardness what did Lenin argue was required?
Suggest small and medium sized enterprises should be exempt from nationalisation and formed into large capitalist syndicates responsible for each area of industry = capitalism still had a role to play in the countries economic development
How did the party feel about Lenin’s pro-capitalist initiative?
Caused outcry on the left BUT Lenin argued once capitalism had ceased to be useful it would be eradicated
What happened to talented and loyal workers under Lenin?
They were invited to become rulers in their own dictatorship
- social background counted heavily as a qualification for promotion
Why was a predominantly ‘proletarian’ administration impossible?
Due to the low numbers of industrial workers
How did the Soviet state and Tsars differ in terms of the countries economic and social affairs?
The soviets intrude in greater depth than the Tsars
What did Lenin and his colleagues assume the reason was for the Sovnarkom failing to obtain its desired political and economic results?
That the cause was the weakness of hierarchical supervision
What was the republic like around the country in mid 1918?
-Was not yet one party or one ideological state
- chaos in all institutions
- Soviet order was extremely disorderly for a great deal of the time
BUT movement towards a centralised, ideocratic dictatorship of a single party had begun
What was War Communism?
Introduced in May 1918 = requisitioning of grain turned into a general system
Why did Trotsky join the Bolsheviks?
He was horrified that the Mensheviks were collaborating with the PG
What did Trotsky encourage imperial army officers to do?
Join the Reds = disliked by Stalin
When was the German army defeated in the Civil War and what affect did this have?
9 November 1918 = Treaty of BL regarded as obsolete
What was the Red Terror?
A response to the attempt on Lenin’s life:
- 13,000 prisoners killed by the Cheka but other estimates put the figure at 300,000
How did War Communism work?
territory under Soviet control was divided into provinces and sub-divided into districts, and quotas of grain were assigned to each of them
How much state procurement of grain was there in 1918-19 compared to 1917-18?
The amount nearly quadrupled
When were all large factories and mines owned by the government?
1919
What was peasant and worker discipline like in the Civil War?
workers: despite more severe legislation was poor
peasants: kept their crops for trade with other peasants whenever possible
When were the Politburo and Orgburo introduced?
January 1919
What did the Politburo do?
Decided politics, economics, war and international relations
What did the Orgburo do?
Handled internal party administration
What was the People’s Commissariat for Nationalities (Narkomnats)?
Headed by Stalin - to realise the official commitments to native-lanauges schools and cultural autonomy
- All Russians were encouraged to exercise their freedom
Why did the Bolsheviks appease non-Russians?
Needed to win support in non-Russian borderlands to create several Soviet republics
How did the Red Army counteract the good done by the Narkomnats?
They were ill-disiplined and rampaged = often committed butchery against religious leaders so were disliked by many
How did the Allies participate in the Civil War?
They provided money and guns to the Whites but never seriously undertook any conquest
When did the Supreme Allied Court lift the blockade on the USSR?
January 1920
How many deserted were there estimated to be by the end of 1919?
1m
How many people died due to malnutrition and disease in 1918-20?
8m
When were there hints that the Kronstadt sailors were loosing support for the Bolsheviks?
Mid 1920
In 1920 what did Trotsky argue grain requisitioning should be replaced by?
A tax-in-kind that would be fixed at a lower level of procurement
What did Lenin suggest about richer peasant households in December 1920?
Urged that they should be rewarded for any additional gains in agriculture productivity
What did Trotsky propose about unions in November 1920?
That they should be turned into agencies of the state - strikes banned, wage increases would be forgone
What happened after the civil war?
The soviet economy turned towards catastrophe - growing number of the population turned against the victors
By 1921 what was nationalised?
Industry, banking, transport and foreign trade
- agriculture and domestic trade were subject to heavy state regulation
How did people feel about war time policies?
Many were unwilling to tolerate them much longer
What happened to factory output during the civil war?
Most industrial enterprises ceased production:
- in 1920 was 86% lower than in 1913
What was the grain harvest of 1920 like?
3/5s of annual average for half a decade before WWI
How did Lenin believe he could stop peasant uprising in 1920?
Believed force alone would not be enough and had to offer economic relaxations
How was tax-in-kind going to bet set in 1920?
At a much lower level than the grain-requisitioning quotas
When was Kronstadt mutiny and what did they demand?
15 March 1921 - demanded a multi-party democracy
What did the 10th Party Conference 1921 allow?
- re-legalised small scale manufacturing
- peasants obtained permission to trade anywhere
- middle men allowed to operate
- private retail shops reopened
When was rationing abolished?
November 1921
What happened to state enterprises in August 1921?
Reorganised into large ‘trusts’ responsible for each manufacturing and mining subsector
What did the 11th Party Congress allow?
Peasant households to hire labour and rent land
What had the Red Army done by March 1921?
Restored the boundaries of the Russia empire =
Nationalists thought the Bolsheviks might take up Russia’s geo-political interests and abandon their communist ideas
What did the Bolsheviks claim the purpose of the revolution was?
To established a multi-national state wherein each national or ethnic group would be free from oppression by any other
What did Stalin head in 1921?
The People’s Commissariat for Nationalities
What did Lenin want to do with the RSFSR?
Federate with other Soviet republics in a USSR
What did Stalin want to do with the RSFSR?
To turn Soviet republics into autonomous republics within the RSFSR = no independence
What did Stalin suggest about language in 1921?
That all verbal communication had to occur in a comprehensible language = Russification?
When did the Cheka become the OGPU?
1923
When did Lenin win his campaign to create the USSR?
September 1922
When did national decorations become a basic aspect of government policy?
1939-40 but the precedent had been set under Lenin
Under Lenin what happened to the traditions of Russia?
They were ridiculed if they did not fit Bolshevism
Why did Lenin execute several Bishops in 1922?
Claimed they refused to sell their treasures to help famine relief
What happened as the bourgeoisie emigrated?
The Politburo picked on whichever suspected ‘Class enemies’ remained
Who did the Soviet authorities deport in spring 1922?
Dozens of Russia writers and scholars = taught the intelligenca that no criticism of the regime would be tolerated
When did the Politburo reintroduce censorship?
June 1922
- thorough the agency of a Main Administration for Affairs of Literature and Publishing Houses
What did Mayakovsky write?
Eulogies for the factory, 20th Century machinery and Marxism-Leninsm
What did Yesenin write?
Rhapsodies to the virtues of the peasantry
By how much did party membership rise from 1921-30 due to campaigns to recruit workers?
625,000 to 1,678,000
What did the Bolshevik leaders strive to do which was very different to the Tsars?
Identify themselves with ordinary people
What happened to those interested in fine clothes, furniture etc?
Were treated as reactionary
What did spokesmen of the party urge women and children to do under Lenin?
Wives to refuse to give obedience to husbands and children to challenge authority of their parents
What were the divorce and abortion laws under Lenin?
Were available on demand
When were wages raised to the amount they were before 1914?
late 1920s
How often were strikes under the NEP?
Frequent
What did the policy of favouring skilled workers for promotion to administrative posts in politics and industry do?
Removed many people who might have made the labour movement for troublesome
What happened to health care and unemployment benefit under the NEP?
Were increased
What was different about the NEP to previous polices?
It was a capitalism different to any seen before in Russia or the external world
What did Lenin insist about the Civil code?
That it should enable the authorities to use sanctions including even terror
What reduced the likelyhood of w/c revolting under the NEP?
- Authorities restricted the work-force from moving to job to job
- Mangers bribed their best men and women ti stay by providing higher wages
How did the NEP effect the peasants?
Temporarily gave the villages back
How was the USSR backwards under the NEP?
Was still a predominantly agrarian country with poor facilities in transport, communication and administration
What was the Nomenklatura?
Created in 1923 - a list of about 5,500 designated party and governmental posts for promotion by the central party bodies
What had the NEP done to the regime?
Saved it from destruction but had introduced its own instabilities
What was there a resurgence of under the NEP?
Nationalists, regionalists and religious aspirations
How did Lenin argue that NEP offered space for economic advance?
Argued it was raise the country’s education level, improve its administration, renovate the economy and spread the doctrines of communism
What did Bolshevik leaders resent and what were they embarrassed about in 1923?
- Resented the corrupt and inefficient administration they headed
- Embarrassed they had not eliminated the poverty in towns and villages
What was the aim of Bolshevik leaders in 1923?
- Wanted to accelerate educational expansion and indoctrinate the w/c with their ideas
- Wanted an industrial society that was technologically advanced
Under the NEP what did Lenin want to remain in Sovnarkom’s hands?
Large-scale industry, banking and foreign trade
What did Trotsky urge should increase under the NEP?
Should be an increase in the proportion of investment on industry - state planning committee should draw up a single plan for all sectors of the economy
When was Lenin’s first major stroke?
May 1922 = influence on politics diminished
When did Lenin create his political testament?
December 1922 = to be presented at the next PC
What did Lenin argue would prevent a split in the Politburo?
An influx of ordinary factory workers
How did Stalin suggest homage to Lenin should be rendered?
By means of mass enrolment of workers into the party
What did Trotsky want after Lenin’s death?
To expand state planning, accelerate industrialisation and create a revolution in Europe
What did Zinoviev object to?
The indulgence shown to richer peasants
Why did Zinoviev and Kamenev join up with Stalin?
To prevent Trotsky succeeding Lenin
What did the levels of agricultural output in 1922 allow the Politburo to do?
Resume the export of grain
Who created the platform of 46 and when?
In October 1923 by Preobrazhenski and others
What did the platform of 46 involve?
Criticised the Politburo and demanded for an increase in state economic planning and internal party democracy
What 3 things did Z, K and S claim about Trotsky?
- had been an anti-leninist since 1903
- argued his proposal for rapid industrialisation would involve a fiscal bias against the peasantry
- in 1924 argued he wanted to destroy the NEP
What was Bukharin’s view on bolshevik ideology towards private property?
Wanted it to be temporarily abandoned
What did Zinoviev do in Germany in November 1923?
Tried to make the communist party in Germany seize power = sat uncomfortably with Stalin who wanted to concentrate on building socialism in one country
Who did Bukharin and Zinoviev want to negotiate with?
Western powers - after signing trade treaties with the UK and other states in 1921
What was the Rapallo Treaty?
German military reconstruction by setting up armament factories and military training facilities in the USSR
What were the USSRs exports like in 1926-27?
Were 1/3 in volume of what they were in 1913
Who gave de jure to the USSR in 1924?
The UK when the Labour party won
What changes were made in April 1925?
Lowered the burden of food tax to diminish fiscal discriminations against better off peasants and legalised hired labour + leasing of land
What did the United Opposition claim about Stalin and Bukharin?
That they had surrounded entirely to the peasants
When was Trotsky removed from the People’s Commissar for Military Affairs and when did he loose his Politburo seat?
January 1925 and lost seat in December
How was the United Oppositions access to the media reduced?
Prolific writers such as T, K and Z had their material rejected for publication in Pravda
When was Zinoviev sacked as Leningrad Soviet chairman?
January 1926
When were Z and K removed from the Politburo?
July 1926
When did the central committee expel T, Z and K?
November 1927
What was NEP showing by 1927?
That it was able to restore and develop industry
How did crops change in 1927?
Emphasis taken off cereal crops (90% of crops under NII) onto sugar beet, potatoes and cotton
When did direct foreign investment vanish?
1927-8 - this was essential to the pre-Revolutionary economy
What elements of Lenin were maintained during the first FYP?
The single party state, single official ideology, manipulation of ideology and state economic dominance
What legal private enterprise ceased in 1928?
Any above the level of highly-restricted individual production and commerce
How was Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism talked about?
Asserted continuity while affirming that Stalin had changed the balance and composition of the elements of the soviet compound
Where did the idea of collectivisation begin?
When Stalin visited the Urals and Siberia in January 1928
- Issued the instructions for the collection of cereal crops in these regions = The Urals-Siberan Method (similar to WC)
When was collectivisation implemented across the USSR?
Later in 1928
What did the FYP add to industry?
Assigned credit and production targets to factories, mines and construction sites
What was the condition of capitalism after WWI?
Unstable
Why was the use of force on Kulaks welcomed?
As an end to ideological compromise
How did the party feel about Stalin at the start of the FYP?
Very enthusiastic = believed they had found the leader who gave them the opportunity they had been seeking
What was Bukharin’s view on force upon the Kulaks?
Was appalled - wanted to assure the peasants that the party aimed to foster their immediate interests
What did Stalin believe rapid collectivisation would prevent?
The recurrent crisis in food supplies
What did the Politburo condemn at the start of Collectivisation?
The ‘excesses’ of local grain-seizing authorities
= decided to raise the prices paid by government agencies for grain(v. little effect of supplies + tensions remained)
What did Bukharin realise by 1928?
That Zinoviev and Kameneve were right about Stalin
What did Stalin demand at the Central Committee in November 1928?
A policy of requisitioning
= grain supplies seized mainly from the Kulaks
How did Collectivisation at first benefit poorer peasants?
They were enabled to have a share of the cereal stocks discovered in the campaign
What was the counter revolutionary plot at Shakhty?
March 1928:
announced by Stalin - used as an opportunity to intimidate those opposed to increasing industrialisation
What happened in the show trial of the staff of Shakhty?
May and June 1928:
- Some shot and others sentenced to prison
What did Stalin accuse Bukharin of at the Central Control Commission in January 1929?
Accused him of factionalism - claimed he headed a Right Deviatation from the principles of Marxism-Leninism
What did Stalin see as the only way from economic transformation?
To stay clear of military engagements abroad - needed to purchase up-to-date machinery from these powers
What did Soviet leaders believe would pay for machinery imports?
Grain exports - imports from mainly Germany + the USA
Why were banks and businesses eager to sign deals with the USSR?
Due to the great depression in autumn:
- Ford (greatest symbol of world capitalism) signed a deal to build a factory in the USSR
What did Bukharin agree with Trotsky on?
That Stalin had abandoned the objective of European socialist revolution
What did Communists believe about Capitalism in 1928?
That there would be an imminent collapse - Stalin went along to maintain the USSR’s security
What did Bolsheviks believe was the solution to agrarian backwardness?
Collective farms with electronically powered machinery
When as Bukharin sacked from the Politburo?
November 1929
What did the Politburo insist about Collectivisation in January 1930?
That 1/4 of the sown area should be held by collective farms within 2 years
What were the 3 categories Kulaks were divided into?
1) shot or in forced labour
2) went to distance provinces
3) allowed to stay in their native district but on a smaller patch of land
How many people were treated as belonging to Kulak families?
5-7 million
Who enforced collectivisation?
Tough young men from factories, militia and the party
Who were Sub-Kuaks?
Those who were poor but opposed to government
When did Stalin write ‘Dizzy with Success’?
March 1930
What land did Collective farms hold by 1931?
Land traditionally given over to cereal crops
How many people died due to grain seizures and de-kulakisation in 1932-33?
4-5 million
Why did peasants kill livestock?
Would rather eat it than give them to the state
Why was the harvest of 1928-30 good?
Mainly due to weather conditions
How many tractors were built during collectivisation?
Only half the predicted amount and were used inefficiently
When did collectivisation regain the level of output seen before WWI?
Mid 1950s
When were tractor stations built and why?
From 1929 - to provide equipment and control the peasantry
What would have happened without tractor stations?
The unstable structure of authority would have collapsed
What did Stalin gain from collectivisation?
A terrified peasantry who would supply him with cheap industrial labour
What were the states grain collections in 1928-9 and 1931-2?
1928-9 = 10.8m tones 1931-32 = 22.8m tons
When was completion of the first FYP announced and what were the outcomes?
Announced a year early - mines and factories were claimed to have doubled their production since 1928
BUT several estimates put the actual expansion of industrial output at 10% 1928-41
What were the Sovkhoz?
(ideal type) Run on the same principles as a state owned factory:
- local authorities marked out land for each farm and hired peasants for fixed wages
What were the Kolkhoz?
(majority of farms)
- members rewarded by results, if quotes not met farm not paid
= encourages competition
How many peasants were involved in disturbances in 1930?
700,000
By how much did consumption of meat fall by in towns?
2/3rds
How much did wages for blue collar jobs fall by in the course of the FYP?
1/2
How did Stalin invent parties?
Made them up e.g. show trial of the imaginary ‘industrial party’ in November 1930
How did Stalin use the party as a weapon?
To terrify all opposition to his economic policies
By how much did the party expand its membership in 1928 and 1931?
1.3m to 2.2m
What did an extrapolation of the NEPs growth rates into the 1930s show?
Suggests it would have attained an equal industrial capacity
What did communist leaders aspire to do within the population?
Raise the level of education and technical skills in the population
What did the Bolsheviks stand for (culture)?
Literacy, numeracy, internationalism and atheism
How did the rates of literacy change from 1887-1939?
1897 = 40% of males between 9-49 1939 = 94%
How many cinemas did the USSR have by the end of 1930s?
28,000
How were houses upgraded under Stalin?
Were now being built out of brick and stone
What did new apartments often have?
Heating
What was the increase in state employees between 1926 and the end of 1930s?
4x increase in the number of state employees in institutions of education, health, housing and public administration
What was the current generation being asked under Stalin?
To sacrifice its comfort for the benefit of its children
What were the expectations of the first FYP?
Wanted to double the output of industrial producers’ goods before the end of 1937
By how much did cereal crop obtainment fall by 1932?
1/5
What did an agricultural decree in 1933 allow?
Each household in a kolkhoz could cultivate a garden allotment for personal consumption or sale
What were kolkhoz markets?
Established in 1932:
- Could sell surplus as long as they worked on the farms which had fulfilled their quotas
When was Tsaritsyn renamed Stalingrad?
1925
How did many young members of the party and Komsomol feel about Stalin?
Idolised Stalin:
- carried out work such as building Magnitogorsk or tunnelling under Moscow and teaching the peasants to read and write
What did leaders before 1960 not find it hard to do?
To convince workers that sooner or later official policies would bring about huge improvements
What were worked often too busy to do?
To give politics an interest
Why were loudspeakers placed in streets?
So that public statements could be broadcasted to people as they travelled to work
How many collective farms had access to electricity?
1/25
Why may propaganda have been unsuccessful?
Due to the hardship caused by official measures
Why were non-Russian nationalities especially unhappy under Stalin?
Several imaginary anti-Soviet organisations were discovered e.g. the Union for the Liberation of Ukraine 1929 + menace of Russian nationalism
What did many Russia nationalists believe about Collectivisation?
That it was Stalin’s equivalent to Hitlers ‘final solution’ = had it in for the Ukrainians
What happened if the Ukrainians did not hit grain requirements?
Faced deportation
Why were grain collection quotes cut 3 times during Collectivisation?
Due to reports of starvation
What was De-clericalisation under Stalin?
Not officially announced as a policy but a license was given for physical attacks on religious leaders
How many priests were there by 1920s and 1941?
1920s = 60,000 1941 = 5,665
How many churches were functioning by the end of the 1930s?
1/40
What did Stalin decide about Russian national pride at the end of 1934?
That it must be adopted by the Soviet state for reasons of security
When did Russian language become a compulsory subject?
1938-39
What campaign was launched in late 1930s surrounding language?
To alter the various non-Russian languages to a Cyrillic-style alphabet on the Russian model
What did urban inhabitants have to carry from December 1932?
Identity booklets - signal of the party leaders’ concern that society remained outside their full control
What had the first FYP done for state authority?
Intensified it beyond precedent - but still not stable enough for the leaderships’ comfort
Was their enthusiasm for Stalin’s policies by the end of the first FYP?
Some existed however hostility was much more widely spread
How was state violence applied widely under the 1st and 2nd FYP?
Kulaks, ‘wreckers’, nationalists and ‘saboteurs’ were being arrested
How many had died in labour camps by 1930?
1 million
What was used to sustain the level of mass industrialisation?
Mass slave labour
How were people used as scape goats during the terror?
For the countries pain
What angered Stalin about lower party levels?
The power they had:
- often used to thwart the central party apparatus’ instructions
What happened during the purge on party membership in 1933?
800,000 persons had their party cards removed
What directive was issued by the Politburo in 1935?
For every former Trotskyist to be sent to a labour camp for a minimum of 3 years
What were Z, T and K accused of in 1935?
Spying for foreign powers
What campaign was introduced in 1935 to increase industrial productivity?
The Stakhanovite movement
What effect did the Stakhanovite movement have on factories?
- Managers intimidated to alter patterns of work to accommodate attempts on records
- Workers put under pressure to change their work procedures
How did Stalin move against K and Z in 1936?
Letter was sent by the CC Secretariat to local party bodies claiming the discovery of a ‘Trostkyist-Zinovievite’ counter revolutionary bloc
When was the show trial of K and Z?
August 1936 - first execution of anyone in the Party CC
What were the outcomes of the 1936 grain harvest?
26% smaller than the previous year
What did Stalin create in in Spring 1937?
Created a commission which could take decisions on the Politburos behalf
= allowed him to increase the terror
How did Stalin repress red-army leaders?
In May 1937 several high-ranking commanders were arrested and beat into confession they were planning a coup
What did Stalin announce about Bukharin and others in May 1937?
That they were guilty of espionage
When was torture sanctioned as a normal procedure of interrogation?
August 1937?
What did the police make no effort to do?
To capture and punish people for offences they had really committed
How many people were executed according to official reports in 1937-8?
681,000
How many prisoners were in forced labour camps by 1939?
2.9 million
How many members of the central committee survived?
16/71
What did the purges of the armed forces disrupt?
The USSRs defences in a period of intense international tension
What Tsars did Stalin admire?
Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great
How did Stalin adopt Lenin’s thinking of terror?
His ideas of violence, dictatorship, terror, centralism, hierarchy and leadership were integral to Stalin’s thinking
What terror did Lenin invent?
Cheka, labour camps and the one party state
When did Lenin practice mass terror?
In the Civil War and continued it on a smaller scale under the NEP
What differs in he terror used by Stalin and Lenin?
Lenin did not carry out terror on his own party
How did the Great Terror follow the pattern of state economic planning since 1928?
Central directions was accompanied by opportunities for local initiative
When were formal diplomatic ties agreed with the UK, USA and France?
1933
When did the USSR enter the LoN?
1934
What was a goal of Soviet foreign policy?
Containment of the European far right
When did Germany and Japan sign the Anti-Comintern Pact?
November 1936
When did Soviet assistance reach Spain?
1937
How did Stalin want to increase the influence of communism?
Wanted to increase its influence world-wide without damaging the USSRs interests
Who was a truce made with in 1938?
Japan - often provoked trouble with the USSR
- no guarantee that Japan would desist from further aggression
When had Stalin practically liquidated the entire high command of the armed forces?
1937-38
When did Yezhov resign from the NKVD and what did this show?
November 1938 - showed Stalin needed to reduce the terror
What had Stalin decided about the terror at the end of 1938?
That arrests needed to be fewer
Why was industrialisation reduced in 1937-8?
Due to terror
What did Stalin reveal about Yezhov after his resignation?
Gave the impression that abuses of power were all his fault = Stalin emerges as dictator in all but name
How many years passed after the PC in 1934 until Stalin allowed another?
5
What was the NKVD ordered to do in December 1938?
To seek permission from the party apparatus before taking any official of the party into custody
What did Beria stress about economic problems in March 1939?
That not all were attributable to sabotage
What was the overall result of the Great Terror?
- Left no one in doubt about the consequences of overt obedience
- Traumatisation was huge and left a mark of popular consciousness
How were their simulates between fascism and communism?
In their methods of rule = dominant leaders and one party state
What concessions were made after the Great Terror?
- To Russian national pride
- Not all public entertainments were heavily political
How had Stalin created his own personal elite after the terror?
Had promoted a vast number of newly trained young activists
Who were most of the members of Stalin of Stalin’s elite?
Workers of peasants who had taken the opportunities offered by Soviet authorities to get an education
How many of the voting delegate of the 18th PC in 1939 had completed their secondary education?
Over half
Who was awarded the title of ‘People’s Artists of the USSR’?
Outstanding actors, singers etc
What did Stalin approve about education in 1940?
The introduction of fees to be paid by parents for students in the last 3 years of secondary school and at university
How was a new social class in the process of formation by 1940?
Due to the party opening up access for people to get educated = ‘working intelligenca’
What did Stalin stress about Marxism?
That it provided the sole key to understanding both the social life of humanity and that only his variant was acceptable
What did the November 1936 Constitution introduce?
- Universal civil rights introduced on paper
- Guarantees of employment
- Creation of Supreme Soviet
- Universal suffrage
What did the 1936 Constitution propose about the electoral franchise?
That is should be made universal
What did the 1936 Constitution lead to a claim of?
That the USSR was the most democratic country in the world
What was the 1936 Constitution ladened with?
Stipulations that restricted the exercise of civil freedoms
After 1936 who was allowed to put up candidates in elections?
Existing public institutions
What vote did the Supreme soviet yield at 18th PC?
98% in favour of the regime
How was the central leadership like a gang?
Stalin as its leader relied upon his fellow members to organise the state’s institutions
How did mangers fulfil their own quotes?
By breaking the law
How did local authorities makes compromises with the work forces in late 1930s?
A blind eye often turned to the expansion of the peasants private plots
What did a decree in 1938 state about late workers?
If they were late 3 times in a month they should be sacked
What did a decree in June 1940 introduce for late workers?
Workers that were late should incur a penalty of 6 months corrective labour at their place of work
What a decree in 1939 allowed local authorities to do?
Seize back land under illegal private cultivation
What was widespread at the lower levels of administration by late 1930s?
Non-compliance with the demands of the central authorities
What groups still challenged the regime after the great terror?
Religious bodies
How much of the population lived in towns and cities by 1940?
1/3
By how much did Juvenile delinquency increase between 1931-34?
100%
What was one of the reasons Stalin got away with his purges?
Due to the cultural success of many individuals in the USSR
How did people feel about opportunities for cultural self-improvement under Stalin?
Were widely welcomed but most people wanted improvement in their material situation
When was rationing abolished under Stalin?
1936
Why was there lots of rural hatred for Stalin?
He had associated himself too closely with Collectivisation and its hours
+ in the towns millions had no reason to view the period with affection
What did a USSR census in 1937 reveal about religious belief?
57% of people said they believed in religion
What were wages like in 1937?
About 3/5s of what they were in 1928
What policies of Stalin’s had support?
Welfare-state, strong government and patriotic pride
What rights did camp inmates have?
None
How did Politburo members lack rights?
Due to obedience to Stalin = could never safety object to a line of policy which Stalin had already approved
What did Stalin being reluctant to choose sides with states before WW2 create?
Increase in instabilities in Europe and lessened the chance of preventing war
What was Stalin’s constant aim with the USSR’s foreign policy?
To avoid risks with the USSR’s security
When did Stalin begin to prepare for the outbreak of war?
1938-39
How many people were in the Soviet armed forces in 1939 and 1941?
1939 = 2m 1941 = 5m
What country did the USSR have many disputes with in the late 1930s?
Japan
Why did the Kremlin want to create a military alliance with Western powers?
To discourage Hitler
When was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
23rd August 1939
- openly stated the two nations would trade more and prevent war with one another
- secretly aimed to divide up Poland and trade other nations
What was the Boundary of Friendship treaty?
September 1939:
- Lithuania given to USSR
- Stalin gave up territory in Poland
What happened in November 1939 with Finland?
Fought back against the USSR = winter war
What ultimatum did Stalin issue in June 1940?
For the formation of pro-Soviet governments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
- had lost figures who might have organised opposition due to the brutality of Sovietisation
When did Operation Barbarossa begin?
22 June 1941
At the start of OB what were the orders of Soviet troops?
Under strict orders not to reply to ‘provocation’
What did Stalin believe out OB?
Always assumed that id the attack came it would be quickly repulsed and that a irresistible counter-attack would be organised
- Stalin failed at the beginning
When did Leningrad get cut of during OB?
By the beginning of September
In the first 6 months of the war how much of the USSR was under German control?
- 2/5 of the states population
- Half the USSRs material assets
What was announced on 10th July 1941?
Stalin became Supreme Commander
BUT not publicly announced = doesn’t look accountable like NII
How was Stalin attempting to be the Lenin-Trotsky of the German-Soviet conflict?
Wished to oversee everything himself = similar to Tsars
What was Stalin’s communication like to Soviet citizens during the war?
Left it to his subordinates
Why did Stalin take trips to Red Army command posts?
To give his propagandists a pretext to claim that he had risked his life along with his soldiers
What was forbade in August 1941?
Any Red Army solider to allow himself to be taken captive
What did the office-based mode of leadership during WW2 cause?
Meant Stalin never acquired a comprehension of military operations
Why did Leningrad and Stalingrad become battle areas out of proportion to their significance?
- Leningrad = symbol of October revolution
- Stalingrad = name of Lenin’s successor
What happened to munitions output 1940-44?
Quadrupled
At the peak of mobilisation in WW2 how many men were conscripted?
12m
How many more soldiers and fighting equipment did the Soviets produce compared to the Germans?
2x the amount
What was Kursk?
Largest tank battle in history
Why was Kursk significant?
- Used technology and power never seen under the Tsars
- Proved the victory in Stalingrad was repeatable elsewhere
How much did the USSR get from Lend-Lease?
Supplied goods about 1/5 of the USSRs gross domestic product
What did foreign aid during WW2 reflect?
Several defects in Soviet military production and raised some what the level of food production
When did Stalin dissolve the Comintern?
May 1943
Which countries in Eastern Europe were not liberated by the USSR?
Every country apart from Yugoslavia and Albania
What was the position of the USSR after the war?
- One of the Big Three
- Red army bestrode half of Europe and had expanded its power in the Far East
What was the diet and health like in the USSR after the war?
Was poor = popular hostility to the government had been intensified
What did the USSR demonstrate is excellence in and its inadequacy in?
Showed it was great at producing tanks and aircraft but was extremely poor in feeding its population
How did Ukrainians feel about the German occupation?
Warmly greeted the German invasion = similar to Civil War - no improvement
How many prisoners died between 1941-45?
600,000
What were ration-cards during WW2?
Urban inhabitants were eligible for them but they could be withdrawn for acts of delinquency
= for a brief time factories had a dependable workforce
Who were the best nourished citizens during WW2?
Those on active service
Why were thousands of convicted ‘spies’ released in 1941?
Due to a huge loss of other officers
What happened to many camp inmates during the war?
Served in the penal regiments = clearing mines
What happened in January 1942?
Uprising led by Mark Retyunin = many felt they had nothing to loose by rebelling
During WW2 what were artists allowed to do?
Were permitted to create what they wanted as long as it avoided direct criticism of Marxism-Leninism
What happened to religion during WW2?
Stalin’s approach was moderated
How did the Church help during WW2?
Collected money for military needs
- increased popular acceptance of Stalin’s rule
How did Stalin try to appeal to the Slavic peoples?
Russia’s role as past protector of the Slav nations was emphasised
How did war affect cooperation between Russian peoples?
Created an unprecedented sense of co-operation among nations
How did authorities earn a degree of popularity in 1939?
Due to quietly dropping the restriction on the size of private plots
What were urban conditions like during WW2?
- Hunger was incessant for the townspeople
- High rates of mortality
Where did most of the conscripts during WW2 come from?
The villages = like the Tsars
How much did the labour force increase between 1942-45?
1/3
Why did technology collapse in the countryside?
Due to further depopulation of the countryside = level of production was too low to meet the requirements of the village
How many Soviet citizens died under German occupation?
11m
How would Stalin’s repressiveness cost him the war?
If it was not for the view that Hitler was worse
What did Stalin re-impose after the war?
The pre-war version of the compound and crushed any hopes of change
Who emerged as the Big Three after the war?
USSR, UK, USA
What did the USSR serve as a model for after the war?
Enabling the emergence of industrial, literate societies out of centuries of backwardness
What about the Soviet’s industrialisation had gained respect after the war?
Central State planning
What were the employment rates like after the war?
Unemployment did not exist in the USSR
What did new communist authorities in EE introduce after the war?
A campaign of universal education
How many Russia’s died due to WW2?
26m
How much of the population of Ukraine and Belorussia failed to survive the war?
1/4
What happened to the NKVD after the war?
Their workload was so big and as a result in many towns and villages there was temporary relief from the states interference on day-to-day basis
What did Red Army soldiers see when marching through Europe?
Things that made them question the domestic polices of their own government
What would millions of soviet citizens have been delighted by after the war?
The collapse of Stalin’s government
What did people complain about in the Supreme Soviet elections 1946?
Complained there was no point voting as there was only a single candidate for each seat and the electoral results would not affect decision of policy
Who opposed the Soviet government after the war?
Guerrilla groups in the newly annexed regions
- In western Ukraine they held out until mid 1950s
What was opposition like in Russia its self after WW2?
Virtually non-existent
- most citizens who detested Stalin were grumbles rather than insurrectionaries
What happened to those who collaborated with German forces?
Were imprisoned
How many Red Army soldiers were interrogated by the USSR due to being taken captive by Germans?
3m
- about half transferred into the Gulag system
What were hundreds of thousands of Gulag prisoners used for after the war?
The secret hunt for Uranium
What was allowed within the party after the war?
Debate was allowed
What were writers allowed to do after the war?
Offer their opinions of leadership
- strengthened the hope that Stalin may be softening his political style
How much did the party meet after the war?
Rarely no PC held until 1952
- Stalin no longer accorded great significance to its tasks of supervision
How much did the Capital goods sector account for in industrial investment 1945-50?
88%
What did the draft of the 4th FYP take into account?
Consumers aspirations
What was the grain harvest of 1952 like compared to 1940?
Only 77% of it
What extra taxes were introduced to raise revenues?
- Charge on the peasant household for each fruit tree it owned
- Tax on farm animals
What was the pay like for a kolkhoznik in 1954?
Lower than 1/6 of the earning of a typical factory workers = 16 roubles
How did peasants deal with poor pay?
With their allotments
What was not unusual for Kolkhoziniki?
To receive no payment whatsoever from one year to the next
What did people with ambition do in the countryside?
Tried to acquire the necessary schooling in order to secure urban employment
How was Stalin’s welfare system not universal?
Social misfits and the mentally unstable were neglected
What did statistics indicate about wages in 1952?
That they were no higher than in 1928
Why was the Soviet road to socialism not seen as desirable?
Other communist leaders were aware of the awful effects of Stalin’s policies
What was Cominform?
Organisational aim was to re-esablish an international communist body
When was the Blockade of Berlin?
June 1948 = damage to USA, USSR relations
What did Communist states have to accept from January 1940?
The formation of Comecon
Where was collectivisation implemented apart from the USSR?
Only partly in Poland
What did Stalin do with communist parties in Italy and France after 1947?
Gave them a license to take a more militant line against their government
How were the USA and USSR similar?
Aimed to expand their global power and were not too concerned about the method they used
What did the USSR depend on to get its way?
Militarism, terror and injustice
What did Stalin do when he realised he could not rule through terror alone?
Sought favour among the various elites in the party
How did Stalin hope to prevent the outbreak of opposition?
By maintaining the gulf between the rulers and the ruled
How did Stalin try to increase his appeal to ethnic Russians?
By reinforcing a form of Russian nationalism
BUT strained to identify himself
When did Stalin refrain from giving a single speech?
1948-1952
Which national groups suffered the most?
- Cultures of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were ravaged
- Ukrainian language was decreasingly taught to Ukrainian-speaking children
- Jews underwent the most trauma
What was the Jewish Autonomous Region?
1934 Stalin sought to give the Jews their own territory
- In Siberia + asked volunteers to go
What restrictions were placed on Jews?
- Access to uni education
- Professional occupations
- subject to verbal abuse
What were Christians debarred from?
Jobs of responsibility
Who else was poorly paid in the USSR apart from workers/peasants?
Even doctors, engineers and teachers
- material assets were small by standards of the West
What were the proportion of w/c uni entrants in 1935 and 1950?
1935 = 45% 1950 = 25%
How did Stalin live?
Fairly simply compared to other politburo members
What were the r/c like by the end of the war?
Moe literate and numerate + most had completed their secondary education
How did Stalin place an emphasis on continuity with the pre-revolution state?
To indicate revolutionary disturbance would not recur
- renamed the People’s Commissariats as Ministries 1946
- Red army became Soviet army
What did Soviet army officers see themselves as after the war?
Similarly to their predecessors saw themselves as a separate caste
- also the case to a lesser degree for economic ministries, police and party
What could citizens gain through approved Russian literacy?
Despite heavy Glavlit censorship could gain unorthodox ideas
What did Khrushchev declare in 1952?
That every party member should display ‘vigilance’ = code word for support of political repression
When did Stalin die?
5th March 1953
How was the Soviet union a superpower when Stalin died?
- Dominated EE
- Worlds 2nd largest industrial capacity
- Literate population
When did Stalin death prevent?
The immediate possibility of a massive purge that would lead to the deaths of millions
Why were demographic structures of villages distorted?
Due to many leaving
How many prisoners were in gualgs by Stalin’s death?
5.5m
How did workers feel by Stalin’s death?
Too afraid to strike but rested their conditions, wages, poor diet and husing
What caused lasting offence in the USSR to do with Russian citizens?
The elevation of the prestige of Russians above all other peoples
What was the leadership like by Stalin’s death?
- Policies decided by a tiny group of leaders
- Subject to permanent intimidation
What was the USSR like by Stalin’s death?
If many of the problems from Stalin’s rule were not dealt with a fundamental crisis would occur
What were science and culture subjected to by 1953?
Excessive supervision
What did veteran leaders do after Stalin’s death?
Had in interest in securing their power at the expense of the younger rivals whom Stalin had promoted
After Stalin’s death how did the size and composition of leading political bodies change?
Arranged to decrease the number of members in the Presidium of the CC from 25 to 10 = remove younger members
What was Khrushchev’s priority?
Agriculture
After Stalin’s death who opposed reform?
Kaganovich and Molotov
What did the leadership want to remove after Stalin’s death?
Its reliance on terror
How did Khrushchev get the Job of Central Committee Secretariat?
Malenkov chose his job as Chairman of the Council of Ministers which he believed had more influence
What did the CC plenum on 2nd July 1953 denounce?
Beria’s actions as the head of the secret policy
- accused of having been an anti-Bolshevik agent in the Civil war
- and a British spy
How was the movement away from Stalin’s tactics engineered?
Using typically Stalinist tatics
In March 1954 what did the Ministry of Internal Affairs break up into?
- MVD dealt with the problems of ordinary criminality
- KGB charged with the protection of the USSR’s internal and external security
After Stalin’s death where were their uprisings?
In Norlik and Vorkuta = suppressed by armed troops
What did Khrushchev successfully propose in the September 1954 CC plenum?
The cultivation of the VL
- also gave the impression that no one was as keen as him to end rule by police terror
What commission did Khrushchev establish in 1954?
One to investigate the crimes of the 1930s and 1940s
When was the Warsaw pact?
May 1955
Who did Khrushchev recruit?
300,000 ‘volunteers’ especially from among students for summer work in Kazakhstan and Siberia
What was the grain harvest like in 1955?
21% higher than 1954
When was the secret speech and what was it about?
25th February 1956
- lasted 4 hours = turning point in the USSR’s politics
- Most of the speech about Stalin’s abuses
How many years elapsed between the 18th and 19th PC?
13
Who rarely met after 1945?
The CC and the Politburo fell into disuse
How was the terror solely blamed on Stalin?
Party leaders claimed the could not stop it as they lacked the information required about the purges
How was Khrushchev involved in the terror?
Help to organise in in Moscow and Ukraine 1937-38
How was the one party state persevered after Stalin’s death?
- any other ideologies would be suppressed
- state economic ownership would remain intact
What did Khrushchev keep of Stalin’s in agriculture and industry?
- Kolkhozes
- Capital goods priority
What did Khrushchev reduce the pace of?
- Sovietisation in EE
- Campaigns for collectivisation had been halted
When was the Hungarian revolt?
November 1956 = tanks used
- Khrushchev classed it as counter-revolutionary
Who moved against Khrushchev in June 1957 and what was the outcome?
Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovicu
- CC plenum on 21 June resulted in a big victory for Khrushchev
- M,M and K dismissed from the Presidium = shows strength of the CC
How did Khrushchev treat the ‘Anti-Party Group’?
Showed mercy = important break with Stalin’s policies
- Subjected them to humiliating demotions
How was power at the centre exercise more formally then before 1953?
Party bodies met regularly and asserted control over the public institutions
What was the party membership figure in 1953 and 1961?
1953 = 6.1m 1961 = 9.7
When did Khrushchev take over the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers?
March 1958
What did Khrushchev wish to rectify in industry?
The inadequacies in consumer goods production
= unsettled the institutional support that had facilitated his rise to power
Who did Khrushchev demand and obtain admiration from?
The press, radio, cinema and TV = CoP?
What did Khrushchev admire about US agriculture?
The fertile plains of maize
What did Khrushchev assume like Stalin?
That he knew best and disrupted the work of any institutions which opposed his policies
How did Khrushchev attempt to reduce the party’s capacity to constrain him?
In 1961 introduced a rule confining officials to 3 periods in office
3 years after Stalin’s death how much extra land was farmed?
36m hectares
How did Kolkhozes numbers drop under Khrushchev?
Turned them into bigger farms = 125,000 to 36,000
- caused lots of social unrest
What did Khrushchev want to turn Kolkhozes into?
Sovhozes
What were Kolkhozes allowed to do under Khrushchev?
Run their affairs without excessive local interference
How much did wheat production rise by 1950-60?
50%
How much did milk and meant production rise by in the 7 years after Stalin’s death?
Milk = 69%
Meat = 87%
= food consumed in the greatest quantity in the countries history
How much had gross national income risen by, by 1965?
58%
What was industrial growth line by 1965?
84%
How much were consumer goods up by, by 1965?
66%
When was the first Sputnik sent to space?
1957
Why was Khrushchev’s authority diminished?
Due to poor harvests across the USSR
What was agricultural output like in 1963 compared to 1958?
Only 92% of the total in 1958
What did Khrushchev argue about competition between the East and West?
That it should be restricted to politics and ideology
Under Khrushchev what were investment in capital goods skewed toward?
Military needs
What did Khrushchev eventually do with the nationalities?
Began to pursue a goal to promote their interests
Who did Khrushchev’s confidence attract?
A lot of lower rank party functionaries and youngsters
= the children of the Twentieth Congress
What were workers living conditions like under Khrushchev?
- High rise apartment blocks put up in all cities
- Fridges, Tvs and washing machines entered popular ownership
What were hospital and educational services like under Khrushchev?
Free and universally available
What happened to wages after 1953?
Began to rise
By how much did wages rise between 1959-1962?
7%
What prevented people going hungry under Khrushchev?
Cheap urban cafeterias
What did Khrushchev allow people to have who lived in apartment blocks?
Privacy:
- Could speak to their children without fear of being overheard
- No longer dangerous to take an interest in foreign countries
What was political, economic and cultural order like under Khrushchev?
Still extremely authoritarian
Why did peasants and workers have little respect for Khrushchev?
- Rural facilities always fell short of his promises
- the urban environment was very poor
What happened in Kazakhstan due to nuclear testing?
The neglect of its effects led to the deaths of thousands
What did the Party Programme under Khrushchev describe the USSR as?
An ‘all peoples state which no longer needed to use doctoral methods
What were the prices paid to collective farms like in 1958?
Were below the cost of production
- shortages of meat, butter and milk caused the Presidium to raise prices paid to farms
What did workers protest against in Karaganda 1958?
Living conditions
- thousands fired upon and 23 killed
What were creative arts like under Khrushchev?
They flourished more than anytime since 1920
What was censorship like under Khrushchev?
There had been a loosening of official ideological constraints = writers had more freedom
What did Khrushchev do surrounding language classes in 1958-59?
Stipulated that parents had the right to exempt their children from native-language classes in the non-Russian Soviet republics
- fortified the attempt to promote the study of Russian in schools
How did the nationalities feel about Khrushchev?
He was detested for restricting the expression of Ukrainian national pride
How many Christian churches were left standing by mid 1960s?
7,560
How many mosques and synagogues were allowed to survive ?
12,000 mosques and 60 synagogues
What stopped religious faiths becoming extinct?
The reluctance of local party and government officials to be quite as brutal to people of their own ethnic group
What did the sons and daughters of high-ranking officials have the opportunity to do?
Visit foreign states = despised the state ideology
What differed Khrushchev to any other Russian leader?
Visited more parts of Russia than any other ruler
How much did Khrushchev reduce the number of troops by?
5.8m to 3.7 in the second half of the decade
What was the 1963 harvest like?
9% lower than the previous year
- imports had to take place
What were Khrushchev’s greatest achievements?
Ending the terror and raising the general standard of living
What did Khrushchev respond to unlike his predecessors?
The pressure upon him by seeking long-term solutions
What was assumed after Stalin’s death that was not after Lenin’s?
Assumed that a single successor would be selected
When did colleagues wonder what to do about Khrushchev?
Mid 1960s
What members were crucial to the plot to remove Khrushchev?
Members such as KGB chief Semicchansty were crucial since it should be his duty to inform Khrushchev of such a policy
When was Khrushchev forced out of office?
13th October 1964
What were some of the reasons for the removal of Khrushchev?
- he had introduced outsiders to CC meetings
- his interventions in industry were bad but agriculture even worse
- his reorganisations had damaged the party
What did the party approve off since 1953?
The general line taken since 1953 but wished to introduce greater stability to places and institutions
