Russia 1894-1945: stalin's USSR Flashcards

1
Q

How did Stalin become leader of the USSR

A

Lenin died

Lenin left a testament stating Trotsky should be a leader not Stalin - Stalin insured Lenin’s Testament was not made public

Stalin told Trotsky wrong date for Lenin’s funeral

Stalin appeared as chief mourner and Lennon’s closest follower at the funeral

Russians lost faith in Trotsky for not attending the funeral

Stalin sided with Zinoviev and Kamenev to push out Trotsky then Bukharin to push out Zinoviev and Kamenev

  • Trotsky also was seen as an arrogant man who frightened many people in the USSR
  • Stalins policies also met with greater favour than Trotskys
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2
Q

Why were the Purges created and when did they begin

A

began in 1914

Purges were created to crush anyone who might oppose Stalin

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3
Q

What occured in the Show trials

A

Loyal Bolsheviks Kamenev & Zinoviev confessed to being traitors of state

he used threats against families to ensure they complied

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4
Q

How many Communist party members were arrested and where were they sent

A

500,000 communist party members were arrested and sent to gulags

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5
Q

What occurred in the great terror

A

25,000 officers in the army were removed

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6
Q

What was a negative about the great terror

A

It affected the USSR badly when Germany attacked in 1941

Every family lost someone in the purges uni lecturers ministers teachers disappeared

unpredictability- arrest was occur at night and victims rarely told what they were accused of

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7
Q

What was a positive of the great terror for Stalin

A

Everyone who was left knew that life depended on supporting Stalin

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8
Q

Where were the labour camps (Gulags) located

A

Located in remote inaccessible regions of the USSR

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9
Q

What was the regime in labour camps

A

regime- harsh, very hard physical labour in extremely cold conditions

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10
Q

What did prisoners in the labour camps produce

what did they play an important role in

A

Prisoners produce gold timber and other resources from mines

prisoners played an important role in the building of roads, railways, Belomor Canal

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11
Q

How did Stalin used propaganda and censorship

A

propaganda- soviet people were deluged with portraits,photos and statues of Stalin

Writers and musicians created items that praised Stalin

cult of personality- every town had a Stalin square/ avenue

education changed to make Stalins role in history more important

censorship- All music and arts were carefully monitored by the NKVD (secret police)

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12
Q

What happened as a result of Stalin’s use of propaganda

-what was this known as

A

Average Soviet citizens admirer Stalin

people believe purges had nothing to do with him

  • Stalin and his government were popular
  • Cult of Personality
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13
Q

Why did Stalin want to modernise USSR

A

To increase USSR’s military
strength- needed to have weaponry needed to win

to rival capitalist economies- wanted to make USSR make everything it needed for itself

to establish his reputation- wanted to prove himself by greatly changing Russia

to create a communist society- most Russians needed to work for Russia to become communist

to increase food supplies

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14
Q

What is Stalin’s targets for collectivisation

A

wanted to modernise USSR’s agriculture

wanted to raise money for the five year plan by selling exports of surplus food abroad

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15
Q

What were the successes of collectivisation

A

New buildings created due to industrialisation

increase in production of raw materials

increase in workers for industry

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16
Q

What were the failures of collectivisation

A

30 million peasants died in famine by 1938

-food production fell

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17
Q

How are the five year plan targets set

A

GOSPLAN set overall targets for an industry

each region was told its targets

region set targets for each factory, mine

manager for each factory set individual targets for workers

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18
Q

What did the first five year plan focus on and when did it take place

A

First five year plan 1928-33

Focused on the major industries

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19
Q

What occurred in the first five year plan

A

whole cities were built from nothing

workers taken out to new industrial centres

huge new steel mills built

dams built for hydroelectricity

20
Q

What did the second five year plan focus on and when did it take place

A

1933-37

Focused on building on the achievements of the first five year plan

21
Q

What occurred in the second five year plan

A

-heavy industry- still main priority

Mining for led, tin zinc- intensified

transport and communications were boosted (Moscow railway)

22
Q

What did the third five year plan focus on and when did it take place

A

1938-41

focused on agriculture

23
Q

What occurred in the third five year plan

A

Production of farm machinery increased dramatically

plan was disrupted by World War II

24
Q

What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:

-KULAKS

A

kulaks- Suffered badly Stalin chose victims in his modernisation of agriculture

25
Q

What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:

-INDUSTRIAL WORKER

A

-Industrial workers- strict targets

were fired if late/absent/didn’t meet their targets

26
Q

What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:

-WOMEN

A

-women: Shortage of workers in the first five year plan so many women were employed

27
Q

What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:

-CITY DWELLERS

A

City dwellers- by 1930s

many cities improved conditions, education was free
healthcare improved

28
Q

What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:

-PROFESSIONAL WORKERS

A

Professional workers- managers were to buy items from communist party shops- massive Privilege

29
Q

What was the significance of Stalin’s war time leadership

A

Stalin move factories to the Ural Mountains

produced more weapons than Germany throughout the war

Created overall military strategy

1944 industrial output managed to recover the levels of 1940

propaganda

inspirational leadership

30
Q

How did Stalin ensure that he was in a position where no one could possibly challenge him

A

-like lenin he used terror and force; ‘the purges’ and ‘the Great terror’

31
Q

When did the Purges beign and how did they begin

A
  • 1934
  • when Kirov, leader of Leningrad Communist Party was murdered
  • Stalin used the purges to ‘clear’ out his opponents in the party
32
Q

What did the Great terror consist of

A
  • arrests in middle of night
  • victims rarely told what they are accused of
  • days of physical and psychological torture would break the victims and they would confess to anything
  • if torture failed NKVD would threaten the victims families
33
Q

What happened to victims of Stalin’s Great terror

A

-sent to labour camps (gulags)

34
Q

Why did Stalin need to modernise the USSR’s agriculture

A
  • in order for the five-year plans to be successful

- Russia was 2 million tons short of the grain it needed to feed its workers

35
Q

Why did Stalin have to introduce the policy of Collectivisation

A
  • as under the NEP kulaks farms were too small to make efficient use of tractors, fertilisers
  • also most peasants had enough to eat and so didn’t see the point in increasing production to feed the tows
  • to solve these problems- Stalin came up with the idea of collectivisation
36
Q

What did the Peasants not like about the policy of Collectivisation

A

–disliked how farms would be under the control of the local Communist leader

-they were being asked to grow crops such as flax and for Russia’s industry rather than grain to feed themseleves

37
Q

What problems occurred with the kulaks and collectivisation

A

-they simply refused to hand over their land and produce

-

38
Q

What happened to the Kulaks as a result of refusing to hand over their land and produce

A
  • Requisition parties took the food required by the government leaving the peasants to starve.
  • Kulaks- arrested
  • Kulaks were sent to labour camps/ poor-quality land
39
Q

What did the Kulaks do in revenge to the governments reaction as a result of them not handing over their land

A

-many kulaks burned their crops and slaughtered their animals so the Communists couldn’t have them

40
Q

Why did Stalin set up the five year plans

A

-in order to achieve his plans of modernising russia

41
Q

What occurred in 1941 to Russia

A
  • Germany launched operation Barbarossa
  • 2 million troops invaded Soviet Union
  • 1,200 Russian aircraft were destroyed
  • Stalin ignored warnings of invasion
42
Q

Name reasons as to why Stalin and Russia were victorious in WW1

A
  • ‘scorched earth’ policy was enacted as Russians retreated- this strategy involved destroying resources useful to the enemy
  • freezing Russian winters gave thousands of German soldiers frostbite
  • Hitler made tactical errors
43
Q

How was Stalin’s leadership important in Industrial production

A
  • the five-year plans meant Russia could produce the resources required to win the war
  • USSR produced twice twice as many machine guns and rifles as Germany
  • evacuation of Soviet industry saw 1,500 factories dismantled and rebuilt out of reach of the German armies
44
Q

How was Stalin’s leadership important in Propaganda

A
  • war was called the ‘Great Patriotic War’ and patriotic slogans such as ‘Holy Mother Russia’ instead of communist slogans were used to rally support
  • national anthem was changed so it was patriotic rather than a socialist anthem
  • propaganda showed Nazis as evil and the atrocities they committed during the invasion backed this up
45
Q

How was Stalin’s leadership important in Military

A
  • Stalin allowed military commanders such as Zhukov to use their expertise- hitler didn’t do this
  • order 227 ‘not a step back’ didn’t allow soldiers in soviet army to retreat