Russia 1894-1945: stalin's USSR Flashcards
How did Stalin become leader of the USSR
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
Why were the Purges created and when did they begin
began in 1914
Purges were created to crush anyone who might oppose Stalin
What occured in the Show trials
Loyal Bolsheviks Kamenev & Zinoviev confessed to being traitors of state
he used threats against families to ensure they complied
How many Communist party members were arrested and where were they sent
500,000 communist party members were arrested and sent to gulags
What occurred in the great terror
25,000 officers in the army were removed
What was a negative about the great terror
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
What was a positive of the great terror for Stalin
Everyone who was left knew that life depended on supporting Stalin
Where were the labour camps (Gulags) located
Located in remote inaccessible regions of the USSR
What was the regime in labour camps
regime- harsh, very hard physical labour in extremely cold conditions
What did prisoners in the labour camps produce
what did they play an important role in
Prisoners produce gold timber and other resources from mines
prisoners played an important role in the building of roads, railways, Belomor Canal
How did Stalin used propaganda and censorship
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)
What happened as a result of Stalin’s use of propaganda
-what was this known as
Average Soviet citizens admirer Stalin
people believe purges had nothing to do with him
- Stalin and his government were popular
- Cult of Personality
Why did Stalin want to modernise USSR
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
What is Stalin’s targets for collectivisation
wanted to modernise USSR’s agriculture
wanted to raise money for the five year plan by selling exports of surplus food abroad
What were the successes of collectivisation
New buildings created due to industrialisation
increase in production of raw materials
increase in workers for industry
What were the failures of collectivisation
30 million peasants died in famine by 1938
-food production fell
How are the five year plan targets set
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
What did the first five year plan focus on and when did it take place
First five year plan 1928-33
Focused on the major industries
What occurred in the first five year plan
whole cities were built from nothing
workers taken out to new industrial centres
huge new steel mills built
dams built for hydroelectricity
What did the second five year plan focus on and when did it take place
1933-37
Focused on building on the achievements of the first five year plan
What occurred in the second five year plan
-heavy industry- still main priority
Mining for led, tin zinc- intensified
transport and communications were boosted (Moscow railway)
What did the third five year plan focus on and when did it take place
1938-41
focused on agriculture
What occurred in the third five year plan
Production of farm machinery increased dramatically
plan was disrupted by World War II
What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:
-KULAKS
kulaks- Suffered badly Stalin chose victims in his modernisation of agriculture
What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:
-INDUSTRIAL WORKER
-Industrial workers- strict targets
were fired if late/absent/didn’t meet their targets
What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:
-WOMEN
-women: Shortage of workers in the first five year plan so many women were employed
What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:
-CITY DWELLERS
City dwellers- by 1930s
many cities improved conditions, education was free
healthcare improved
What were the social and economic consequences for the Russian people:
-PROFESSIONAL WORKERS
Professional workers- managers were to buy items from communist party shops- massive Privilege
What was the significance of Stalin’s war time leadership
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
How did Stalin ensure that he was in a position where no one could possibly challenge him
-like lenin he used terror and force; ‘the purges’ and ‘the Great terror’
When did the Purges beign and how did they begin
- 1934
- when Kirov, leader of Leningrad Communist Party was murdered
- Stalin used the purges to ‘clear’ out his opponents in the party
What did the Great terror consist of
- 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
What happened to victims of Stalin’s Great terror
-sent to labour camps (gulags)
Why did Stalin need to modernise the USSR’s agriculture
- 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
Why did Stalin have to introduce the policy of Collectivisation
- 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
What did the Peasants not like about the policy of Collectivisation
–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
What problems occurred with the kulaks and collectivisation
-they simply refused to hand over their land and produce
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What happened to the Kulaks as a result of refusing to hand over their land and produce
- 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
What did the Kulaks do in revenge to the governments reaction as a result of them not handing over their land
-many kulaks burned their crops and slaughtered their animals so the Communists couldn’t have them
Why did Stalin set up the five year plans
-in order to achieve his plans of modernising russia
What occurred in 1941 to Russia
- Germany launched operation Barbarossa
- 2 million troops invaded Soviet Union
- 1,200 Russian aircraft were destroyed
- Stalin ignored warnings of invasion
Name reasons as to why Stalin and Russia were victorious in WW1
- ‘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
How was Stalin’s leadership important in Industrial production
- 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
How was Stalin’s leadership important in Propaganda
- 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
How was Stalin’s leadership important in Military
- 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
