Russia 1914-39 Flashcards
Effects of the civil war
Damage land, roads,property, rail and telegraph lines
Civilian casualties
Skilled workers and professionals left to live somewhere safer
New constitution
A new government was made on the 10th July 1918 that elected regional representatives and a congress
All land and businesses belonged to the state.
Free speech and press
Education and medical care
What was war communism
May 1918 brought the economy under government control.
Ending the market for food- peasants could not sell food
Control of industry- strikes were banned
Control of banks and money and prices
Cutting back on people’s rights
What was the NEP
New economic policy 1921 a result of the Kronstadt mutiny
Money was reintroduced
State stopped taking crops from the peasants
Factories of under 20 workers could be privately owned to make a profit
Experts were brought in to run the factories
Anyone could open a shop
Did the NEP work?
Agricultural production went up
Factory production went up. 90% were working, recovery was slow
Using money for wages helped trade and the economy
When did Lenin die
21 January 1924 Petrograd was renamed Leningrad and his body was on display in the city
Who comes after Lenin
In a political testament Lenin said that the whole politburo should run the party with Trotsky or Stalin in charge. There were seven members in the politburo who competed for power.
How did Stalin become the leader of the USSR
He made it as though he was Lenins favourite
He put his supporters into important jobs
Stalin got rid of opposition by not letting other members read the testament
He made sure that Trotsky missed Lenins funeral
How did Stalin maintain his control
By using propaganda Censorship And punishing opposition Using the OGPU Organised fake trails were the verdict was already decided Prison camps Arrest people and create fear
What were the purges
1934 he exiled prisoners to the gulag If there was a factory failure sabotage was suspected 1936-38 was the great terror 1 million people killed 7 million people in prison
What was a show trial
A trail that had a already determined verdict
Ordinary people did not know how unfair they were
Accused confessed
Made them more likely to unite with Stalin
They scared people
What is propaganda and how was it used
Giving information to make people behave or think a certain way Used to: turn people against his enemies To get people to accept his decisions To get people to put up with hardships To work people harder To build up the 'cult of Stalin' Textbooks had to be approved Teachers were purged
What was the cult of Stalin
People carried photos of Stalin everyday
Articles were written to show how his reforms were working
Articles written about how much they love him
People wrote to Stalin for help and he gave it
How did Stalin use censorship
Created an official culture that was part of the propaganda system by controlling what went into the media
What was the official culture of Stalin
A culture available to everyone
Killing off intellectuals
Made sure no-one was smart enough to revolt against him
What was collectivisation
Meant uniting all farms into big Kolkhozy, collective farms, the state encouraged peasants to set up Sovkozy, large state farms, making fields bigger and using more efficient machinery.
What was industrialisation
Industry had collapsed during the civil war
Got specialists to rebuild industry
Workers were not trained
Working conditions-fumes from the factories extremely dangerous- sick on site- hired more unskilled workers once sick workers took a day off. No time to learn new methods
Collectivisation pros and cons
Pros: new machinery, 90% of farmland was collectivised, production improved, MT stations worked well, made control of food easier, industry grew.
Cons: peasants objected, famine 1932-33, 3 million people starved, damaged machinery, lack of co-operation
What was Stalins reaction to resistance of collectivisation
He sent officials to search for hidden crops
He sent in the army
He purged the kulaks, pre-revolutionaries, and arrested them and their families
1932 onwards peasants who did not join a collective purged
What were the five year plans
1928-32 set targets for production not met until the late 40s
1933-37 it began early same production plan but set targets for tractors and railways
1938-41 included luxury items such as radios and bikes
Who was Stakhanov
He was a coal mine who was famous during the second plan
He past his targets and this was published so other workers would follow his example
Those who past their targets were rewarded
Workers set up the Stakhanovite movement and held competitions to reach their targets
Achievement and problems of the five year plans
Good:unemployment dropped, higher standard of living, repealed German invasion,paved roads, more schools and hospitals, 1929 26 million people lived in cities it was in 1939 56 million lived in cities.
Bad: high productivity was rewarded but it was not good quality,shortages of materials and goods,workers not properly trained, factories had few safety features, factory chimneys poured out dangerous fumes,tractors had a 70 hours of operation.
Inequality in the Soviet Union
Party members had better standard of living
Stalin used ethnic minorities to gain popularity with those groups even though he was making everyone learn Russian
All religion was scorned and there was only 500 churches in Russia
1940 over 13 million women worked in all types of industry
They got equal education, pay voting rights
Why did the Bolsheviks win the civil war
War communism supplied the red army efficiently
The Cheka made resistance difficult
Trotsky was a good leader he gave out luxurious items and made speeches
The whites only had one shared aim and had to enlist peasants
