Russia: 1953 - 1985 Flashcards
What did Khrushchev deliver when he first came into power?
His secret Speech
What did Khrushchev say in his secret speech?
He denounced the cult of the individual but tried to reach his own cult of personality, but it was not as powerful and large as Stalin’s.
What did Brezhnev use the Cult of Personality for?
He used it to gain popularity, rather than securing power
What did Khrushchev bring in to the USSR in 1958?
A new criminal code
What 2 things did Khrushchev remove from the USSR while in power?
Gulag camps and forced labour
What did Khrushchev do to the Secret Police?
Reformed the Secret police and it was brought under party control, so it was answerable to the KGB
What was Khrushchev’s view on intellectuals and artists?
He wanted to let intellects and artists express themselves more freely.
What did Khrushchev allow banned works to do?
Banned works are now publicised.
What was Brezhnev’s view on intellectuals and artists?
The acceptable boundaries were narrowed, writers got in trouble for writing about sex.
What did Khrushchev do to banned works and political prisoners?
Khrushchev unbanned banned literature, freed political prisoners, established the KGB
What did Brezhnev do in terms of peoples freedoms
Brezhnev limited religious freedoms and freedom of speech, mass printed a book of his speeches.
How many TV’s were in Russia in 1950, and what was this figure in 1958?
By 1950, 10,000 TV sets in USSR - this rose 3M in 1958
What were Khrushchev’s Anti-Religion campaigns?
22,000 churches in 1959, became 7,873 in 1965
Restricted what parents can teach children and banned children at church services
New Moral code introduced in 1961, replaced the Bible
What was the Youth Group, who introduced it, and when?
Komsomol was founded in 1918 by Lenin
What was the Virgin Lands Scheme?
Encouraged youth to farm the plains of Siberia, Kazakhstan, the Volga region and the Caucuses
When was the Virgin Lands Scheme introduced?
1954
How many Komsomol members cultivated the land in 1954?
300,000 Komsomol members travelled to the remotest parts of the Soviet Union and cultivated the land.
From 1954-1960, how massively did the area of land that was being farmed expand?
By 46 million hectares
What were 2 drawbacks of the Virgin Lands Scheme?
The soil nutrients in Siberia and Kazakhstan were unsuitable and quickly exhausted.
There was massive overcrowding in villages as Komsomol activists had nowhere to stay, the government did not cater to them.
What happened with Khrushchev and grain numbers in 1964?
Grain output increased and in 1964 it shot up to 152.1 million tonnes, ironically in the same year that Khrushchev was deposed.
What did Brezhnev do to living standards when in power?
From 1964-1973 the economy of the USSR grew and there was a gradual improvement of living standards, but it wasn’t as good as the USA and Europe
Why couldn’t lazy or bad workers be fired?
There was 100% employment
Why was there little money to be spent?
Most of the spending was poured into the Military
Why did the Virgin Lands Scheme make the USSR look weak?
The VLS failed and the USSR had to import grain from elsewhere, like the USA
