Russia ESSAY STYLE QUESTIONS Flashcards
How far did the Civil War enable the Bolsheviks to establish a dictatorship?
(25 marks)
Intro - To an extent, state factors, power consolidation e.g Politburo, Nomenklatura etc.
P1 - Politburo + Nomenklatura
P2 - Gulags
P3 - Social impact of Civil War + USSR formation however, self-determination in other nations (Civil war resources may have stopped this
P4 - Reds’ discipline in the Civil War. + WW1
Conc - Match intro, with additional takes.
‘To what extent did Nicholas II uphold his pledge to maintain the ‘principle of autocracy’ in the years 1894-1914?
(25 marks)
Intro - Upheld to a large extent
P1 - Combating opposition -> Stolypin’s brutal countryside repression + (1895) Nic II rejects Zemstvo’s advisory body petition + (1899) Beseda Symposium est. to discuss matters of liberal interest (fairly moderate opposition) + (1903) Union of Liberation formed| HOWEVER, (1904) SRs kill von Plehve
P2 - 1905 Revolution failure due to peaceful protestors shot in their thousands + Black Hundreds + 1906 Fundamental Laws + 1913 tercentenary
P3 - HOWEVER | civil unrest, strikes + (1912-1914) 3k strikes across all sectors + (1911) Stolypin assassinated by SRs + Loss to Japan may have reduced credibility of ‘principle of autocracy’ + Concessions perhaps witht he Oct Manifesto
Conc - Upheld to a large extent, however, large concessions required, strikes etc + Bleak picture for Russia’s future stability
‘To what extent did standards of living in towns and countryside improve for peasants in the years 1894 to 1917?’
(25 marks)
Intro - To a small extent
P1 - Inadequate facilities or conditions + Workers lived in barrack-like buildings + (1908) 30k peasents died of cholera + Peasents slept in factories of slept rough
P2 - Wage issues and inadequate laws + Inflation outstripped wages + avg. industry wage rose from 245 roubs to JUST 264 roubs monthly (insufficient amount) + (1900-1908) Industrial depression
P3 - HOWEVER | (1897) working hrs reduced to 11 and 1/2 hrs + Better living conditions in northern Caucasus, western Ukraine, Baltics etc (1912) Accident + sickness insurance for workers
Conc - To a small extent + Positives neutralised by ongoing poor living standards
‘Russian society changed little in the years 1894 to 1914’ Assess the validity of this view
(25 marks)
Intro - Rather, it changed significantly
P1 - Opposition levels perhaps proliferated -> (1899) Beseda Symposium est. + (1903) Union of liberation est. + (1904) SR kill von Plehve + (1911) SRs assassinate Stolypin
P2 - Political change -> Dumas, Oct Manifesto, War with Japan, Potemkin Mutiny, Fundamental Laws
P3 - HOWEVER -> peasents and workers still in rife poverty and poor conditions + (1908) 30k peasents died of cholera + Many workers lived in barrack-like buildings + Peasents slept in factories or slept rough + (1900-1908) Peasents and workers hit hardest by industrial depression
Conc - Changed significantly however, continued suffrage of workers and peasents still underlying issue
‘Between 1892 and 1914 the Russian economy was transformed.’ Assess the validity of this view
(25 marks)
Intro - Yes, however, drawbacks
P1 - Industrial transformation -> (1894-1913) Annual growth above 8% + (1892-1903) In Witte’s time railway trackage virtually 2x + (1890-1900) Coal output rose from 183m to 671m + Foreign investment rose, (1/3 by French, 23% by Brits) + (Jan 1897) New rouble strengthend currency + rise in capital
How far did the Civil War enable the Bolsheviks to establish a dictatorship?
(25 marks)
Intro - Enabled them to a large extent, however, other points favour otherwise, and depends in which way
P1 - Politburo + Nomenklatura + (1921) 150K expelled from the Party + Factions banned
P2 - Gulags
P3 - HOWEVER moreso the Social impact of Civil War depleted resources required for potential uprising (so lack of resources allowed dictatorship establishment
P4 - Reds’ discipline in the war allowed dictatorship
Conc - It allowed Bols to est. dictactorship + Due to Politburo, Nomenklatura, Ban on factions -> Eliminating opposition aided dictatorship establishment
‘Opposition to the Tsarist regime achieved nothing in the years 1866-1894.’ Assess the validity of this view
(25 marks)
Intro - Not entirely true
P1 - Populists est. Land and Liberty + Distributed Anti-tsarist literacy + Travelled to peasents to drum up support
P2 - People’s Will and Black Partition assassinated Alex II + (Mar 1881) 8th assassination attempt + HOWEVER, those responsible were executed by Alex III
P3 - Despite Alex III’S Russification -> secret publication of anti-tsarist books continued
P4 - However, Land Captains and Zemstva exercised large power which may have somewhat neutralised opposition to the tsarist regime
Conc - Not entirely true, as opposition groups were impactful
‘There was more continuity than change in Russian society in the years 1855-1894’
(25 marks)
Intro - Not the case
P1 - Alex II’s reforms then counter-reforms stirred up hostility
P2 - Alex III’s Russification
P3 - Opposition groups’ notoriety seemed to unravel + Land and Liberty, Tchaikovsky Circle etc
P4 - HOWEVER, Continuity with tsardom + Tsarist autocracy with Alex III’S ‘Unshakable Manifesto of Autocracy + Alex III abandoned Loris-Melikov proposals
Conc - More change than continuity, however, more continuity than change in other aspects
‘The opposition faced by Khruschev in the years 1953-1964 was far less than that faced by Stalin in the years 1928-1941’
(25 marks)
Intro - Oppositon was far less than that faced by Stalin from 1928-1941
P1 - Crisis of 1932 -> (Old Bolsheviks v Rightist Ryutin) -> They disapproved of Stalin’s policies + Stalin called for their execution but Kirov refused + 1932 Shahkty show trial + (Aug 1936) Kamenev, Zinoviev and 14 others killed in show trial
P2 - Khruschev’s fall from power -> Brezhnev’s phone call to Khrushchev etc
P3 - (Jan 1937) 17 prominent communists put on show trial -> After supposedly confessing -> 13 sentenced to death -> Yezhov accused Bukharin of knowing the conspiracy prior -> Bukharin expelled from party then arrested + (Feb 1940) Yezhov shot + (Jul 1937) Yezhovschchinna
Conc - Opposition far less than that faced by Stalin, however, Stalin’s purgin and repression may have been done when there wasn’t always a genuine threat e.g. High Command purging involved forcing officers to sign false confessions.
‘Attempts to modernise the Soviet economy and raise living standards, in the years 1945 to 1964, were a complete failure. Sddrdd the validity of this view (25 marks)
Intro - Not a complete failure, but a significant failure
P1 - Industrial failures + (By 1953) Growth slowing down + Planning industrial targets more difficult + Heavy armament expenditure + Behind U.S economically (1950s-1964) Economic growth fell from 10% to 7.5% + USSR still using abacuses rahter than cash registers
P2 - However, 7th year plan saw higher living standards + 40-hour working week with higher wages + Housing factories to produce prefabricated sections for new flats + (1955-1956) For per 1k -> No. of cars rose from 2 to 5, radios 66 to 171, TVs 4 to 82 and refrigerators 4 to 40 + (1958) Bachelors’ tax + taxes on childess couples aboblished + (1955-1964) No. of tractors rose from 314k to 804k + Electricty output rose from 170bn kWh to 507bn kWh
P3 - Agricultural failures -> (1946) Worst drought since (1891) + State procured 70% of harvest which kept peasentry poor which would have lowered living standards + agricultural production still behind 1940 lvls + (By 1950) No. of cattle fell from 67m, from 55m in 34m in (1945). + (1945) Harvest produced 60% of pre-war lvls + ‘Agrocities’ under Virgin Lands scheme failed despite early success
Conc - Not complete, but a significant failure, as other successes prevent a complete failure.
