Russia Glossary Flashcards
Abdicate
Give up political power (usually by the ruler of a country). Tsar Nicholas II abdicated in February 1917
5 year-plans
Ambitious plans to modernise the USSR in terms of industry and agriculture
Agricultural production
Crops and animals grown and raise by farmers.
April Theses
Lenin’s successful propaganda campaign of: “Peace, Land, Bread and all power to the soviets”
Autocract
The Tsar was an Autocrat with absolute power.
Autocracy
Rule by one person who has complete power.
Bolshevik party
The opposition party led by Lenin that took power in October 1917
Bourgeois
To do with the middle classes (for example doctors, teachers). Used as an insult by communists who favour the working classes.
Bukharin
A key member of the politburo and Lenin’s favourite. Bukharin was tricked by Stalin into supporting the NEP and then removed from power in 1929.
Bureaucracy
Groups of officials who carry out government orders and run the country.
Capital punishment
Punishing crime by executing the criminal.
Capitalist
A person who owns land or factories and makes their money not by working but by selling what workers on the land or in the factories produce.
Censorship
Telling the media what they can or cannot print or say. Stalin used censorship extensively as a method to extend his power and influence.
Cheka
The Bolshevik secret police until 1922, who had special powers to arrest and imprison without trial.
Civil war
War between groups of people in the same country. The ’Whites’ fought the ‘Reds’, 1918-21.
Collective
Where everyone who works lives in one place follows a set of rules drawn up by the group.
Collectivisation
Stalin’s agricultural policy to increase food production and bring agricultural (farming) under state control.
Commander-in-chief
The leader in charge of the Russian army.
Communes
Groups that run themselves.
Communism
A system where everyone is equal, the state owns everything and provides everything that people need.
Conscripted
Forced to join the armed services.
Constituent Assembly
The govt set up by the Provisional Govt after the February Revolution of 1917, and elected under Bolshevik Rule after the October Revolution of 1917.
Constitution (1936)
This was an attempt by Stalin to signal to Britain and America that the USSR would be a useful ally in the upcoming war against Hitler. The 1936 Constitution attempted to make the USSR look democratic.
Council of People’s Commissars (CPC)
The group that ran the early Bolshevik Government.
Counter-revolution
A revolution to overturn a recent revolution (either to replace the system the first revolution overthrew or to replace it with a third system).
Coup d’etat
Violently overthrowing a government.
Cult of Stalin
See Cult of the personality
Cult of the personality
This propaganda in posters, books and films showing Stalin as a man of the revolution, a father figure, and a leader created adulation and extended his power.
Evidence
Specific information used to support an exam answer: Dates, names, examples.
Explain
Show how the evidence links to the key words from the exam question - use these words in this part of the paragraph.
February Revolution
A spontaneous show of anger in Russia which took place in February 1917 and that led to the abdication of the Tsar in March 1917
First World War
A global conflict from 1914 to 1918. Russia left the war in 1917.
FMOK
From my own knowledge - a phrase used in utility question answers to show that you are accessing specific evidence that is NOT in the sources to evaluate the usefulness of the contents for the enquiry.
Forced famine
When food is removed from a geographic area, resulting in the famine and death of many people. For example, the Holodomor in Ukraine from 1932-33.
Gosplan
The State Planning Committee that ran the Five-Year Plans.
Gulag
A prison built in Stalin’s USSR which was full of opponents of Stalin, or Kulaks, who were used as slave labour during the 5 year plans.
Historians view
The interpretation of an event by a Historian.
Holodomor
The ‘forced famine’ 1932 – 33 where 3-4 million people died, especially in the Ukraine, due to collectivisation.
Industrialisation
The process of forced, managed and rapid industrialisation during Stalin’s USSR. The 5 year plans set high targets for industry to meet.
Infer
Read between the lines of a source - make an educated guess based on details in the source.