Russia Key Issue 3

Question 1

Why did Stalin win the leadership contest?

Answer 1

Father= shoemaker and alcoholic
Socialism in one country
Trotsky underestimated him: ‘the most imminent mediocrity’
Snaked Trotsky about Lenin’s funeral
Doctored photos to appear close to Lenin
He built his power base by putting enemies in small jobs

Question 2

What was the purges?

Answer 2

Began 1934
Loyal Bolsheviks like Bukharin killed in 1938 as they confessed to treason.
500,000 party members arrested
Trotsky killed in Mexico in 1940

Question 3

What was the great terror?

Answer 3

Where any threat was removed by Stalin.
Number of victims peaked in 1937, where there were 18m in the gulags. 10m died.
1 in 5 officers removed, even supreme commander of the RA

Question 4

How did Stalin use propaganda and censorship?

Answer 4

Used it everywhere to become part of people’s lives
Religion banned in 1939 with only 7 bishops
New style of art called socialist realism aimed to praise Stalin
School kids brainwashed in curriculum

Question 5

What was the cult of personality?

Answer 5

Most citizens liked and trusted Stalin.

this faith was built up by propaganda

Question 6

Why did Stalin want to modernise Russia?

Answer 6

Increase military strength.
Rival capitalist countries 
Increase food for army and proletariats.
Wanted to sell grain to buy equipment
Establish his reputation

Question 7

Why did Stalin collectivise?

Answer 7

Under the NEP most farms were too small for new modern methods.

Peasants had enough food so there was no point producing more to feed towns

Question 8

Attitudes to collectivisation

Answer 8

To make collectivisation more appealing, government offered free seed and other perks.

Peasants were always suspicious based on their experiences with Lenin so they were suspicious about the speed of collectivisation

Most peasants didn’t like collectivisation because Stalin was asking them to abandon a way of life

Question 9

How did collectivisation affect kulaks?

Answer 9

Kulaks refused to collectivise so Stalin turned people away from them using propaganda. Soon turned violent.

Kulaks were sent to the gulags so they burnt their crops in revenge. This led to famine

Question 10

Negatives of collectivisation

Answer 10

Famine in 1932 to 33
Millions died in the richer areas like Ukraine
By 1934: no kulaks
Germans invaded and were welcomed in Ukraine in 1941
Almost all lands collectivised by 1941
Despite so many negatives Stalin continued

Question 11

what is GOS plan?

Answer 11

state planning organisation setup by lenin

in 1921 they set up ambitious targets for industry

Question 12

what where the dates of the 3 5 year plans?

Answer 12

1. 1928
2. 1933
3. 1938

Question 13

what was the focus of the 1st 5 year plan?

1928-32

Answer 13

focus: industry

factories built from nothing because all resources were in serbia

new dams, steel mills and hydroelectricity

experts went to uzbekistan and created industry from scratch

Question 14

what was the focus of the 2nd 5 year plan?

1933-37

Answer 14

Industry and other areas:

development in mining zinc and lead
Siberian resources exploited
moscow railway also built

Question 15

what was the focus of the 3rd 5 year plan 1938-43?

Answer 15

focus: agriculture and consumer goods

not completed because of ww2

Question 16

what were the positives of the 5 year plans?

Answer 16

• fertilisers 3x in 1940
• plastics 0-11million tonnes by 1940
• 1.3k-31.6k tractors
• saved ussr from defeat in ww2

Question 17

what were the negatives of the 5yp?

Answer 17

• huge human cost
• 1000s dead
• starvation/ accidents
• almost no targets met

Question 18

when is the nazi- soviet non aggression pact agreed?

Answer 18

1939

Question 19

when did germany and the ussr conquer poland?

Answer 19

1939

Question 20

what was the scorched earth policy?

Answer 20

stalin ordered this policy in 1941

• over 1000 factories were dismantled and relocated
• animals and and crops moved, if could not be moved then destroyed
• all so that land could be useless to the germans

Question 21

what was the situation like for germans in russia in the winter of 1941?

Answer 21

• hitler expected a quick victory
• was surprised by relentless russian winter
• in the cold of November many german soldiers died and their vehicles ceased to work

Question 22

what was the situation like in the summer of 1942?

Answer 22

• Germans conquered huge areas of western russia, but failed to take leningrad
• hitler concentrated his attacks on stalingrad which was a potent symbol of stalins power

Question 23

when did the germans surrender?

Answer 23

• feb 1943
  fighting between 1942-3 was fierce
  in the end germans failed to take leningrad, moscow and stalingrad

Question 24

what did the Red Army do in 1945?

Answer 24

• red army counteroffensive: 1.3 million soldiers and 3000 tanks liberate german occupied land
• RA captured berlin in 1945
• stalin used propaganda and speeches
• stalin argued sacrifices of the 5yp were essential to beat hitler

Question 25

what were social and economic problems of ww2?

Answer 25

• 27milion died
• 6 million horses dead
• much of stalingrad destroyed
• 6M houses damaged
• 2000 towns destroyed
• 100,000 collective farms destroyed

Question 26

what were political problems of stalin ww2 leadership?

Answer 26

• destruction of stalingrad could be seen as destruction of stalins power
• some nationalities suffered more than others as a result of Stalins leadership e.g. west Ukraine had nazi sympathisers