Stalin Flashcards
Stalin ruled from…
1927-53
When were night schools set up?
1933
When was the short course introduced?
1938
What was the short courses full name?
The history of the all union communist party
Features of the short course?
Old Bolsheviks (eg Bukharin) were relegated to minor roles or designated enemies of the people, Stalin was given a more important role in 1917 and presented as lenins chief companion
Who was Pavlik Morozov?
13 year old young pioneer who denounced his father as a kulak in 1932, became a martyr
Beginning of soviet realism?
1932
Who led soviet realism?
Zhdanov
Union of soviet writers set up in…
1932
Example of literature under soviet realism?
How the steel was tempered by ostrovsky
When was the cult of the personality?
1920s-40s
When did the full blown cult of the personality start?
1933-4
Benefits of the cult of the personality?
Held soviet society together after the political and economic circumstances of the mid-1930s
By the end of the 1930s Stalin was seen as…
More detached, superior and god-like and as the equal, or even master, of Lenin - the red tsar
What was the homosovieticus?
The ‘new man’ embodying communist ideals
What were red corners?
Cultural training grounds in every barrack - read, listened to lectures, watched films, discussed political issues
How much of the living space in Magnitogorsk was made up of privately owned huts?
17.5%
How many workers in Magnitogorsk owned library cards?
10,000
How many books had been sold in Magnitogorsk by 1936?
40,000
Subjects taught under Stalin?
Technical subjects along with the spirit of socialism and compulsory Marxism-Leninism courses
Public holidays under Stalin?
Anniversary of the October revolution and a May Day parade
How many women entered the workforce under Stalin?
10 million
In 1935 women workers in Leningrad made up how much of the workforce?
44%
What fraction of women factory workers were there in Leningrad in 1935?
20/328
How many head doctors were women in Leningrad in 1935?
4
What % of doctors in Leningrad were women in 1935?
50-60%
When was the chistka?
1932
What was the chistka?
Purge of the party by withdrawal of party cards
What was the soviet constitution?
Claimed that russia was a model of democracy and social harmony
When was the soviet constitution published?
1936
When was collectivisation?
1927-34
What did collectivisation aim to do?
Increase grain yield to export it to finance industrialisation, replacing peasant society with communism
The collective was a 20th century version of…
Serfdom - a retrograde step which alienated the peasants
What % of livestock was slaughtered by peasants?
50%
Phase one of collectivisation was between…
1927-29
What % of peasant households did the first FYP aim to collectivise?
15%
What was the urals Siberian method?
Encouraged poor and low income peasants to denounce kulaks so they could be arrested and have their grain seized
What % of peasants were on collective or state farms by mid-1929?
Less than 5%
Less than 5% of peasants were on state or collective farms by…
Mid-1929
Phase two of collectivisation was between…
1929-31
What % of the ussr had been collectivised by 1930?
50%
50% of the ussr had been collectivised by…
February 1930
Who were the 25000ers?
Urban party activists, backed by the OGPU and the military, who helped revolutionise the countryside during collectivisation
What did the 25,000ers do?
Persuaded middle and poor peasants to sign a register demanding collectivisation, took land/animals/tools/buildings from the kulaks to use as a basis for new collective farms, carried out dekulakisation
Decree allowing local party organisations to use ‘necessary measures’ against kulaks?
1930
1930 decree against kulaks?
Allowed local party organisations to use ‘necessary measures’ against kulaks (deportation, labour camps etc)
How many had been deported to Siberia or labour camps by the end of collectivisation?
10 million
Propaganda campaigns during collectivisation…
Extolled the advantages of collective farms and inflamed class hatred to persuade peasants to inform on each other
Phase three of collectivisation was between…
1931-34
How many tonnes of grain had been collectivised by the end of 1931?
22.8 million tons
22.8 million tons of grain had been collectivised by…
The end of 1931
Why was there a drop in grain production in phase 3 of collectivisation?
Upheaval, activists lack of knowledge and skill, lack of animals, lack of tractors etc.
Drought over large areas of the ussr?
1931
Famines under Stalin?
1932 famine, followed by a brief respite until the 1932-4 famine
How many tons of grain were exports to other countries in 1932?
173 million tons
173 million tons of grain were exported to other countries in…
1932
When was the law of the seventh eights?
1932
What was the law of the seventh eights?
10 year sentence for stealing socialised property (eg corn) which later changed to the death sentence
What stopped peasants from escaping famine hit areas under Stalin?
Peasant passports
What was the great turn?
Stalin abandoned the NEP in favour it the FYPs in 1928
Workers under the FYPs were pressured because of…
Unrealistic targets, increased labour norms, unbalanced books, bad wages, labour shortages, shortage of raw materials, competition from military spending, fall in foreign trade etc.
By 1936 the number of new workers coming into industry had…
Declined by 2/3
Works norms - ‘Russia must…
Advance 100 years in 10’
Stalin replaced bourgeois specialists with..
Red specialists
When were night schools and libraries set up?
1933
Example of wage differentials?
In 1933 in Magnitogorsk an unskilled workers got 100 roubles while a skilled one got 300
Increase in electric power 1913-40?
25x increase
25x increase in electric output between…
1913-40
Increase in pig iron under FYPs?
Tripled
Increase in coal production under FYPs?
5x
During the FYPs vodka production sunk by…
2/3
First FYP was between…
1928-1932
Second FYP was between…
1933-37
Third FYP was between…
1938-41
Years of the FYPs?
1st: 1928-32
2nd: 1933-37
3rd: 1938-41
The first FYP put an emphasis on…
Heavy industries, eg coal, iron, oil, steel, electricity
Heavy industries accounted for what % of investment in the first FYP?
80%
How many enterprises opened in the first FYP?
1500
How did the first FYP meet the needs of mechanised agriculture?
Huge new tractor works in Stalingrad, Kharkov and other places
Increase in electricity production under the first FYP?
Trebled
Increase in coal and iron output under the first FYP?
Doubled
Increase in steel production under the first FYP?
1/3
What happened to consumer industries under the FYP?
Very little growth and even decline
Example of a target not fulfilled under the first FYP?
Chemical targets
Impact of collectivisation on the first FYP?
A good deal of money had to go into collectivisation, which meant not as much could be invested in the FYPs
What did the second FYP put greater emphasis on?
Communications, especially railways to link cities and industrial centres
How many enterprises opened under the second FYP?
4,500
Magnitogorsk output in 1936?
15,000 iron ore, 4,000 pig iron, 2,500 steel
The ussr was virtually self sufficient in machine making and metal working by…
1937
What industries grew under the second FYP?
Electricity, transport and communications, chemical, metallurgy
When were the three good years?
1934-6
What were the three good years?
Pressure wasn’t so intense, food rationing ended, more disposable income
What didn’t progress as much in the second FYP?
Oil production and consumer goods
Why was the third FYP cut sort?
WW2
What was there an unplanned spending increase on in 1936?
The armed forces
What was emphasised in the third FYP?
Heavy industry as the need for armaments became increasingly urgent
Armed forces spending in 1931, 36 and 40?
1931: 3.4%
1936: 16.1%
1940: 32.5%
32.5% spending on the armed forces in…
1940
What impact did the purges have on the third FYP?
Created a shortage of qualified personnel to link industries and government
What industries didn’t succeed in the third FYP?
Oil, steel, consumer industries, raw materials
What was the quicksand society?
The FYPs created a transient society where individuals could sell their labour for higher pay and move around, so Stalin had no control over them
What % of workers were peasants after the first FYP?
50%
In 1930 the average worker in the coal industry moved about how many times a year?
3
How many arrived and left Magnitogorsk 1930-33?
265,000 arrived and 293,000 left
How many workers arrived and left Magnitogorsk in 1933?
53,000 arrived with the same number leaving
Beginning of Stakhanovite movement?
Stakhanovs record breaking pneumatic pick shift in 1935
How was stakhanov rewarded?
200 roubles instead of the usual 30, a bonus equal to a months wages and a new apartment
In November 1935 Stalin called for stakhanovism to…
Spread ‘widely and deeply’ across the entire Soviet Union
Consequence of stakhanovism on managers?
Now had quotas from above and demand from Stakhanovites below
When was the holodomor?
1932-4
How many killed in the holodomor?
7.5 million
How was the holodomor a man made famine?
Rejection of outside aid, confiscation of all household foodstuffs, restriction of population movement
When was the doctors plot?
1952-3
What was the doctors plot?
Stalin accused 9 doctors, 6 of them Jews, of plotting to poison and kill him and other soviet leaders - had intended to organise pogroms all over the country resulting in the Jews begging to be sent to Siberia
How many cases were condemned by the OGPU troikas in 1937?
688,000 cases
688,000 cases were confirmed by the OGPU troikas in…
1937
What did the December decree do?
Legalise the murder of anti soviet elements
When was the December decree?
1934
When was the great purge?
1934-39
When was Kirov assassinated?
1934
Reaction to kirovs assassination?
Nikolaev executed along with 13 alleged accomplices and 103 others who had no apparent connection
How many delegates to the party congress of 1934 were arrested during the purge?
1108/1966
How many members of the central committee were arrested during the purge?
98/139
When was the yezhovshchina?
1937-8
What was the yezhovchina?
Most intense period of the purges and the peak of Stalinist terror
How many people did the NKVD kill over 18 months in the yezhovshchina?
47,000 over 18 months
What % of NKVD victims were men?
95%
What % of the population were non Russian and what % of the victims did they make up?
18% of the population but 37% of the victims
Number of ethnic poles halved between…
1926-37
Between 1926-37 the number of ethnic poles…
Halved
Amount of ethnic poles arrested and % shot?
Virtually all were arrested and 75% of these shot
What % of the victims of the yezhovshchina were manual workers and peasants?
24-28%
What % of the victims of the yezhovshchina were professional workers?
12%
What did article 58 of the soviet criminal code cover?
Counter-revolution
What article of the soviet criminal code covered counter revolution?
Article 58
How many members of the NKVD perished in the yezhovshchina?
23,000
What % of red army officers had been purged by 1938?
80%
80% of red army officers had been purged by…
1938
Example of denouncement in the yezhovshchina?
In Odessa one single communist denounced 230 people
When was order 00447?
1937
What was 00447 otherwise known as?
Document 194
Original targets agreed by Stalin and ezhov in 00447?
200,000 arrests and 73,000 executions
By how much was 00447 exceeded?
9x
Who was ezhov?
Head of the NKVD 1936-7 and commisar for state security 1937-8
When was the first show trial?
1936
What happened at the first show trial?
Zinoviev and Kamenev accused of being in league with Trotsky, responsible for murder, stirring up discontent etc. and attempts were made to get them to implicate other party members - found guilty and shot
When was the second show trial?
1937
What happened at the second show trial?
Trial of pyatakov, radek and sokolnikov - former was shot while others sentenced to 10 years imprisonment
When was the ryutin platform written?
1932
What did the ryutin platform call for?
A ‘fresh start’ - end to forced collectivisation, slowing down of industrialisation, reinstatement of previously expelled party members
When was the ryutin affair?
1934
What happened during the ryutin affair?
Him and his supporters were arrested and expelled by the politburo, though Stalin had ordered their execution - triggered the chistka
When was the great patriotic war?
1941-5
Differences between Stalin and nick II in the war effort?
Stalin devolved responsibility
When was operation Barbarossa?
1941
What was operation Barbarossa?
Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union - within 3 weeks russia had lost 2 million men, 3,500 tanks and 6,000 aircraft
Who was vassily Zaitsev?
Killed 225 German soldiers and officers - became a national hero and began the sniper movement which killed 3,000+ soldiers
When was operation Uranus?
1942-3
When was the battle of Kursk?
1943
Russian counter-attack at Kursk…
Destroyed 40% of German tanks (2,900) in 3 days
Casualties in WW2?
27 million
What happened to returning soldiers and POWs after WW2?
Carefully screened and arrested, deported or repatriated - terror against the army
How many men and women were sent to labour camps post-1945?
12 million
Example of living standards under Stalin?
In Moscow, only 6% of households had more than one room
What did Stalin to do women’s rights?
Restrictions on divorce and abortions
During Stalins rule churches…
Suffered less persecution and enjoyed something of a revival
