Stalin Flashcards
Stalin background & name meaning
kicked out while studied to be a priest (violent aggressive)
Bolshevik
Well-liked by Lenin has reputation
“Stalin”- man of steel
Russia before Stalin’s rise
The Great War
Lenin’s sickness
Single State/NEP
What helped Stalin’s rise
Lenin’s death
Open opportunity
Politcal craftiness
2 factions in Party
(who in each)
Leftists and Rightists
Explain Leftists, beliefs and leaders
Main people: Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev
Comintern:
- believe that communism needs to be spread worldwide
- Path forward thru industry
- Abandoned NEP
Explain Rightists, beliefs and leaders
Main people: Tomsky, Bhukarin, Rhykov
- Revolution in one country
Path forward thru agriculture
Stalin’s political craftiness
See Trotsky weakness, use it against him
Side with K&Z, discredit them later on to side with right
Remove NEP, push collectivization
Trotsky strengths & weaknesses
Strengths:
- Good speaker
- Well-liked by Lenin
- Led Red Guard
- Settle Brest-Litovsk treaty
Weaknesses:
- Ill so absent from meetings
- Arrogant, not man of people
- Initially Mensheviks
Gosplan
Created by State Planning Commission to help Russian industrialize and compete with other nations
Building of power plans, steel mills, increase mines
Need to show communism success
5 Years Plan
Stalin’s plan to help Russian grow in industry and agricultural
First Year Plan
Industrialization, increase production of coal, steel, iron
Dekulakization: blame kulaks for decline, remove them, move those rich peasants to city to work for factories
Propaganda to make ppl think they’re modernizing nation
Second Year Plan
Collectivisation: State takes farm away from kulaks, state run the farm w new techs. (called farm Kolkhoz)
Remove NEP
Caused:
- farmers to burn their lands and slaughtered their animals
- resisted were sent to siberia or labour camps
- died from diseased and starvation
- also vandalized church bc of stalin’s hatred towards reiligion
Alexei Stakhonov
a person who was believed to be made up by the Party, said that he worked way more than the normal workers and is suppose to push the Russians to work harder
What’s in Siberia, what’s labour camps
A cold region where prisoners and rebels were sent to work on railroads
Labour camps force ppl to work in industry, but for free
Success 5 Year Plan
USSR became modernize state - survive Great Depression & WW2
Modern state 10 years
New damns, hydroelectric power, coal, steel
Failures 5 Year Plan
Poorly organize, unrealistic goals
Appalling human cost
Living standard horrible, no human rights
Deaths and accidents
The Great Terror
Set of events under Stalin’s reign to remove all oppositions, show his insecurities and fears
NKVD
Stalin’s secret police
What’s Stalin’s fears
- Inner party betrayal
- Revolts
- Older leaders could be threats
The assassination of Sergei Kirov
Nobody knows what truly happened. Claim that Stalin fear him and he ordered the assassination
=> shows the Party power
Show trials
a set of public trials where politicians or members of Party goes up and confess their crimes and thoughts that is “against the Party”
The force behind it was by Stalin so he could execute all whom he is fear of. If they don’t confess their families will be threatened
Women in USSR
- can work because Stalin’s all hands on deck to help push forward industrialization
- still prefer domesticated, more kids more money, praised to have 6 kids or above
- no contraceptives, abortion
Cult of Personality
- build heroic image of Stalin, god-liked figure
- Change history to focus on Stalin
- Censoring bokks and movies
- Religion outlawed, banned
Socialist realism
art where it makes Stalin looks like a trustworthy figure, father like, god like, make him the center of the meaning
