Stalin

Question 1

Who were Stalin’s rivals in the leadership of the party?

Answer 1

Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin

Question 2

What prompted the move towards mass collectivisation?

Answer 2

famine in 1927-8

Question 3

Methods of dekulakisation

Answer 3

Komsomols and plenipotentiaries visited kulaks, houses were stripped and they were sent to concentration camps or shot. 30,000 kulaks were shot

Question 4

Response to mass collectivisation by peasants

Answer 4

Wide spread opposition- migration

Question 5

Failure of mass collectivisation

Answer 5

famine 1932-4

Question 6

Failures of the Five-year-plans

Answer 6

consumer industries neglected= discontent. Production rose but not to meet the over-ambitious targets

Question 7

What event halted the progress of the five-year-plans?

Answer 7

Second World War

Question 8

Example of the success of the five-year-plans

Answer 8

pre-war production levels reached within only 3 years. Coal increased from 64.3-128m tonnes

Question 9

How many people were sent to gulags under Stalin?

Answer 9

40 million

Question 10

When were the great purges? Who was purged?

Answer 10

1934-9. Political opponents, the army, purge of the people, the NKVD

Question 11

the social impact of the Second World War

Answer 11

27 million people killed, 2/3 civilians from the siege of Leningrad and Battle of Stalingrad

Question 12

the economic impact of the Second World War

Answer 12

physical damage by shells and ‘scorched earth’ tactic, factories were relocated to the East- not best areas for organisation,

Question 13

failures of Stalin’s post-war economic strategy

Answer 13

agriculture suffered through neglect- famine in 1947, failure in continuing to invest in grand schemes that had little economic return

Question 14

What was comniform and why was it introduced?

Answer 14

response to the ideological war with the US- grouped all communist states together v Capitalism

Question 15

Stalin and the Jews

Answer 15

the Jewish Doctors’ plot= campaign of antisemitism launched. 15 Jewish leaders tried and executed

Question 16

Example of a Stalin propaganda slogan

Answer 16

‘the greatest genius of humanity’

Question 17

names of propaganda newspapers

Answer 17

Pravada, Zvestiya

Question 18

Stalin and schools

Answer 18

10 years compulsory education, state-prescribed textbooks, 1926-1939 literacy rate was up from 51% to 88%

Question 19

Stalin and religion

Answer 19

the organised attack on religion under Lenin was renewed, priests publicly humiliated by having to carry out demeaning tasks, during the Great Terror 800 higher clergy and 4000 priests were imprisoned. During wartime, orthodox liturgy used to provide spiritual and emotion uplift

Question 20

cause of holodomor

Answer 20

Stalin wanted to starve Ukrainians into agreeing to collective farms

Question 21

how many Ukranians died in holodomor?

Answer 21

7 million

Question 22

Collective farms

Answer 22

Kolkhozy and sovkhozy

Question 23

The Stalin Constitution and nationalities

Answer 23

supposedly allowed greater representation. In theory gave the right of members to secede from the union

Question 24

Stalin and Poland

Answer 24

Potsdam agreed a Communist Polish government would be introduced. 1952 Poland officially renamed the People’s Republic of Poland

Question 25

Working conditions

Answer 25

unattainable targets through GOSPLAN and up to 15 hour working days

Question 26

Housing

Answer 26

Improvements made by Lenin reversed. Communal living and overcrowding became the norm, WW2 left 25 million homeless