Stalin Gov & Party

Question 1

Key Changes

Answer 1

Established an ideological orthodoxy.
Destroyed authority of other main contenders.
Changed nature of Party membership.
Created patronage system.

Question 2

Leadership in the Soviet Union

Answer 2

Politburo = most powerful part of government.
Majority Politburo vote = winner of Party Congress votes, which elected the Central Committee which elected the Politburo.
Leadership was a battle for support within Party, not USSR.

Question 3

Communist Party, 1928

Answer 3

Leadership struggle made Party more centralised & disciplined as contenders tried to gain power.

Question 4

Ideological Orthodoxy

Answer 4

Lenin’s gov had been pluralistic.
Stalin discredited other ideas - Trotskyite.
Communist Party committed to Socialism in one country, and Collectivisation & Industrialisation.

Question 5

Authority at the Top of the Party

Answer 5

Stalin destroyed authority of opponents.
New ideological orthodoxy, branding opponents enemies of Leninism.
Accused Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev of plotting against Party and forming a faction - Lenin had banned factions in 1921.
Politburo met 9 times a year in 1930s.

Question 6

Politburo

Answer 6

1930, met 9 times a year.
1952, renamed Presidium.
7 to 36 members = increase rivalry + prevent plots against Stalin.
Diluted power through rivalry.

Question 7

Party Membership

Answer 7

Increased Party membership
1924, Lenin Enrollment. May, 130k people joined the Communist Party, poorly educated yes-men.
Supported Stalin, could promote them.
New recruits interested in careers > goals of revolution.

Question 8

Stalin’s Patronage System

Answer 8

1921-28, Party democracy weakened.
Got loyalists + followers to high positions in gov (Party Congress) through role as General Secretary + head of Central Control Commission.
Power to fire, hire, and promote.
Access to 126k reports.

Question 9

Nature of the Party Changed, 1920s

Answer 9

Party members implemented orders from Poltiburo, didn’t think about politics.
Party became privileged. Bureaucratic Elite. Nomenklatura.

Question 10

Purges, 1930s

Answer 10

Stalin insecure he would lose power.
Launched Great Terror (1934-38) to remove opponents.
Removed Old Bolsheviks, new gen of CP officials.

Question 11

Causes of the Purges

Answer 11

Opposition
Economic Problems
The Congress of Victors
Kirov’s murder

Question 12

Opposition

Answer 12

Opposition from the Politburo.
1932, Kirov defended Ryutin, who circulated a highly critical document of Stalin’s policies.
Stalin wanted Kirov executed, but had Politburo support, sent to prison instead.
Kirov’s growing authority within Party challenged Stalin.

Question 13

Economic Problems

Answer 13

Senior government officials aware economic policy failures, undermining his authority.
Stalin blamed workers and managers, didn’t accept responsibility.
Sent to gulags.

Question 14

Congress of Victors

Answer 14

02/1934, Stalin lost to Kirov (1225) in secret vote at end of Congress electing new Central Committee.
Kirov urged to stand against Stalin as General Secretary, Kirov refused.

Question 15

Kirov’s Murder

Answer 15

12/1934, Kirov murdered.
Historians speculate Stalin ordered attack, but no there is no proof.
Remove Stalin’s main rival.
Gave Stalin a reason to arrest his rivals and launch a mass terror campaign, threat of conspiracy against Party + government.

Question 16

The Great Terror

Answer 16

1934-38.
Started in Leningrad, 12/1934.
After Kirov’s murder, Stalin arrested Zinoviev and Kamenev & organised investigation into Communist Party in Leningrad.

Question 17

Show Trials

Answer 17

Trial of the 16, 1936, execution of Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 of their supporters.
Trial of the 17, 1937, execution and imprisonment of 17 of Trotsky’s former supporters.
Trial of the 21, 1938, execution of Bukharin and many of his supporters.

Question 18

Secret Trials

Answer 18

Trial of Red Army’s leaders.
1937, 8 senior generals (worked with Trotsky) tried for plotting to overthrow government. All were executed.
More than 37k officers purged from army.

Question 19

Consequences of Terror

Answer 19

Removed all Party members with authority.
Emerged a new generation of Communist Party leaders who owed their positions to Stalin - loyal.
Stalin could use terror against anyone who was disloyal.
NKVD became a powerful within regime. Beria.

Question 20

Party and State’s Relationship

Answer 20

Stalin dominated party and state.
Lenin failed to define relationship between Communist Party and Soviet State.

Question 21

WW2

Answer 21

Ended mass terror, allowing state power to grow so state ministers could make important decisions.
Politburo co-ordinated state and party activity.
State Defence Committee (GKO) responsible for economic co-ordination and military production.

Question 22

Competition Between Party and State

Answer 22

Encouraged competition between Party and State so they had no time to compete with Stalin.
Appointed rival personnel to key positions in Party & State.
Placed A. Zhdanov (Beria’s key rival) in charge of Party supervision of Beri’s NKVD.
Shifted power from Party to State then back again. 1938, Politburo –> 1942, GKO –> after war, Council of Ministers.
By shifting centre of power within government, ensured no senior committee grew to rival him.
Party and state had very limited authority.

Question 23

Post-War Terror

Answer 23

Continued use of terror, but not to same extent as 1930s.
Purged hundreds of Party + state officials and inspired fear in thousands more.

Question 24

The Leningrad Affair

Answer 24

1949.
100 officials killed, 2k arrested.
Beria encouraged Stalin to purge Leningrad because it contained a group of senior officials, rivals to Stalin.