Stalin in power 1928-53

Question 1

How did Stalin undermine Trotsky?

Answer 1

• Stopped Lenin’s testament being read out as it stated a preference for Trotsky to succeed
• Told Trotsky the wrong date of Lenin’s funeral
• Used Trotsky wish for the NEP discontinued to argue that he is against Lenin

Question 2

How did Stalin undermine Bukharin?

Answer 2

• Accused him of Trotskyism as he criticised the increasing bureaucracy of the party
• accused him of forming factions after he had a secret meeting with Zinoviev and Kamenev in 1928

Question 3

What was the nomenklatura system?

Answer 3

list of names of approved party members. jobs and promotions allocated via this list. encouraged loyalty

Question 4

where did power lie under stalin?

Answer 4

he shifted power from party to the state.
- 1938 politburo most powerful
- by 1942 the state defence committee was the most powerful and senior

Question 5

How did stalin deflect competition away from himself?

Answer 5

• Encouraged rivalry between party and state by placing rivals in similar positions either side

Question 6

What kept communists in powerful positions under Stalin?

Answer 6

Only communist party members could stand for elections

Question 7

What did stalin keep from lenins government?

Answer 7

the main party structure and the nomenklatura system

Question 8

How did Stalin implement terror on the Party?

Answer 8

• The show trials during the great purge:
• 1936 - Trial of 16 - Zinoviev + Kamenev + their supporters
• 1937 - Trial of 17 - Trotsky supporters
• 1938 - Trial of 21 - Bukharin executed

Question 9

Was Stalin’s cult of personality successful?

Answer 9

Evidence of Success - After WW2, Stalin was viewed as the saviour of Russia and socialism, a lot of people hated Khrushchev’s process of de-Stalinisation.

Evidence of Failure - Many saw his cult as an over-exaggeration.

Question 10

How did Stalin expand the use of censorship?

Answer 10

• Works of Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Trotsky were removed from libraries
• Lenin’s work was also edited to remove positive information about Stalin’s opponents

Question 11

When was the first five-year plan?

Answer 11

1928-1932

Question 12

What were the successes and failures of the first five-year plan?

Answer 12

Successes - Rewards for model workers like a new flat and bigger rations.

Failures - New plants didn’t make a significant impact on production until 1934. Work was hard. Quality was poor as industry rushed to hit targets.

Question 13

Who did the triumvirate consist of?

Answer 13

Zinoviev, Kamenev + Stalin

Question 14

Who did the duumvirate consist of?

Answer 14

Bukharin + Stalin

Question 15

What two ideas were Stalin and the party dedicated to in 1928?

Answer 15

• Socialism in one country
• collectivisation and industrialisation

Question 16

What was ideological orthodoxy?

Answer 16

Stalin eliminated politcal opponents by arguing they were not true ‘Leninists’ or ‘Marxists’ but rather ‘trotskyists’ to differentiate them

Question 17

Would Lenin have agreed with Stalin’s ideological orthodoxy?

Answer 17

No - Lenin had tolerated differences of view at the top of the government and was prepared to work with people he disagreed with.

Question 18

How did Stalin gain authority at the top of the party and how did this differ from Lenin’s government?

Answer 18

• Under Lenin there were many people who had authority within the Party

He undermined them by:
- Establishing a new ideological orthodoxy and branding opponents enemies of Leninism.
- Accusing Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev of plotting against the Party and forming a faction; and these were serious crimes as Lenin had banned factions in 1921.

Question 19

By what year had Stalin gained a near monopoly of authority?

Answer 19

1928

Question 20

Who was Stalin unable to strip power completely from by 1928 and why?

Answer 20

Bukharin - he was still highly regarded by the party but his policies were rejected

Question 21

How many joined the Lenin enrollment in 1924?

Answer 21

128,000 - Stalin justified this by saying the party needed new working class members

Question 22

How did Stalin use the Lenin enrollment to his advantage?

Answer 22

• their lack of education meant the new members were suspicious of leading intellectuals Trotsky + Bukharin
• their interest in getting well paying jobs meant they tended to support Stalin

Question 23

How did Stalin’s patronage system lead to a change in the nature of the party?

Answer 23

• The party became increasingly privaleged - the nomenklatura
• People were less creative + radical and cared more about implementing orders and dedication to careers

Question 24

How many did Stalin purge in the 1930’s?

Answer 24

10 million - nearly 10% of the population

Question 25

Why did Stalin cause the Great Terror?

Answer 25

• opposition from the Politburo
• Kirov defended Ryutin who was highly critical of Stalin
• Kirov argued for more realistic targets in the second five year plan + for greater emphasis on consumer goods
• Stalin came second to Kirov at the congress of victors

Question 26

How many votes did Kirov get vs Stalin at the Congress of Victors in 1934?

Answer 26

Stalin - 927
Kirov - 1225

Question 27

When was Kirov murdered?

Answer 27

December 1934

Question 28

How many senior generals did Stalin purge in 1937? and how many officers?

Answer 28

8 as they had worked with Trotsky, then a further 37,000

Question 29

Consequences of the Great Terror?

Answer 29

• Eliminated Stalin’s rivals from the 1920s.
• Led to the death or imprisonment of a whole generation of communists who had known and worked with Lenin.
• Led to the emergence of a new generation of Communist Party leaders who owed their positions to Stalin and were loyal.
• Established the principle that Stalin had the right to use terror against anyone who was disloyal.
• Stalin’s political police, the NKVD became a powerful organisation within the regime.

Question 30

When did Stalin become Chair of Sovnarkom?

Answer 30

1941

Question 31

Negative consequences of the Great Terror?

Answer 31

by purging the senior levels of the state, the Party and the military he had sabotaged the effectiveness of all aspects of the government

Question 32

How did Stalin promote an effective government during WW2?

Answer 32

• Ended mass terror to help them work more efficiently during war.
• Allowed state power to grow – done to let State Ministers make important decisions.
• Changed the composition of the Politburo – Ministers joined the Politburo and members of the Politburo were given important jobs - meant that the Politburo increasingly co-ordinated state activity as well as Party activity.

Question 33

When and what was the Leningrad Affair?

Answer 33

• during 1949
• Stalin was concerned that Leningrad, Russia’s second city, was developing a degree of independence from his powerbase in Moscow.
• Around 100 officials were shot and 2000 arrested and dismissed.

Question 34

What did Stalin do to Molotov?

Answer 34

• In 1948, Stalin demanded that the Politburo vote to expel Molotov’s wife from the Party.
• Molotov abstained from the vote and later apologised to Stalin for this disloyalty.
• In 1949, Stalin had Molotov’s wife arrested and imprisoned.
• Molotov made no effort to stop the arrest or end the imprisonment.