Stalin pre-war (1929-1941) Flashcards
1
Q
What are the three main reasons why Stalin emerged as leader in 1929?
A
- Ideological reasons
- Ruthless political ambition
- His rival’s weaknesses
2
Q
What was Lenin’s Testament?
A
A letter to be read to the Party congress on his death. In the letter he gave his critical opinion of other members of the Politburo.
3
Q
How did Lenin refer to Stalin in his ‘Testament’?
A
‘personal rudeness, unnecessary roughness and lack of finesse’ and he suggested that comrades should consider ‘removing Stalin from his post’
4
Q
Why was Lenin’s Testament never read in public as intended?
A
The Central Committee decided among themselves to suppress it and this played massively in Stalin’s hands
5
Q
What role previous to Lenin’s death gave Stalin a great advantage in the power struggle?
A
He was appointed general Secretary in 1922 which meant he could appoint people to high-status jobs and he had a powerful influence because of this
6
Q
Name the four other leadership candidates present in the power struggle
A
Kamenev
Zinoviev
Trotsky
Bukharin
7
Q
What gained Stalin even more support and popularity from the party?
A
His commitment to continuing the NEP of which solved problems created by War communism and also helped to improve Russia’s industry
8
Q
What does Stalin do to Trotsky that slightly damages his reputation?
A
He told the wrong date of Lenin’s funeral so Trotsky was absent
9
Q
What did Trotsky publish that further benefits Stalin?
A
‘Lessons of October’ which show how Zinoviev and Kamenev have (unlike Trotsky) opposed Lenin on a number of issues. Stalin however is not mentioned.
10
Q
When is Trotsky forced from his position as Commissar of War?
A
Dec 1925
11
Q
Who does Stalin first ‘buddy’ with to gain more supporters and get rid of Zinoviev and Trotsky?
A
Bukharin
12
Q
Stalin celebrates his ………… as the undisputed Soviet leader
A
50th
13
Q
How many members were there in the party in 1933?
A
3,555,338
14
Q
Who were the majority support base of the party and Stalin?
A
Younger and less-educated urban workers and ex-peasants who were less interested in ideological debate
15
Q
How did Stalin describe the 1936 Constitution drafted by Bukharin?
A
‘the most democratic in the world’
16
Q
What did the 1936 Constitution promise?
A
> Local autonomy to ethnic groups and support for national cultures and languages.
Four-yearly elections with the right to vote for all over 18 including the ‘former people’ who had previously been deprived of voting rights.
Extensive statement of civil rights - such as freedom for random arrest and right to free speech
17
Q
The new constitution did, indeed, look democratic but what could be argued was its main purpose?
A
To impress foreigners as the promised rights were largely ignored
18
Q
What propaganda slogans, paintings and sculptures were used to portray Stalin during the early years of his leadership?
A
- ‘Stalin is the Lenin of today’
- ’ father of the nation’
- ‘might leader’
- ‘universal genius’
- ‘Red Tsar’
- Regarded as a ‘God-like’ figure
19
Q
A system of rule established by Stalin from the mid-1930s onwards
A
‘Stalinism’
20
Q
What situation , in 1937, caused Stalin’s power to be undermined and threatened?
A
He was outvoted in the Politburo in his plan to replace Yezhov with Malenkov as head of the NKVD
21
Q
What did the end of the NEP in 1927 become known as?
A
‘The Great Turn’
22
Q
Why was the NEP abandoned?
A
By 1927, it was failing to produce growth and progress. Stalin also wanted to focus on increase the USSR’s military strength and develop its self-sufficiency. Stalin also wanted a move towards true ‘socialism’.
23
Q
What did Stalin’s strong control over the economy become known as?
A
‘Central planning’
24
Q
What were the 5 yr plans and what did they aim to do?
A
A series of targets for chosen industries to strive towards and they were intend to force managers and workers to devote their maximum effort into working
25
Failure to achieve target was a ...........offence. This led to many.......... statistics about the actual progress of the 5 yr plans causing ............... in the system
1. Criminal
2. False
3. Corruption
26
Aims of the first five year plan include:
1. Increase production by 300%
2. Develop HEAVY industry
3. Boost electricity production by 600%
2. Double the output in light industry such as chemicals
27
What did Stalin claim about the first five year plan?
That targets were met in 4 years. This was most likely due to 'over-enthusiastic' reporting as none of the major targets were met in reality
28
Give an example of an industrial complex that sprung up due to the first five year plan?
Magnitogorsk in the Urals
29
What were the failures of the first five year plan?
1. House building and other consumer industries were neglected
2. Too few skilled workers and little effective co-ordination for development to occur.
3. Smaller industrial works lost out due to competition
30
Aims of the Second five year plan include:
1. Continued development of heavy industry
2. New emphasis on lighter industries
3. Develop communications to aid industry
4. Boost engineering and tool-making
6. In 1936, focus was changed to rearmament
31
Outcomes of the Second five year plans?
- Moscow Metro opened in 1935
- Volga Canal opened in 1937
- Steel output trebled
- Coal output doubled
- However oil production failed to meet its targets
- No major increase in consumer goods
- Focus on quantity over quality
32
Aims of the Third Five year plans include:
1. Focus on development of heavy industry (due to fear of war)
2. Promote rapid rearmament
3. Complete transition to come
33
What was the outcome of oil production failing to reach its targets again?
There was a fuel crisis
34
What was the biggest problem with the Third Five year plan?
The lack of good managers, specialist and technicians following Stalin's purges
35
Why did the Third Five year plan have to be finished early?
Due to the German invasion in 1941
36
What incentive did enterprises and workers have to work hard?
Bonuses were paid to enterprises that exceeded targets and Managers had to pay 'extra' to workers who exceeded norms
37
Why was the development of agriculture important to Stalin?
Agriculture was important to aid industrialisation as: to enable the purchase of industrial equipment, surplus grain was needed for export and to feed a growing industrial workforce
38
What did Stalin's 'Great Turn' entail for Russian agriculture?
A move towards 'collective farming' - aka. Collectivisation
39
What was it hoped that 'collective farming' would do to farming?
It was hoped it would provide more efficient farming, new modern equipment, 'socialise' the peasants and make grain easier to collect
40
Why did Stalin carry out 'de-kulakisation'?
As he believed some of the grain problems had been caused by them as they understood how to make money by holding back supplies
41
In December 1929, what did Stalin announce he was to do about the 'kulaks'?
'annihilate the kulaks as a class'
| - The Red Army and the Cheka were used to identify, execute or deport kulaks
42
What % of the peasants were said to be 'kulaks'?
4%
43
How many 'richer peasants' were forced to migrate North and East to poorer land?
150,000
44
What % of grain-framing areas were announced by Stalin in 1930 to be collectivised that year?
25%
45
'kolkhoz'
A collective number of peasant families on state-owned land, where peasants lived rent-free but had to fulfill state grain quotas and set targets
46
By 1930, what % of peasant households had been collectivised?
58%
47
What did the second stage of collectivisation cause in 1932 in the Ukraine?
Mass famine - one of the worst famines in Russian history (1932-33). Aka. Holodomor famine
48
How many agricultural machines were established by Machine Tractor Stations (MTS)?
2500 machines
49
What was there purpose of MTS?
To allow hiring of machinery to the kolkhozes, to control the countryside form 'troublemakers' and to ensure quotas were collected. however prices were very high so many could not afford
50
What were the main problems of Collectivisation from 1931?
1. 'Dekulakisation' was inhumane - 10 million successful farmers removed
2. Grain and livestock was destroyed
3. Unrealistic quotas led to many peasants having to and over all of their grain, this led to hoarding of grain
4. Collectives were poorly organised
5. 1932-33 famine in the Ukraine
51
What was collectivisation referred to by the peasants?
a 'Second serfdom'
52
+ and - of collectivisation for Stalin?
+ Strengthened his political position and his authority and support from the party reached new heights
- Failed to bring socialism and economic efficiency to the countryside
53
QUOTE: What was Stalin's famous quote about the value of life?
'one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic'
54
How many people were exiled as part of Dekulakisation?
10 million
55
By 1941, what was said the USSR had achieved in terms of the economy?
A 'command economy' tightly run by the State - where many groups of people had been sacrificed
56
What is a similarity between Lenin and Stalin's approach to improving the workforce and production rates in factories?
Workers could be imprisoned or shot if they failed to meet targets - a criminal offence
57
What was the 'Stakhanovite' movement?
A way of forcing management to support their workers top increase production rates by rewarding hard workers with bonuses. It increased 'socialist competition'
58
How did children of workers benefit from industrialisation?
Increased educational opportunities that Stalinist Russia offered
59
QUOTE: What did Stalin announce in 1933 about the quality of life for people in Russia?
'life has become better, comrades, life has become more joyous'
however... rationing in cities
overcrowding on public transport
empty shops and short supplies
60
Why did Stalin revert to more traditional policies in society in the 1930s?
- due to fall in population - not helped by purges, collectivisation or poor living conditions
- also due to fears of war
61
What became the focus of a new propaganda wave, in which Stalin was presented as a 'father figure'?
The 'family' - causing divorce and abortion to be attacked and the importance of marriage to be re-emphasised
62
What measures were introduced in 1936 that reversed many of Lenin's policies?
- Contraception was banned
- Financial incentives were offered to large families
- Adultery was criminalised
- Large fees introduced to discourage divorce however the divorce rate still remained high (37% in Moscow in 1934)
63
The number of female industrial workers grew from.........in 1928 to..........in 1940
1. 3 million
| 2. 13 million
64
By 1940, what % of the industrial workforce were women?
43%
65
What other changes were there for women during the 1930s?
Women in education doubled and large numbers of women worked on collective farms however women earned 40% less than men
66
What was the name of the economic planning agency that universities were put under control by?
Veshenka
67
What did the Stakhanovite movement extended to?
The teaching profession and teachers were encouraged to set high targets for themselves and their students. Teachers however could be purged if not achieved so targets were usually set very low
68
By 1941, what % of the 9-49 age group in TOWNS were literate?
94%
69
By 1941, what % of the 9-49 age group in the COUNTRYSIDE were literate?
86%
70
What did the new opportunities did education provide in terms of the hierarchical system in society?
Proved itself as a vehicle for socials mobility
71
What was the 'Komsomol'?
The youth division of the Communist Party which taught communist values
72
When was the 'uninterrupted six-day work week' introduced? what did this prevent?
From 1932 which prevented a 'holy day' of church attendance
73
How did Stalin's 1936 constitution affect the church?
It criminalised the publication or organisation of religious propaganda, although the priests regained the right to vote
74
By 1941, how many Christian churches and Muslim mosques had been closed down? and what had they been converted to?
40,000 Christian churches
25,000 Muslim mosques
Converted to: cinema's, schools, prisons, grain storage and museums
75
What did Stalin aim to create in Russia that belittled national minorities?
Create a 'Soviet identity'. there were deportations of non-Russians and anti-Semitic attitudes were revised.
76
Petrograd changed to....
Leningrad
77
Changes in music, art, literature, the theatre and film all led to the creation of the...
'new socialist man'
78
How was collectivisation enforced and the five year plans maintained?
Through the use of Terror - the NKVD, the Cheka, the Red Army
79
Shakhty Show trails in...
128 showed how Stalin used scapegoats for the chaos caused by his own economic policies creating an 'industrial Terror'
80
The 'industrial party' trail was...
In November 1930, where a group of industrialists were accused as sabotage and used as scapegoats to the failure of Stalin's industrial plans
81
What was it believed that 'gulags' would do?
They could contribute to the economic growth of the USSR by offering minimum 'per capita' funding, whilst also punishing and 'correcting' the prisoners
82
The gulags were under strict control of the...
NKVD
83
Give an example of a major project of the gulags?
The construction of the White Sea Canal. 100,000 prisoners were employed on the project and in the end it was a failure. 25,000 died in the 1931-32 Winter
84
What caused Stalin to become 'unhinged' and even more paranoid as Figes suggests?
The suicide of his wife in 1932 which was also exaggerated by the famine in 1932-33 and an increase in workers strikes, which Stalin was blamed for
85
How did Stalin deal with growing opposition in the party such as the 'Old Bolsheviks'?
Ordering the NKVD to arrest them and many were expelled form the party
86
How did Stalin deal with opposition from the 'Ryutin Platform' who disapproved of Stalin's political direction and personality?
Crushed them by calling for their immediate execution and they were arrested. 24 expelled from the party and exiled in Moscow. Ryutin himself was sent to 10 years in prison but was shot on the orders of Stalin 1937
87
How many people died form the 1932-33 famine?
6 million
88
What was the Gosplan?
The State Planning Commission
89
What is a Totalitarian view on why Stalin used terror?
| complete control of every aspect = totalitarian
Stalin used the purges/terror:
- as a weapon to establish control of the party
- as a mechanism to control the populace
- as he sought to get rid of the 'Old Bolsheviks' who might threaten his leadership
- The NKVD carried out orders passed down to them
90
What is a Revisionist view on why Stalin used terror?
| the state had more control = revisionist
- Stalin is responsible for the terror but his personality alone is not sufficient enough to blame
- Stalin did not have a masterplan for the terror
- NKVD acted on their own initiative
- The terror was very productive anyway as control spiralled out of control > no major impact
91
What do later USSR leaders, Khrushchev and Gorbachev, say about revolution under Stalin?
That Stalin's personality cult and ruthlessness pushed revolution off course and the October 1917 revolution had been a healthier first step in creating an ideal communist society
92
How was there continuation between Lenin and Stalin?
Stalin extended the use of Terror and class warfare, as practised by Lenin, to enforce collectivisation through the destruction of the kulaks and maintain his five year plans for industry.
93
What was the Shakhty Show Trial in 1928?
53 engineers were accused of counter-revolutionary activity' and were forced to confess. 5 were executed
94
What was the 1928 Shakhty Show trail a clear indication of?
Stalin's determination to find a scapegoat for the chaos caused by his own economic policies, while delivering the message that the regime had to maintain its vigilance against those who were set to destroy it
95
How were gulags a continuation of Lenin?
As the corrective-labour camps (aka. 'corrective camps') established by Lenin were extended to create the gulags - he set the foundations
96
What is a 'gulag'?
'economic colonies' - a way of exploiting the prison population to boost economic growth
97
Who was Stalin's main opponent in the 1930s?
Bukharin and Kirov (until he was killed)
98
When did Stalin announce the 'anti-Leninist opposition?'
1934
99
When was Kirov murdered?
December 1934
100
What did the murder of Kirov allow Stalin to do?
Publish a decree a day after the assassination, giving Yagoda, head of the NKVD, powers to arrest and execute anyone found guilty of 'terrorist plotting'
101
How many people were arrested under the decree published after Kirov's assassination?
6,500 people
102
In 1935, how many 'former people' of the state were arrested , exiled or placed in camps of suspicion of instigating terrorism?
11,000
103
How many Part members were expelled by Stalin as 'anti-Leninists' in 1935?
250,000
104
Why was there a purge on 'Kremlin employees'?
To uncover reputed 'foreign spies'
105
When were the 'Great Purges'?
1936-38
106
QUOTE: Volkogonov on why Stalin's purges were necessary.
'For the Stalinist system to function, permanent purge was a necessity'
107
Who was involved in the conspiracy to plot to murder Stalin in 1936 that led to a show trial?
Zinoviev, Kamenev, Yagoda (NKVD leader) and Trotsky
108
Who was involved in the largest political show trial in March 1938?
21 Bolsheviks and Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda and 13-others were sent to be shot
109
What was the Yezhovshchina?
The purges of ordinary citizens from 1937-38 followed on from the Great Purges in 1936-8
110
Who was Yezhov?
The head of the NKVD (SECRET POLICE) who replaced Yagoda in 1936
111
When was Yezhov replaced by Beria as the NKVD leader?
December 1938
112
In 1937, a Politburo resolution condemned 'anti-Soviet elements' which caused.................arrests including............
250,000 including artists, musicians, scientists and writers
113
Why did the purges slow down after 1938?
As the Yezhovshchina had threatened to destabilise the State and both industry and administration had suffered. Stalin used Yezhov as a scapegoat foe the failure
114
What did Stalin refer to the purges as?
'Mass cleansing'
115
How many cases were reviewed following the end of the purges?
1.5 million
116
When was Yezhov arrested and shot?
February 1940
117
By the end of the purges, what position was Stalin in?
He was in a position of 'supreme' power and his political rivals had gone and the release of so many prisoners helped restore faith in the system and its leader
118
How can the foundations of Stalin's 1941 highly centralised and authoritarian one-party sate be seen from Lenin's era?
Lenin had favoured a one-party rule, ban on factions in 1921 and forced the closure of the Constituent Assembly
119
What evidence was there in Stalin's new constitution in 1936 of democratic structures?
Universal suffrage
120
What was the 'nomenklatura'?
A system of privileges that was used to reward loyal officials
121
What was a similar characteristic of the Communist State of all leaders?
Its intolerance of opposition.
> Lenin had created the Cheka and a developed a prison camp system to deal with political enemies and Stalin intensified on this (targeted at kulaks and bourgeoisie)
122
By 1941, what was the overall outcome of Stalin's 5 year plans?
They had transformed Russia into a highly industrialised and urbanised nation, while all Russian farms had been collectivised.
123
By 1940, what industries had Russia taken over Britain?
Steel and Iron
124
Between 1938-1941, how much did spending on rearmament increase?
From 27.5 billion roubles to 71 billion roubles
125
What was the crucial weakness of Russia's economy by 1941?
Development was uneven and consumer production had been neglected. The quality of goods was poor and the central planning system was inefficient.
126
In 1941, the nation was producing less grain that under what other economic policy?
The NEP under Lenin
127
How was agriculture still behind in 1941?
There was little attention paid to modern farming techniques and there was also limited use of machinery in agriculture.
128
What helped create a far stronger working class 'proletariat'?
Urbanisation - the working class were was the backbone of the Communist Sate
129
How was a new 'mass culture' being developed?
Through education, propaganda, the leadership cult, the show trails, public celebrations, arts and culture
130
What restrictions under Stalin reflect similarity to under the Tsarist regime?
> Internal passports restricted freedom of movement (peasants in the Mir)
> Strict censorship (AIII)
