Stalin's Soviet Union Flashcards
What are the reasons for the rise of Stalin?
1) Non-disclosure of Lenin’s Testament
2) Trotsky’s unpopularity in the Politburo
3) Stalin’s manipulations: a)Pretended to have been close to Lenin b)Control over Party organisation c)Exploitation of ideological divisions
How will you explain Non-disclosure of Lenin’s Testament?
1) 1922: Lenin suffered a stroke and went into semi-retirement.
2) Stalin visited him often and presented himself as his connection to the rest of the world.
3) In reality, they often quarreled and Lenin was doubtful of Stalin’s character and ambitions. Lenin made known his views in his Testament.
4) Lenin urged that Stalin be removed as Secretary-General in his Testament.
5) Lenin’s testament was read out at a meeting of the Central Executive Committee, where Lenin’s potential successors were present.
6) However, the Party agreed that the Testament was not to be made public, as Lenin had criticized all of them.
7) They decided to ignore Lenin’s warning. They felt that Trotsky was a greater threat to succeeding Lenin. Thus, Stalin retained his position as Secretary-General.
How will you explain Trotsky’s unpopularity in the Politburo?
1)Trotsky—regarded as Lenin’s right-hand man.
Head of the Red Army. Had their support as he led them to victory against the Whites in the civil war very powerful!
2)Thus, the outspoken Trotsky was seen as the biggest threat by others in the Politburo, and made him very unpopular.
3)A troika alliance was formed between Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin aimed to remove Trotsky from power.
4)Trotsky’s criticism of Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP) and control over Politburo were seen as acts of disloyalty to Lenin and the Party.
5)Trotsky’s idea of a ‘permanent revolution’ –inciting revolutions all over the world—failed to convince fellow Party members. They instead supported Stalin’s idea of ‘Socialism in one country’—to strengthen the Soviet Union first before spreading revolution.
7)Trotsky’s poor health also meant he was too weak to organise his own supporters and he remained silent on Lenin’s criticism of Stalin.
8)He was not able to deal with party politics and other Party members excluded him from decision-making and undermined his position within the Party.
How will you explain Stalin’s manipulations?
1)Pretended to be close to Lenin
•Gave Party members impression that Lenin favored and trusted him.
•Organized Lenin’s funeral and established himself as the chief mourner.
•Prevented Trotsky from attending Lenin’s funeral by giving him the wrong date.
•Hence, Stalin portrayed himself as the natural successor to Lenin.
2)Control over Party organisation
•Stalin: Secretary-General of Communist Party
•Had the authority to appoint and re-assign Party members
•Used his position to replace allies of his opponents
•Controlled the Cheka—renamed it People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD)
•Hence, Trotsky support base shrank.
•Stalin had Trotsky expelled from the Party in 1927.
3)Exploitation of ideological divisions
•Communist Party split into two main groups
•Stalin took advantage of these ideological divisions to eliminate his competitors.
•He allied himself with both sides at different times.
•With his political opponents and competitors discredited or executed, Stalin emerged the supreme leader of the Soviet Union in 1929.
To what extent did Stalin’s dictatorship devastate the Soviet Union?
1) Economic Impacts
2) Political Impacts
3) Social Impacts
What are the Economic Impacts?
1) Collectivization
2) Rapid industrialization
How will you explain the Economic impacts — Collectivisation?
1) Small individual farms were merged into larger collective farms (or kolkhozy).
2) It was believed that larger units of land could be farmed more efficiently through mechanization.
3) Aimed to ensure a secure food supply for the factory workers in order to rapidly industrialize.
4) More crops could be harvested and exported to other countries to raise funds for industrialization. With more efficient farming, surplus farmers could become factory workers.
5) By 1935, almost all the farms in the Soviet Union were collective farms.
Measures:
State fixed the amount of crops that farmers were to produce. Equipment such as tractors provided by the state. Farmers who failed to meet the quota were punished. ‘Shock workers’ used to force peasants to join collective farms and remove kulaks. They were honored and given better pay so that it will motivate the other workers.
Results:
Kulaks—killed their animals, burned their crops to prevent them from being taken by the state. Great famine—contributed (video) by bad harvests. Millions of peasants died of starvation. Grain harvest dropped between 1931 and 1934 Loss of animal population. However, state collected grain to feed industrial town instead exported gain to foreign countries to raise funds for industrialization. Manpower for new factories supplied by the peasants who left the countryside.
How will you explain the Economic impact—Industrialisation?
1)Aims: Five-Year Plans (1928 – 1933) aimed to rapidly industrialize the Soviet Union.
2)Factories: to produce equipment such as tractors for mechanization of farming.
3)Increased efficiency in farming will free up farmers—could become factory workers.
4)State set quotas for production. Working hours and wages of workers were fixed by the state.
5)The Five Year Plans were generally seen as a success.
Stalin’s Five Year Plans transformed the Soviet Union into an industrial base for powerful arms industry in 1941.
However: Little growth in consumer industries. Poor coordination and planning of Five-Year Plans Quality of products were often sub-standard and potentially hazardous
6)Second and Third Five-Year Plans focused on heavy industries such as coal and oil. Towards the end of the 1930s, emphasis was also placed on preparing for the war.
What are the Political Impacts?
1) The Great Terror (1934-38): Kirov Affair, Purges and show trials, Loss of intellectuals and skilled workers and officers
2) Propaganda: cult of the leader
How will you explain the Great Terror?
1) The hardship and brutalities of Stalin’s collectivization and industrialization made the Communist Party very unpopular.
2) Within the Politburo, there were signs of opposition to Stalin’s leadership. Especially against his Five-Year Plans due to the high human costs and suffering.
3) In order to consolidate his power and enforce party discipline, Stalin launched a series of campaigns of political oppression and purges.
4) These were aimed to eliminate his enemies and remove domestic opposition to the Soviet government between 1934 and 1938. This period was known as the Great Terror.
5) Sergei Kirov was Head of the Leningrad Party organisation in 1930. He was approached by a group of Bolsheviks as an alternative to Stalin’s position as Secretary-General.
6) 1 Dec 1934: Kirov was assassinated. Secret police ‘investigations’ declared that this was part of a plot to kill Stalin and other Politburo members. Stalin used this as an excuse to eliminate his political opponents.
How will you explain Stalin’s purges?
Political rivals
-Extensive purge of Leningrad party (Kirov’s powerbase)
Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin accused of conspiring with Trotsky to overthrow the government.
-Tried in public show trials before being executed.
They often confess to crimes they did not commit
Red Army
- Stalin was suspicious of Red Army—Trotsky’s power base
- High-ranking commanders and tens of thousands of Red Army officers were accused of treason—tortured and shot.
- Yezhov—in charge of secret police was also arrested and executed in 1940.
- In their place, Stalin promoted inexperienced members who owed their positions to him.
Arrests and Interrogation
1) Secret police arrested, questioned and forced people to inform against friends and family
2) Peasants, factory workers and intellectuals were arrested to prevent them from organising opposition to Stalin’s rule.
3) They were killed on the spot or sent to labour camps with poor living conditions and ill treatment.
4) As a result, nobody dared to oppose or challenge him in such an atmosphere of fear.
Loss of intellectuals, skilled workers and officers
1) Mass executions of intellectuals and skilled workers negatively affected the strength of the country.
2) It led to the shrinking of Stalin’s workforce.
3) The loss of administrators, engineers and teachers affected the quality of Soviet civil service. The efficiency of the government was affected.
How will you explain Propaganda?
1)Stalin used propaganda to depict himself as the rightful successor to Lenin.
2)Stalin was praised in films, books, posters, paintings and musicals. Through cultivating a personality cult, Stalin convinced many Russians to support his policies and even worship him.
3)All offices, factories and classrooms in the Soviet Union had to have a picture of Stalin.
Soviet history was also rewritten to elevate Stalin’s status.
4)Personalities such as Trotsky and Yezhov, whom Stalin regarded as threats, were edited out of the photographs.
5)All these made Stalin an undisputed leader of the Soviet Union
What are the Social Impacts?
1)State control of society: Fall in standard of living
Famine and Lack of consumer goods
2) Living in fear
3)Impact of policies on various social groups and Minority nationalities, ‘New Soviet man’, Changing role of Soviet women and Youth and education
How do you explain State control of society?
1) Under Stalin’s rule, all private enterprise was banned.
2) Major social goods such as housing, education and health services were determined and distributed by the state.
3) Members of the working class or communist party were given preferential treatment.
You should be able to describe the following:
- Fall in standard of living
- Famine
- Lack of consumer goods
How do you explain Living in fear?
1) Secret police had informers everywhere
2) Slightest indication of anti-Stalin sentiments would warrant an arrest.
3) People were constantly watched and judged by Stalin’s officials.
4) If judged poorly, it would become difficult for them to apply for housing, jobs or holidays.
5) If they stood out for the wrong reasons, they could be sent to forced labor camps or even killed.
