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History: Russia > STALINIST CONTROL > Flashcards

STALINIST CONTROL Flashcards

1
Q

What were Stalin’s political aims?

A

1-withstand foreign invasion
2-establish a proletariat
3-secure in his power
4-smash all political rivals (eg the left)
5-use propaganda successfully to present himself as heroic
6-reinforce his personal position
7-to make the communist party a reflection of himself

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2
Q

how did Stalin reinforce his personal position?

A

through the use of the 1936 constitution

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3
Q

how did Stalin reinforce himself?

A

through the use of terror and the purges

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4
Q

what was the first phase of the purges?

A

the chistka.

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5
Q

what does chistka mean?

A

cleansings

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6
Q

when did these cleansing occur?

A

1932-1935

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7
Q

what were the results of the chistka’s?

A

20% of the party was expelled non-violently. Stalin cleanses party of political opponents.

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8
Q

what triggered the great purges?

A

the murder of SERGEI KIROV (communist party leader in Leningrad) in DEC 1934

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9
Q

what year was the great purges?

A

1934-938

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10
Q

what was the 3rd phase of the purges?

A

the yezhovschina

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11
Q

what does yezhovchina mean?

A

yezhov - leader of the NKVD (secret service)

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12
Q

what year was the yezhovchina?

A

1937-1938

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13
Q

what did the yezhovchina do?

A

-thousands were denounced
-arrested
-imprisoned
-executed
-died in labour camps

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14
Q

what is the period of dec 1934+ known as?

A

THE GREAT PURGES

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15
Q

how did Stalin view his opponents? (quote)

A

“we have internal enemies. we have external enemies. new cannot forget this for a moment.”

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16
Q

how did the chistka (early purges) begin?

A

following the trial of RYUTIN GROUP who routine made the mistake of criticising Stalin.

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17
Q

what were the results of ryutin criticising Stalin?

A

supporters publicly tried and expelled from the party (nearly 1 million - 1/3 of party members expelled from party)

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18
Q

what was the NKVD?

A

a specialist military court which dealt with ‘series crimes’

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19
Q

Jan 1934

A

seventeenth party congress

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20
Q

what occur at this party congress?

A

A split between Stalin and other leaders - Kirov.

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21
Q

what did Stalin want?

A

continue rapid industrialisation

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22
Q

what did Kirov want?

A

to slow down on rapid industrialisation and improve conditions of the workers

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23
Q

end of 1934

A

Kirov murdered - Stalin eliminating his political opponent

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24
Q

by 1934

A

stalin was the only surviving member of the 1917 politburo- he had eliminated all the rest

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25
how many war commissars were removed during yezhovschina?
11
26
how many marshals were removed?
3/5
27
how many of the supreme military council were shot?
75/80
28
how many officers were either shot or imprisoned?
35,000
29
what was the average number of people arrested?
1/8
30
how many does ROBERT CONQUEST estimate was the total death count during stalinist control?
20 million
31
why did Stalin choose terror?
1- paranoid 2-brutal upbringing 3-stalin believed he could do no wrong 4-damaged child 5-craved power
32
how did Stalin use terror to gain control?
1-revolutionaries 2-use of komsomol 3-use of proletariat 4-camps 5-military force 6-propaganda
33
what was Stalins effects/extent on terror?
1- wife suicide - left letter criticising Stalin 2- hundreds of thousands of peasants deported 3-1929-1933; 5 mil peasants killed 4-sons attempted suicide 5- kirov's murder- shot without trial 6-kamenev/ zinoviev show trial august 1936 - executed 7- 100,000 impriosned/shot in 1944/1945 in Stalingrad alone. 8- 700,000 sentenced to death during period of terror
34
how did Stalin view his wife's suicide?
"she went away as an enemy"
35
how did Stalin view his sons attempted suicide?
"he can't even shoot straight"
36
how many people in russia thought they knew Stalin personally?
160 million
37
who was Stalin's dad?
a drunk and a shoe maker
38
how was the left viewed?
as enemies of the people
39
1937
radek and pyatakov were accused of working for Trotsky and foreign governments - show trials.
40
1938 death
tomsky committed suicide
41
1838 trial
bukharin and rykov accused of forming a 'trotskyite-rightist bloc.
42
what was the treaty called that was signed in the 1920's
rapallo treaty
43
1938
pagoda (former head of NKVD) was shot.
44
who was his replacement?
yezhov - known as bloody dwarf
45
when was yezhov dismissed?
1938
46
how were NEPMEN viewed?
class enemies
47
left opposition death dates-
zinoview - 1936 kamenev - 1936 Trotsky - 1940
48
the right opposition death dates-
tomsky - 1936 bukharin - 1938 rykov - 1938
49
gulag stats -
1937 - 0.5 million 1939 - 1.3 million
50
how many were killed through the use of terror?
3/4 million
51
what was the impact of Stalin on the peasants?
increased state control and increased famine
52
what was the impact of stalin on the industrial working class?
1- the class grew due to the success of the 5 year plans. 2- workers education programmes - offered better ways to improve their position in society 3-living and working conditions improved 4- healthcare services increased.
53
what was the impact of Stalin on women and families?
1- more liberation after 1917. 2- reversed in cultural revolution. 3-1936 - strict marriage enforcement 4- divorce restricted 5- abortion restricted 6-homosexuality outlawed 7-traditional role of family outlawed in the family law of 19944 8-more women worked (500,000 served in red army)
54
what was the impact of Stalin on young people and education?
1-komsomol (1926) 2- traditional role of young people emphasised 3-10 years compulsory schooling 4- increased school stats
55
what was the literacy rate increase? 1926 1940
1926 - 51% 1940 - 88%
56
what was the school attendance increase? 1926 1940
1926 - 12 million 1940 - 35 million
57
what was the impact of stalin on religion?
1- 1918 - church lost state support 2- 1924 - 300 bishops executed and 1000 priests imprisoned 3 - 1928 - peasant resistance to damage to church property 4- more churches
58
how many churches in 1940 1953
1940- 500 1953-25,000
59
what was the impact of stalin on the cult of personality?
stalin benefitted from the cult of personality - it strengthened his position as a leader
60
what was socialist realism?
an idealized and optimistic depiction of life under socialism in literature, visual arts, and other media.
61
what was cultural revolution?
change of Russian society
62
when was cultural revolution?
1928-1931
63
what were the aims of cultural revolution?
1-remove bourgeois culture 2-old intelligentsia was attacked, as was bourgeois 3-use of culture as a form for installing socialist values 4-use of positive propaganda 5-visions of new cities with large communal living spaces 6-new 'soviet man' 7-the supporting of government 8- securing Stalins grip on power
64
what was the great retreat?
1-abortion outlawed (except if born with hereditary diseases or harm to the mothers life 2-divorce became more difficult - more women left as widows to care for children 3- child support; 25% of wages for 1 child, 33% for 2, 50%-60% for 3+ 4-mothers with 6 children received allowances of 2000 roubles per year for 5 years with additional payments for each child they have, up to the 11th. 5- laws against homosexuality 6- prostitution illegetised
65
what did the Komsomol do?
1- idolised stalin 2- provided workers with work
66
how successful was the Komsomol?
1- Robert service notes success; many responded to propaganda 2- Stalin's rule also depended on this support as how stalin had so much support until his death
67
what were the main features of education?
1- changes to uniform 2- change to teaching 3- exams reintroduced 4- discipline reinforced 5- emphasis on academic success
68
what was the success rate of education?
1- ultimately abandoned cultural revolution and emphasis on great retreat 2-by 1928-1932; 150,000 students (1/4 population) began technical/political courses 3- by 1951 big shift in education (focus on maths etc)
69
what were the main features of media and the arts?
1- old paintings vandalised 2-emphasis on proletariat background 3- RAPP controlled writers to ensure 'fellow travellers' 4- 'cult of the little man' 5-cinema - straight forward, simple - easy propaganda; increase in documentaries
70
what was the success rate of media and the arts?
1- literacy was dominated 2- not very successful, deemed counter productive - public became bored. 3- pravda - government controlled press 4- hollywood movies remained more popular
71
what was the main features of the church and religion?
1- church prosecuted 2- priests, bishops, mullah's and rabbis - evicted/ imprisoned/ killed
72
what was the success rate of the church and religion?
1-by 1939 only 1/40 churches existed as actual churches. 2- 1920's 60,000 orthodox priests, by 1941, only 5665
73
what was the main feature of women?
1- family code of 1936 - outlawed abortion, divorce, homosexuality etc 2- increase child support
74
what was the success rate of women?
1- unregistered marriages meant easy divorce. 2- abortion weakened 3- increased social instability 4- birth rate increased by 25% per 1500 in 1935 5- birth rate increased 31% per 1000 1940 6- prosecutions of doctors who performed abortions 7- abortion still remained high; 1934, 42 abortions per 4000 but 15.9 abortions per 1000 8- divorce declined but so did marriage rates 9- women simply left by husbands 10- clamp down on juvenile crime through the use of the NKVD.
75
when was cultural revolution?
1928-1932
76
what was the soviet news agency called?
TASS
77
how was the cult of personality portrayed?
through the use of the arts and propaganda, tributes published in the local newspaper, carefully choreographed speeches and rallies
78
when was Tsaritsyn renamed Stalingrad?
1925
79
when does the cult of personality begin?
1924 - after lenins death
80
when is the height of the cult of personality?
1941+
81
how was opposition stamped out completely through the cult of stalin?
through; collectivisation, elimination of political opponents, rapid industrialisation
82
instead of baptised, how were children christened?
they were octobered
83
what % of Russian society were still christian?
5%
84
which artists were banned?
Shostakovich
85
what was Stalin's book called?
"short course"
86
by 1948
sold 34 million copies in the Soviet Union and 2 million elsewhere
87
what are the main points of the cult of personality?
1- stalin presented as god-like figure 2-cult at its height by 1930's 3-encouraged the view of past 4- stalin seen as omnipotent and confident leader - able to navigate russia through any difficulty
88
was the cult of personality effective?
yes, very - its how stalin maintained his control until his death

History: Russia (7 decks)

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