Stalins Rise To Power And Dictatorship 1924-41 Flashcards
When did Lenin die
1924
What had Lenin written right before he died
A testament criticising the other senior communists
What was Stalin appointed as in 1922
General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party
Who were the 5 main candidates for leadership
Trotsky Bukharin Kamanev Zinoviev Stalin
What was the strengths of Trotsky
- believed in ‘permanent Revolution’ - communism revolutions must happen in all countries
- didn’t support NEP - believed in rapid industrialisation instead
Strengths
- brilliant speaker
- Lenin’s close comrade - natural successor
- successfully organised/ lead Bolshevik Revolution and the civil war
- supported by younger bolsheviks
What was the weaknesses of Trotsky
- arrogant and bossy
- Menshevik until 1917 - unlike others
- lack of supporters outside military
- Jewish - outsider
- permanent Revolution - most Russians wanted to concentrate on their recourses in fully establishing communism in their own countries
- underestimated Stalin
- end the NEP
- made tactical mistakes - resigned from commander of the red army
- wasn’t urgent enough
- did not like secret alliances, preferred to win by intellect
Strengths of Kamanev
- Leader of party in Moscow
- ally of Stalin and zinoviev against Trotsky
Weaknesses of Kamanev
- opposed Bolshevik Revolution of 1917
- seemed to lack the capacity to run a country
wanted to end the NEP
Strengths of zinoviev
- party leader in Moscow
- helped Lenin set up party in 1903
- head of Comintern
Weaknesses of zinoviev
- not liked in the party
- vain/ incompetent
wanted to end NEP (like Trotsky/ Kamanev)
Strengths of bukharin
- very popular within the party
- excellent writer
- supporter of NEP
- Lenin called him ‘ the favourite of the whole party’
- open person
Weaknesses of bukharin
- opposed treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- lacked political cunning
- main supporter of NEP - most bolsheviks thought of as capitalist
Who did Lenin favour in his testament to take over
Trotsky
How did Stalin defeat his rivals
- persuaded other members to keep Lenin’s testament secret - criticised all of them
- presented himself as Lenin’s close follower - chief mourner at Lenin’s funeral. Trotsky was ill - Stalin tricked him into thinking the funeral was the next day. Trotsky seen as arrogant and disrespectful as didn’t show up
- in 1925, forced Trotsky to resign as commissar of war - no longer had control of red army
- Stalin packed the Congress of soviets with his supporters through his secretary position
- worked party members against each other
- turned against zinoviev and Kamanev to bukharin
- turned against bukharin in 1928
How did bukharin die
In the purges
How did trotsky die
Assassinated by a hired hitman in August 1940 after writing many articles against Stalin from Mexico
Strengths of Stalin
- held key role of general secretary - used position to appoint officials who supported him and removed Trotsky supporters
- built up an image as someone who was very close to Lenin - natural successor
- chief mourner at Lenin’s funeral/ made a speech praising him
- doctored pictures of himself showing him at Lenin’s side
- played off his rivals against each other - Kamanev and zinoviev feared Trotsky. Used their support to remove him then allied himself with bukharin and others on right wing to remove Kamanev and zinoviev
- promotes socialism in one country - won popular support within communist party - focusing on securing communism at home before supported revolutions abroad
- attacked bukharin/ tomsky/ rykov for supporting NEP
When did the purges begin
1932
Who did Stalin purge
Anyone who held up, criticised or opposed his plans of collectivisation for agriculture and industrialisation
How was Kirovs assassination significant
- Kirov one of Stalin’s closets allies criticised Stalin’s policies at 17th party congress
- he was assassinated in 1934
- after death he purged the party of potential rivals - and spread to the whole of soviet society - 40,000 arrests
- marked the start of a new set of more extensive purges
How many soviet generals had been purged by 1941
- 90% of soviet generals shot by 1941
- including commander in chief of the red army
What were the reasons for the purges
Threats to his position
- concerned his enemies were plotting against him
Stalin not totally responsible
- some believe that they were started by Stalin but lost control over
Economic problems
- accidents/ set backs and failure to achieve targets under 5 year plans can be blames in sabotage not faults in his own plans
Paranoia
- suffering from a persecution complex
- feared everyone was plotting against him
Nature of purges
Attack on the party and government
- after Kirov arrests focused on party members accused of not following orders
Forced confessions
- those arrested were beaten until they confessed to any crime they had been accused of - many didn’t even know why they were arrested
Use of gulags
- state system of labour camps
Mass terror
- the nkvd had targets for number of arrests
In 1923 what was the Cheka renamed to
OGPU
What was the ogpu (secret police) renamed as in 1934
NKVD
How did Stalin increase the powers of the secret police
Through the ‘decree against terrorist acts’ - arrest people without charge/ trial
Who was the head of the secret police (1936-38)
Yezhovschina
What did the work of the NKVD include
Intimidation - scaring people into conforming to the System
Forcing confessions through torture/ repeated interrogation
What were the labour camps called
Gulags
What were prisoners in the gulags made to do
Hard labour
Extract resources
Build infrastructure
What were the conditions in the gulags like
- thin informs
- miserable foods
- long hours of physical labour
- severe winters
What was the death toll for the gulags
2 million people
When did show trails begin
1936
Who did Stalin mainly purge
‘Old-Bolsheviks’ - opposing him?
Eg. Kamanev and zinoviev
What happened at show trials
- in front of the world
- forced to confess to a range of improbable crimes eg. Plotting to kill Lenin
Why were the show trials important
- justified mass arrests
- confessions appeared to show Stalin as right to purge the communist party’s
- created an atmosphere of fear
- convince ordinary people enemies were everywhere
When was the last of the major show trials
- March 1938 - bukharin shot
What were the consequences of the purges
- human cost was enormous - millions dead
- weakened armed forces - killed off most of experienced officers/ arrested many soldiers - the loss of military leadership and experience resulted in almost a defeat against hitler Germany in 1941-42
- able scientists/engineers arrested executed- affected quality of production
- Stalin dominated
- chaos in government/ economy - loss of many experienced managers/ specialists led to lack of skills in industry
How many people were executed by 1938
1 million
How many people were in labour camps by 1938
8 million
What was Stalin nicknamed as under the cult of Stalin
- man of steel
- shining sun of humanity
- the boss
How did Stalin want to portray himself
As a caring leader who’s genius had saved the Soviet Union from enemies
How did the government censor media
- propaganda films were shown all over the ussr
- all artists/singers/musicians employed by state and commissioned to make work glorifying the Soviet Union
- records from past altered with
- only good economic results published
- socialist realism
Who did artists belong to
Russian association of proletarian artists
How did Stalin ‘change history’
- rewrite history to glorify his own part in past, especially in the Bolshevik Revolution
- removed the part played by ‘enemies’ eg. Trotsky
- photos were doctored removing people such as Kamanev /Trotsky from history
What was the cult of Stalin
Intense censorship and propaganda glorifying Stalin and his works
How did the government censor religion
Communists were atheists and all religions came under pressure
- places of worship were shut
- religious education was banned
- attacks on Muslims
How many Christian leaders were imprisoned by 1941 (through censorship)
- 50,000
How many places of worship were shut down during the purges
60,000
How was Islam banned
- mosques/ Muslim schools banned
- pilgrimages to Mecca banned
- Islamic law banned
- women encouraged to unveil
How was Judaism banned
- Jewish schools/ libraries/ synagogues banned
- study of Hebrew banned
How did Stalin control education
- brought back discipline
- new curriculum
- taught that Stalin was the ‘great leader’
- compulsory teaching of communism
- red specialists replaced teachers who weren’t communist party members
Why was the cult of Stalin introduced
- seen as the perfect leader - gave soviet people confidence that their hardships/ sacrifices were worth it - building socialism
- long - standing tradition in Russia of the ruler being the ‘father’
- Regain support for the regime
How was the cult achieved
- art - portraying as mastermind of October Revolution/ murals/ paintings
- propaganda message - Lenin + USSR was more important then he was
- books/ poems/ plays - praised Stalin for his achievements
When did Stalin introduce a new constitution
1936
What did the new constitution replace
Congress of soviets
Why was the new constitution set up in 1936
- to convince citizens and outside world that USSR was a few society
What were the positive features of the new constitution
- everyone allowed to vote
- secret ballots
- guaranteed workers rights to holidays / health care / housing / education
- gave 15 republics of the USSR the same rights as Russia
- guaranteed civil liberties - freedom of speech/ press
Negative features of the new constitution
- only one party you could vote for
- all workers rights can be ignored by secret police
- activities of all republics closely controlled from Moscow by communist party
