Terror 1934+ Flashcards
What year was the Seventeenth party Congress?
1934
At the seventeenth party congress 1934, a split formed, what were the 2 sides of this split?
split between Stalin who wanted to maintain the pace of industrialisation and others within the Politburo who spoke about stopping forcible grain seizures and increasing workers’ rations
At the seventeenth party congress, only two in the Politburo firmly supported Stalin while Kirov received a long standing ovation, who were the 2 that supported Stalin?
Molotov and Kaganovich
The title of General Secretary was abolished, what was Stalin and Kirov and everyone instead given the title of which in theory meant that Stalin was no more important than the other secretaries?
Secretary of Equal Rank
When was Kirov murdered?
December 1934
Due to the suspicious nature of Kirov’s murder, a decree was published the next day which did what?
this gave Yagoda, as head of the NKVD, powers to arrest and execute anyone found guilty of ‘terrorist plotting,’
After Kirov’s murder, how many party members were shot along with those thousands who were arrested and sent to prison camps?
over one hundred
How many NKVD members in Leningrad were found guilty and imprisoned in a further round up after Kirov’s murder?
12
In what year was the death penalty extended to anyone aware of subversive activity?
June 1935
In what year did Yezhov replace Yagoda as head of the NKVD?
1936
During Yezhov’s time as head of the NKVD between 1936-1938, what was he responsible for?
the Yazhovchina, a period of purges and terror
Why was Yezhov removed and shot quietly in 1939?
to be made as a scapegoat for the excesses of the purges
What did Kirov’s murder become the signal for?
for the regime to tighten its hold over the country and begin widespread purges
When can Stalin’s intense suspicion and vindictiveness stem from?
Kirov’s murder in 1934
What became a political tool in Stalinist Russia?
show trials
What were show trials?
these were public trials to which foreign journalists were invited and their function was to provide that the USSR and Stalin were facing opposition from enemies of the state and their disposition justified
In the month proceeding the show trial, what was the task of the NKVD?
to extract a signed confession
When was the new law decreed that children over 12 who were found guilty of crimes would be subject to the same punishment as adults, including the death penalty?
April 1935
How did the NKVD use the april 1935 decree (children over 12 who were found guilty of crimes would be subject to the same punishment as adults, including the death penalty) to coerce confessions from the accused?
they would suggest that false chargers would be brought against the accuseds children
When was the first major showtrial?
August 1936
Who were the defendants of the first major show trial in August 1936?
Kamenev and Zinoviev and 14 others
When was Trotsky expelled from the party?
1929
Who was the prosector at the 1936 Show trial>?
Vishinsky
Where were the 16 shot from the 1936 Show trials?
in the cellars of Lubyanka Prison in Moscow
Why was yagoda replaced by Yezhov?
as he had not been active enough in uncovering the conspiracy and failed to secure the confessions of Rykov and Bukharin whom Stalin was determined to implicate
in 1936 who drafted the new constitution?
Bukharin
When was the new constitution of 1936- drafted by Bukharin- said to have been intended to mark?
the progress towards socialism and triumphs of previous years
What did the new constitution of 1936 declare?
that socialism had been achieved
What did Stalin claim about his new 1936 constitution?
that it was ‘the most democratic in the world’
What replaced the All Russian Congress of Soviets?
the new Supreme Soviet made up of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities
What did the new constitution of 1936 promise?
that there would be 4-yearly elections with the right to vote for all those over the age of 18 including the ‘former people’ who had previously been deprived of the vote.
What did the 1936 new constitution say in regards to freedoms? (4)
- freedom of religion
- free speech
- press
- arbitrary arrest (random)
What did central control over republic budgets mean?
that they had little real regional independence
What happened to party leaders in Georgia when they allegedly planned secession (withdrawing membership) in 1951?
they were purged
What was the reality of the Supreme Soviet?
it only met twice a year and it was more of a sense of participation rather than an actual involvement in policy making
