The Great Patriotic War and Stalin's dictatorship 1941-1953 Flashcards

Question

post war reconstruction - agriculture

Answer 1

98,000 collectives had been ruined, loss of 137,000 tractors, 27 million cattle and 20 million pigs food production was 60% of 1940 level less land was cultivated than before the war (1945 level was 75% of the 1940) 1946 was the driest year since 1891 - led to famine in some areas recovery was slow and patchy fourth five year plan brought some increases but filed to reach most of its targets by the time of Stalins death, agricultural sector was still unsatisfactory many reforms held back due to Stalin himself

Answer 2

high Stalinism - period of time after WW2 when Stalin's power was at its height dictatorship - a form of government in which one person has absolute power totalitarianism - political system that demands absolute obedience to the state and each citizen is subject to central state authority (mass identity)

Answer 3

culmination of Stalin's regime During the war, aspects had been relaxed (religion) and appeals to national unity as fear of Stalin became overridden by fear of the Germans Wartime institutions like the GKO were dismantled and the military hierarchy was downgraded, Zhukov demoted to command Odessa Cult intensified and Stalin became more unpredictable however, some historians argue this was a reversion to the past and his personality was keeping with that it had always been Stalin had always played leading figures in the regime off against each other e.g. Molotov, Zhdanov, Beria which helped to confirm Stalin's dominance Molotov held great power in the regime but fell out of favour in 1949 Party and its institutions were undermined - no congress between 1939 and 1952, Politburo reduce to an advisory body which waited to be told by Stalin, big decisions were taken in by Stalin's inner circle

Answer 4

enforced isolation from the non-Soviet world out of concern for national security due to the cold war but also due to an obsessive fear of ideological contamination harsh treatment of returned positions and purges of former army officers as had knowledge of outside world areas newly incorporated into the USSR needed to show unwavering loyalty - brief contact with foreigner could get a person denounced 1947 - law passed outlawing marriage to foreigners Hotels and restaurants under surveillance for meetings between soviets and foreigners

Answer 5

also deputy prime minister and in charge of developing Soviet atomic bomb (threatened by USA at Potsdam) vast expansion of more than 500 prison labour camps NKVD was strengthened and reorganised - MVD (controlled domestic security and Gulags) and MGB (handled counter intelligence and espionage) tens of thousands were arrested annually and around 12 million wartime survivors were sent to the labour camps Beria - vile, known for rape (if given flower = consent), Stalin wouldn't let own daughter near Beria = paranoid/cautious

Answer 6

new controls over intellectual life - coordinated by Zhadnov, totalitarian approach to promote the right ideology and sypress individualism began with ourge of 2 literary works published in Leningrad when authors were expelled from Union of Soviet Writers socialist realism was re-asserted as the norm Novels, plays and films that denigrated American commercialism or extolled soviet achievements were preferred anti-Semitism = jewish artists were suppressed or ignored the study of maths, physics and chemistry badly affected by spurious ideas based on Marxist principles - Lysenko (biologist applied idea that changes in plants are achieved by changes in environment rather than genetics) non-communist foreign papers and radio were unobtainable, very few soviet citizens were allowed to visit the west

Answer 7

building on his reputation as saviour, portryaed as worlds greatest genius and superior in all areas became customary for the first and last pages of any academic book to acknowledge Stalin's genius on the subject canals and dams were named after hhim portrayed as a man of the people who knew what everyone was doing and thinking - had not visited a Kolkhoz for 25 years and relied on others to provide him with information towns renamed after him - Moscow intended to become Stalinodar but never implemented Stalin prizes introduced to reward artistic or scientific work statues/monuments appeared all over the Soviet Union

Answer 8

always been party rivalry between Leningrad and Moscow - Stalin had took care to prevent politicians from Leningrad becoming too powerful - Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kirov and Zhdanov many reasons why Zhdanov was eliminated - power base in Leningrad and Stalin's resentment of the pride Leningrad took from its role in the great siege 1941-1944 began purges in 1949 after death of Zhdanov as many had been promoted to senior posts in Moscow during Zhdanovs ascendancy major purge of leading officials - more than 2000 had been dismissed from their posts, exiled and replaced by pro-Stalin communists

Answer 9

Leningraders had never been a direct political threat ti Stalin but his default approach was to set rival elements within the regime against each other Mingrelian Case 1951 - party officials in Georgia were accused with collaboration with Western powers, mostly Mingrelians who were supporters of Beria, didn't finish until Stalin's death in 1953 served as a way to limit Beria's power as he was Mingrelian suppression of non-Russian nationalities and anti-Semitic overtones as they were charged with conspiring with 'Jewish plotters'

Answer 10

conspiracy revealed by doctor saying that those who treated Zhdanov in 1948 used sloppy methods which contributed to his death 1952 Stalin used this file as an excuse to arrest as many doctors for being part of a Zionist conspiracy and claimed that Jewish doctors, in the pay of the USA and Israel, were abusing their positions to harm the USSR Director of Jewish theatre in Moscow was killed in a car crash in 1949, Jewish Wives of Politburo members Molotov and Kalinin were arrested and men in high positions feared they would be the next targets e.g. Beria thousands of ordinary jews were deported to the Gulags and anti-Jewish hysteria was whipped up so that non-Jews feared to enter hospitals and shunned all Jewish professionals 9 senior doctors were condemned to death - survived due to Stalin's death

Answer 11

before 1941, Stalin's main ambition for the USSR was for it to be left alone so he could focus on industrial development during the war, a vast new industrial war machine was built - 7.5million troops and increased territory (baltics, poland, east europe) rise of Soviet superpower was reflected in the diplomacy of the Grand Alliance between USSR, UK and USA - conferences at Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Potsdam - USA revealed atomic bomb which would be used to end war with Japan but placed USSR at a disadvantage so Stalin assigned Beria with task of producing one for USSR - produced in 1949 - superpower status USSR was one of 5 permanent members in United Nations security council created in 1945

Answer 12

military domination of Eastern and Central Europe territory was extended and used its military presence over local communist parties which were 'friendly' to the Soviet Union by 1948, most of these countries were 'satellite states' which created a buffer zone to protect the USSR formation had deep roots - 1939, under NSP USSR occupied East Poland and Baltics, 1940 Katyn Forest Massacre of 22,000 polish army officers to eliminate Polish nationalist elements Communist regimes controlled Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia and Poland more difficult in east central Europe - in countries where democratic governments were elected, communistrs were encourage to join with non-communists, especially socialists, to gain a political foothold - pro-Soviet governments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia

Answer 13

wartime summit conferences reflected disagreements Tehran 1943 - agreement of unconditional German surrender and Stalin was critical of allies not opening a second front to relieve the pressure of the red army meeting between Stalin and Churchill in 1944 plagued by disagreements over the future of Poland Yalta Feb 1945 - creation of United Nations 9stalin wanted a representative from each of the nations of the USSR, but would give disproportionate power so only allowed 3, disagreements over post war borders and Poland, no quota set for how much reparations USSR would receive Potsdam July 1945 - Roosevlot died and replaced by Truman, Churchill replaced by labour government Attlee, start of arms race due to USA atomic bomb, split of Germany and Berlin, became clear how USSR was asserting political control over the countries it had 'liberated'

Answer 14

US fear of Soviet expansionism was exasperated by a telegram sent from Moscow by Kennan who was an American diplomat and an expert on Soviet affairs - explained horrors of the USSR, its isolation and the harsh treatments implemented by Stalin Churchill made speech in USA in March 1946 explaining that an iron curtain had descended across Europe - cant see Stalins antics

Answer 15

by 1947, Western Europe was in crisis economically and politically, especially Italy and France, civil war in Greece March 1947, Truman Doctrine asserted new US policy of containment to prevent the spread of communism and explains USSR as a rival, rather than an ally - can be no peaceful coexistence of communsim and capitalism June 1947 - US put forward the Marshall plan: an injection of aid top rebuild Europe but designed to extend American influence Stalin was convinced the plan was hostile to Soviet interests and instead a drive towards US political dominance and expressed particular fears of a resurgence of German power Soviet bloc countries were encouraged to reject Marshall aid fell at same time as coup in Czechoslovakia where communists took full control - intensified split

Answer 16

clear separation between the Soviet zone and the western zones, but berlin was an 'island' in the soviet zone Stalin was particularly alarmed by the introduction of a separate currency in the western zones in June 1948 and the next day Stalin launched the Berlin blockade - cutting off all road and rail links between Berlin and the West believing that the west were not willing to risk war and so would settle the Berlin question on Soviet terms But, was defeated by Berlin airlift - a massive operation by allied aircraft flew supplies into West Berlin throughout winter this confirmed the division of Germany NATO was formed to defend western Europe Chinese civil war won by communists and Stalin signed Treaty of alliance with leader

Answer 17

early 1943, Stalin became increasingly unpredictable and ready to force another wave of repression and terror, planning a purge of the 'old guard' (Molotov, Beria etc.) died 5th March, several conspiracies - Beria poisoned him but most likely died of natural causes as had already suffered strokes body was embalmed, open coffin and explosion of natural grief Stalin had not named a successor and made it difficult for any potential contenders this led to a tense power struggle from which Khrushchev emerged as new leader

Answer 18

problematic - production of consumer goods had been underfunded and agriculture was poor but had become a modern industrialised country had provided strong leadership in war and turned the USSR into a major superpower regime based off fear and terror, created a dangerous and hostile world in cold war but due to cult of personality the regime did not need changing as Stalin had been so perfect described by Khrushchev as 'fought barbarism with barbarism' and by his daughter 'even Hitler did not kill his own people' in Europe and the world - nuclear arms race, unrest spread to Poland, Germany and Hungary - violent revolution in 1956 Budapest rising