The Nature Of Stalin's Dictatorship 1924-39 Flashcards
Why did Stalin purge the Kulaks?
They were against communism, and the Communists believed that they hoarded food from the government, they were also hated by the peasants.
What were the key features of the new constitution of 1936?
.Secret ballots
.Elections of the soviets (councils) every 4 years.
(Candidates for election had to be approved by the Communist party)
.Universal suffrage (voting rights) for over 18s.
Garuanteed civil liberties (freedom of: speech, religion, and from arbitrary arrest)
Why was the 1936 constitution introduced by Stalin?
It was introduced to show the soviet people and the world that the USSR was a ‘free country’, It had little effect except restructuring the government and all civil liberties were controlled by the communist party
How did Stalin control culture?
Art and writings were heavily censored, books had to pass through committees. social realism was encouraged and abstract art was not. It had to be happy and optimistic. The Union of Soviet Writers in 1934 was created to censor work, artists who stared from party guidelines were severely punished and often sent to gulags.
Propaganda was heavily directed at children who came to call Stalin ‘Great Leader’ the ‘man of steel’ or the ‘shining sun if humanity’
How do Stalin control religion?
.Christian Leaders imprisoned
.Over 60,000 places of worship closed
.The ‘League of the Godless’ desecrated religious places
.Mosques and Muslim schools closed, Muslim law banned and women encourages to unveil
.Jewish establishments closed, study of Hebrew banned
In the 1937 census how many soviets stated they had religious beliefs?
50 million, some churches were allowed to stay open so that Stalin could state he was following through with the 1936 constitution
How did Stalin change education?
1932- Rigid education system in place
Strict discipline and examinations. Fees for advanced secondary schools, children taught ‘Stalin’s version of history’ a book called “A short history of the USSR” was given to children. Teaching of Communism was compulsory
Stalin encouraged the development of teaching of engineering and science.
What was the literacy rates in Russia in 1939?
In the cities- 94%
In rural areas- 86%
How might better was student attendance in 1938?
In 1914-15 in Georgia there were only 155,000 pupil between 8-11 in school
In 1938 there were 658,000
(An increase of 503,000)
What political youth groups were in the USSR?
8-10 The Octobrists
10-16 The Young Pioneers
16-28 Komsomol
(Like scouts except communism orientated)
Purges figures for 1937-8
Executed- 1 million
Died in labour camps- 2 million
In prison in late 1938- 1 million
In labour camps lat 1938- 8 million
Purges timeline (1928-40)
1928- 55 engineers from Shakhty mines in Donbas were accused of sabotage, 5 shot and 49 imprisoned
1932- Ryutin, senior member of the communist part critisised Stalin’s economic policies, Ryutin and supporters exiled
1934- after the murder of Kiov thousands of party members arrested, 40,000 in Leningrad
1935- senior communists arrested
93/139 of the central committee
1936- show trials of the old Bolsheviks, Zinoviev, Kamenev and others were arrested, brainwashed by NKVD to confess to treason
1937- Stalin purged the red army, commander in chief and 7 other generals shot (by 1941 nearly 90% of soviet generals had been purged)
1938- By now almost every party and state leader had been purge, Stalin stopped the purges which we’re getting out of control, he then purged the NKVD to remove knowledge of what happened,
1940- Trotsky murdered in Mexico
Why did Stalin introduce the purges?
Stalin wanted to prevent threats to his position eg old Bolsheviks
It gave him forced labour
He could blame social groups for setbacks in the economy (scapegoating)
Many believe staln believed Stalin suffered from a persecution complex.
Murder of KIrov
Kirov was a possible rival to Stalin,
He criticised Stalin’s economic policies in 1934, he was then murdered probably by Stalin, Stalin then arrested Kirov’s supporters
The secret police (NKVD)s role in the purges
A ‘decree against terrorist acts’ was issued after Kirov’s murder, this have the NKVD the power to arrest people without charge and execute them on the spot
They were nicknamed ‘black ravens’
Purged in 1938
