The power vacuum on Stalin's death Flashcards
When did Stalin die?
Stalin died on the 5th of March 1953
the bolsheviks didn’t want another dictatorship so they prepared for a collective leadership
What did bolshevik leaders say about terror under Stalin?
Stalin’s successors agreed the level of terror was counterproductive
prisoners in labour camps didn’t work as effectively as free men and women
by 1953, there almost 3 million in the gulags and the cost of maintaining them far exceeded any profit they made
What were Stalin’s relations with foreign powers?
the Berlin blockade was completely counterproductive as it lessened the chance of a collaborative settlement of the German problem
Stalin’s determination to catch up to America made them increase in defence which forced the USSR to also increase in defence which lead to a circle of inevitable War
Was Stalin’s command economy effective by 1953?
in 1953 the Soviet state was nowhere near taking over capitalism
this was because the centralised command economy was rigid and innovation + initiative was stifled
the command economy system was ill-equipped for rapid technology development
Stalin payed little attention to plastic
agriculture was the weakest as Stalin neglected this
a very large army meant industry and agriculture were deprived of young men
