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History Tsarist and Communist Russia > The Soviet Union 1917-1964 > Flashcards

The Soviet Union 1917-1964 Flashcards

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1
Q

What was Lenin’s ideology surrounding communism?

A

-Highly centralised revolution
-Claimed capitalism was a corrupt system and exploitative
-Believed the spontaneous will of the people would support the revolution
-Dismissed the need for constitutional govt

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2
Q

How can Lenin’s view of a centralised revolution be seen?

A

-In what is to be done 1902

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3
Q

When was the first Sovnarkom?

A

October 1917

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4
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom October 1917 unsuccessful due to weak opposition ?

A

-Unable to coordinate action against the govt
The power of the Soviets declined > no serious contender on the left to challenge bolshevism

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5
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom in October 1917 unsuccessful due to political misjudgements?

A

-SRs and Mensheviks did not take action > thought the bolshevik govt would collapse swiftly
-Underestimated the Bolsheviks

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6
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom October 1917 unsuccessful due to the army’s collapse?

A

-Officers and conservative forces could not count on any loyal troops to attack the Bolsheviks

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7
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom October 1917 unsuccessful due to distracted workers and peasants?

A

-Declining living conditions and disillusionment with revolution > difficult to rouse anyone for action
-Urban workers > focussed on their factories and jobs
-Peasant sonly concerned with land > what was going on in cities was largely irrelevant to them

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8
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom October 1917 unsuccessful due to attacks on the opposition?

A

-Bolsheviks moved quickly to deal with the opposition > Closed the opposition press > arrested key figures/ political opponents
-CLosed the Constituent assembly by force
-Set up the Cheka > make arrests and deal with protests

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9
Q

What was the Cheka?

A

A secret police force

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10
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom in October 1917 unsuccessful due to the use of class warfare?

A

-Effective in deflecting antagonism onto the bourgeoisie
-Brought support from large sections of the working class

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11
Q

Why was the first Sovnarkom October 1917 unsuccessful due to the concessions made to urban workers and peasants?

A

-Lenin originally gave them what they wanted > 8hour working days > land > peace
-Real gains for these groups after the October revolution

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12
Q

What is a Sovnarkom?

A

The cabinet

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13
Q

What was done at the November 1917 Sovnarkom?

A

-Right of self-determination granted to all parts of the former Russian empire
-Abolition of titles and class divisions
-Workers to control factories
-Abolition of the justice sytem
-Women declared equal to men and able to own property

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14
Q

What happened at the December 1917 Sovnarkom?

A

-CHEKA officially formed > needed to shut down counter-revolution
-Banks nationalised
-Democratisation of the army
-Marriage and divorce become civil matters, no longer linked to the church

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15
Q

What was the Democratisation of the army in December 1917?

A

-Officers to be elected
-Army to be controlled by Army soviets and soldiers committees
-abolition of ranks, saluting and decorations

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16
Q

What was Lenin’s ideology?

A

-One party state > no opposition > no factors
-Cheka
-War communism and the NEP
-Central planning (nationalisation)
-Independence movements seen as counter-revolutionary

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17
Q

What was Lenin like as a leader?

A

-Outstanding leader > able to hold the party together when it could’ve fragmented
-Great organisational abilities > demonstrated through war communism
-Flexible and pragmatic > finding solutions to problems when building a govt from scratch

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18
Q

What was Lenin like as a theorist?

A

-Adaptations of Marxism> known as Marxism-Leninism
-Concept of the small, disciplined revolutionary party
-the notion that the Proletariat could carry through a socialist revolution without having to go through the ‘bourgeoisie-democratic stage’

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19
Q

What were Stalin’s strengths in the leadership contest?

A

-Genuine working-class background
-Trust of Lenin
-Experience in the Bolshevik party

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20
Q

What were Stalin’s weaknesses in the leadership contest?

A

-No involvement in the October revolution
-Pragmatic to win leadership > no real belief ran through

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21
Q

What were Trotsky’s strengths in the leadership contest?

A

-Popular with radicals
-Strong intellectual and orator
-In charge of the army
-Led the red army in the civil war

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22
Q

What were Trotsky’s weaknesses in the leadership contest?

A

-Arrogant and aloof
-Dismissive of other leading Bolsheviks
-Viewed as an outsider as only joined the Bolsheviks in 1917

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23
Q

when did the civil war begin?

A

November 1917

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24
Q

When did the civil war end?

A

October 1922

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25
Q

Who led the White Army in the civil war?

A

Admiral Kolchak > viewed as supreme ruler

26
Q

Who sent troops to help the Whites to put down the Bolsheviks?

A

-The allies sent troops and resources

27
Q

Which group was once allied with Kolchak and then turned against him?

A

The SRs > they believed he wanted to become a Tsar

28
Q

What did the Whites do to try and prevent communism?

A

-Banned Trade Unions
-Privatised nationalised institutions

29
Q

How many civilian deaths were during the civil war?

A

5million

30
Q

How many Russians were executed at the Yensei revolt?

A

10,000

31
Q

What was signifficant about Omsk?

A

-Held 2/3 of Russia’s gold reserves as taken from the Bolsheviks

32
Q

How many died at the Perm operation?

A

30,000

33
Q

When was the Perm operation?

A

24th December 1918 > Victory for the Bolsheviks

34
Q

How many miles by the end of the Civil war did the Bolsheviks capture from the Whites?

A

200miles

35
Q

How many soldiers did the Red army have?

A

1.5million

36
Q

What was Finland’s involvement in the civil war?

A

-Offered to send 100,000 troops to Petrograd > to the whites for recognition of Finnish independence

37
Q

What did Tsar Nicholas do on the 4th January 1920?

A

Issued his resignation as his last decree and retreated to mongolia

38
Q

Why did the Whites fail in the civil war?

A

-Kolchak’s inability to compromise
-General Janin and Kolchaks’ difficult relationship
-Self pride > declining Finnish support
-Growth in the Red Army under Trotsky > severe discipline under Trotsky
-Kolchak did not do anything that the people supported
-Kolchak’s lack of military equipment > Cavalry

39
Q

What is Stalinism?

A

-A system of rule

40
Q

What is ‘Namenklatura’?

A

-people who had key administrative positions ( govt, industry, agriculture and education) > granted only with approval of the communist party of the region

41
Q

What is Democratic centralism?

A

-Communist idea of democracy > workers and peasants elected members of local soviets who then chose those who sit in a higher position on a higher soviet > All-Russian Congress of soviets > could influence policy

42
Q

What is the Apparatchik?

A

-The party/ administrative system

43
Q

How did the decline in congress meetings suggest Stalin’s rise in power?

A

-There was one in May 1924, December 1925, December 1927 and then June-July 1930 > after that became more infrequent
-shows power lies more with stalin than with the people suggesting a signifficant indivdual power growth

44
Q

What was the 1918 Constitution under Lenin?

A

-Russian Soviet Federative Socialist republic was created
-All russian congress of soviets had supreme power
-vote was reserved for the ‘toilling’ masses > members of former ‘exploitative classes’ were excluded from voting
-Structure of the govt was centralised > real power focus was the party

45
Q

What was the communist party structure?

A

Local Parties > Provincial and city parties > Congress > Central committee > Politburo

46
Q

What was the Constitution 1936 under Stalin?

A

-freedom from arbitary arrest
-freedom of speech and the press
-the right to demonstrate
-Universal sufferage for over 18s

47
Q

What was Stalin’s 1936 constitution trying to achieve?

A

-All rights subordinate to the interests of the working classes > communist party would decide those interests
-Only communists could go up for election > 1 party dominance
-Intended largely for international consumption
-Old congress of soviets > replaced by Supreme soviets
-Stalin wanted to gain control hrough centralisation of govt > centralised democracy

48
Q

How did the Civil war effect Bolshevik views of the world and their actions?

A

-Post civil war > Bolsheviks threatened by the white supporters and western democracy > one nation socialism forms from this

49
Q

When was the seventeenth party congress?

A

26th February 1934

50
Q

What happened at the seventeenth party congress under Stalin?

A

-regarded as the ‘congress of victors’
-feeling that economic groundwork had been accomplished
-Stalin was by no means secure as leader > split opened between stalin and leading members of the Politburo > Kirov

51
Q

What characterised Stalin’s rise to power?

A

-rule by terror > assasisnations
-Grasped that Lenin was the ‘God’ of Bolshevism
-Afraid of Trotsky > seen as the lesser of two evils
-Used trotskeists as the scape goat and enemy

52
Q

When did the power struggle between stalin and the other potential leaders end?

A

1927

53
Q

Why did Stalin’s communism remove religion?

A

-No room for both Stalin and religion > needed full devotion from the people
-Priests were even killed and imprisoned

54
Q

When was the birth of the ‘Gulag’ under stalin?

A

-4th stage of collectivisation > classed it as an instituition for re-education
-he sent those who ‘threatend’ the state
-Was like a concentration camp

55
Q

How many forced labourers were working under Stalins rule?

A

10million

56
Q

When was the worst years of the famine?

A

1933

57
Q

What characterised the ‘Great Terror’?

A

-Show trials
-Murder > a part of russian politics
-Masses incarcerated
-Secret police > 4am they would make arrests

58
Q

What was the name of the secret police under stalin?

A

NKVD

59
Q

How many people were liquidated between 1937-1939 during the ‘Great Terror’?

A

more than half a million

60
Q

Who controlled the second phase of the Terror under Stalin?

A

-Nikolai Yezhov

61
Q
A

History Tsarist and Communist Russia (11 decks)

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