The Stalinist Dictatorship and Reaction 1941-64 Flashcards
Was Stalin suprised by WW2
- German attack took Stalin by surprise
- Despite warnings from his intelligence, british intelligence and a build of German forces near the Soviet border
- Took over a week to establish a clearly defined structure of governmental and military authority
- Poor person who delivered German invasion news to Stalin was shot
by 1941 how much of the red army had been captured
by 1941 the Red Army had lost 6 million men (killed or captured)
What did Vasilesky and Zhukov do at Stalingrad
Vasilevsky, Chief of General Staff, and Zhukov, Deputy Supreme Comamnder, planned the counter-atack at Stalingrad and able to convince Stalin of the superioirty of their plans; Stalin realised the importance of promoting those with ability
What was the timeline in wartime leadership from 23rd June to 20th July
How was propoganda + rhetoric utilised by Stalin during the War
- Stalin appealed to the people’s love for Russia and talked of the threat to their culture rather than socialism; Great Patriotic War
- Utilised speeches to unify nation and solidfy his power
- Stalin held the Red Square parade even as the germans came dangreously close to Moscow
How did Stalin utilise military leaders
- Stalin also left the war to his military commanders such as General Staff
- Military leaders who dislayed incompetence were removed no matter their closeness to stalin
- Former civil war commanders such as Marshals Voroshilov and Budyenny were replaced by men of talent brought back from the gulags
- Relied on Georgi Zhukov who successful defended Moscow in 1941 and led troops to berlin in 1945
- According to Gregory Freeze ‘ Stalin encouraged strategic debate and did not hesitate to solicit or accept advice’
Who was Georgi Zukhov
- Civil War veteran
- Appointed deptuy Commander-in-Chief of the Red Army
- Organised defence of Moscow + Stalingrad ,tank Battle of Kursk
- Led final soviet assault on Germany in 1945 to capture Berlin
- Post-war Stalin demoted him to a command in Odessa
What was the general picture of opposition
- No outright opposition
- National Minorities (Hullfswige)
- Terror on deserters
How did national minorities oppose the regime during the war
- Some were* Hulfswillige* - those willing to help the Germans; serving as drivers, cooks, ammunition carriers and messengers
- Others became direct collaborationists
e.g. Russian Liberation Front in Ukraine became part of the Waffen-SS with over 50,000 soldiers
Over a million joined Hitler;s side but Slavs were only allowed to perform lesser jobs
How did Nazi policies create partisan units
Nazi policies of killing 75% and condemning the rest to slavery produced partisan units such as a bomb-making facotry run by Jews in the Naliboki Forest
How did Stalin utilise terror to crush deserters
- Order 227 ‘Not One Step Backwards’ where any soldier who fell behind or tried to retreat was to be shot on sight and more than 150,000 were sentenced to death under this order
- Those who broke discipline were made to do the most dangerous jobs; mine-searching
How did Stalin deal with the threat of national minorities during the war
- Multinational nature seen as potential threat so Stalin dissolved 600K Volga German autonomous republic in 1941 and sent its people east
2 million deported from Caucaus
Only 2/3 survived the journeys
How did Stalin appease the army
Stalin pleased the army by downgrading the role of political commissars attached to the army units and bringing back special badges of rank
How did the war affect the army’s membership of the communist party from 1941-5
1941, 15% of the military had been in the Party, by 1945 50% of the military had been in the Party
How much of the economy did Germans capture during the War
1941: German occupied 63% of countrys coal, 68% of it’s iron, 58% of it’s steel, 45% of it’s railways and 41% of it’s arable land
+ scorched earth policy + 10% Soviet Factories were moved east in 1941
How many new factories were created especially for the war
3,500 new factories were created and thousands more existing manufacturing plants converted to war production
How did industry grow during the war
- Industrial grwoth were focused on military; 1942 military budget risen from 29% to 57% while munitions manufacture was 76% of all production
- 3500 new industrial enterprises in Urals over course of war
- Industrial output exceeded Germany by 1943 but T-43 tank Katsyusha and Yak-1 fighter aircraft were best weaponry produced
What was the size of the grain harvest of 1942 compared to 1940
Grain harvest of 1942 was only a third that of 1940; survival ensured by strict rationing
Russia lost 40% of agricultural output during the war
How did foreign aid help Russia in the war
2) In total 17.5 million tons of military equipment supplied; 94% coming from the USA
3) Under the Lend-Lease scheme; 11 billion dollars of aid (10% of GDP) was provided by the USA
4) By the end of the war, 427,000/665,000 vehicles in USSR came from overseas - about 65%
What did the 1941 law on mobilisation do
1941 law mobilised all undrafted workers for war work; men 16-55 and women 16-45 required to devote to war effort
How did working conditions change during the war
- pensioners, students, white collar workers encouraged to work in munitions factories
- Overtime became obligatory and holidays were suspended
- Working day was increased to 12 hours and average working week as 70-77 hours
- Factories placed under martial law with unauthorised absence punishable by death
What was the experience of soldiers
- Soldiers in captivity had his family’s military ration
Average daily death rate of soldiers was double that of allies - No equipment; 3 soldiers for every 2 rifles
What propotion of the USSR’s 25 million deaths were caused by starvation
Quarter of 25 million deaths in USSR was caused by starvation
What was published in Pravda and changed about the national anthem during the war as part of propoganda
- Deeply patriotic and violently anti-German letters were published in Pravada to inspire heroism and self-sacrifice
Good Morning and GN replaced with ‘I want to kill a German’
1943 the Internationale (socialist anthem) was replaced by a new nationalistic song of the Motherland
How did the war change artists freedoms and name some examples
- Artists enjoyed freedom in fostering an atmosphere of national-reconciliation and previously banned individuals were allowed to work again
- Maria Yudina was flown into Leningrad during the 1943 siege performing live and on the radio
Shostakovich’s ‘Leningrad’ Symphony no.7 which was performed at the height of the siege on 9th August 1912
What increased freedoms was the Church granted during the war
- Churches reopened and Russian Patriarch restored with clergy release fromp camps
- Stalin encouraged attendance and services became patriotic gathetings
- Priests blessed troops
How did wartime impact womens freedoms
- Taxes were increased for those with fewer than 2 children, restrictions on divorce tightened, aboriton forbidden, right to inherit family property re-established
1945 women half of all soviet workers and over 4/5th of land workers were female
What was the role of partisans during the war
- over a million partisans by 1945
- Zoya Kosmodemyanskya made ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ for refusing to betray her comrades
Pictures of her tortured body became forceful propaganda
What was the effect of the war on Stalin
- Reputation soared to a national superhero
- Deeply Paranoid
- Vinidcated processes and endevaoured to keep doing them
What happened to returning prisoners of wars or collaborations of the Germans
- returning prisoners-of-war tainted by Western ideology transferring them to Soviet camps; NKVD interrogated in funnel camps
- Collaborationist Soviet citizens + Coassakcs who had fought for Germany were wiped out
How did Government change after the war
- Gained satellite states + military power and as a popular ‘nationalist’ gov.
- To Stalin it vindicated direct coercive mobilisation + no desire to run the USSR any differently from the pre-war days
- Himself retained the two key posts of Head of Government and the Party Secretary
- Chose the same men to service in his Politburo in 1939: Vyascheslav Molotov, Kliment Voroshilov, Lazat Kaganovich, Anastas miyokan, Andrei Andreyev and Nikita Kruschev
Last years of Stalin saw a return to the methods of the 1930s
How did the war impact the people of russia
- By end of the war, 25 million people had nothing but wooden huts to live in
- Acheivements of the 1930s had been destoryed
How many of the prisoners of war were allowed to return hands
20% allowed to return home
* Out of 5 million,3 million sentenced to gulags
How much higher was the USSR’s mortality rate and death count
- total count (27 million) was 80 times USA or Britain
- Mortality rate for Russian soldiers was twice as bad
How did the USSR become a world superpower
- Ussr had grown larger with the annexation of new territory within the next 4 years it was to establish a series of Soviet satellite States in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Eastern Germany
- Participation in wartime summit meetings and it’s possession of an atom bomb in 1949
How as the structure of the Communist Party changed after Wartime
- the military reputation was too high
- Wartime institution such as the GKO was dissolved on 4th September 1945
- Military heirachy downgraded as Stalin personally took the role of Minister of Defence and high-ranking officers were moved into inferior posts
e.g. Zukhov sent to military command in Odessa and lost position on Cnetral Committee
What is an example of figures being played off against each other
- Andreo Zhdanov became Stalin’s closest adviosr by challenging the policy of Stalin’s closest war time aide Georgi Malenkov with an invistigation condemnding Malenkov’s actions
- Further conflict occurred when Zhdanov supppoted the Berlin Blockade while Malenkov rgued for a more moderate path so Malenkov was reappointed and Zhdanov’s supporters demoted
How did Stalin’s personal power change after the war
Stalin remained as Head of Government and Party. Despire election of new Politburo, Secretariat and Orgburo,
Stalin relied increasinly on his private secretariat to bypass others and exert his direct authority
How many times did the Party of Congress + the Central Committee respectively meet between 1939-52
Party Congress meant to be very 3 years but no meetings
Central Committee only 6 full meetings
Politburo reduced to advisory board
What was the new style of member of the Party
- New members recruited from administrative ranks rather than peasants
- The new men who came to dominate local politics were cautious and careful; they waited for offical policy and became faceless bureaucrats unwilling to act unless they were assured of the backing of higher authority
- Stalin reduced Party Autonomy to reduce it to a mere chain of command
What was the Zhdanovschina
- Zhdanovshchina launched by Andre Zhdanov to launch a cultural purge in 1946
- Feared increased Westernisation so condemned as burgeois while Russian was supeior
- Began with purge of satirist Mikhail Zoshchenko as the monkey was percieved to be anti Soviet
What happened to Anna Akhmatova, Boris Plasternak, Shostakovich and Doestoevsky during the Zhdanovschina
Anna Akhmatova’s poetry described as ‘poisonous’
* Boris Pasternak was also condemned for ‘apolitical poems’ and his mistress sent to a gulag
* Doestoevsky was removed from sale as its heroes lacked socialist qualities
Dmitry Shostakovich accused of ‘rootless cosmopolitanism’
What happened to Anti Semitism during the Zhdanovschina
Anti-Semitism flourished; nazi atoricities didn’t mention Jews and last Jewish newspaper were closed down
Dec 1952: Stalin tells a meeting of the central committee that ‘every Jew is a spy for the USA’
How did the Zhdanoschina affect the sciences
- Communist values also dominated the study of the sciences while Stalin’s own theories were published and unchallenged; normal to start and end paper with Stalin’s own thoughts
e.g. Zhdanov restated his support for the theories of the condemned Lysenko
What was the Feb 1947 Law against foreigners
Feb 1947 a law assed outlawing hotels and marriages to foreigners; Restaurants were watched by police for soviet girls who met foreign men
- Based on obsessive fear of ideological contamination
- American Journalist Harrsion Salisbury said in 1949 no one would step near him who had talked to him just 5 years back
How did the Terror in this period of High Stalinism compare to the 1930s
Terror not as great as 30s but tens of thousands were arrested annually and convicted of ‘counter-revoloutionary’ actvities
How did Stallin deal with those who fell out of favour
- Stalin dealt with those who fell out of favour by removing them from history
- Existence was written out of history books using airburshing e.g. Great Soviet Encylopedia
Books that didnt follow the State narrative of history like A History of European Philosophy by G.F. Alexandrov were banned
What was the Leningrad Case 1949
- 1949 took a stand against the independent ‘Leningrad party’
- On false evidence, leading officials such as Head of Gosplan and Voznesensky who also had a position in the Politburo
What was the Leningrad Case 1949
- 1949 took a stand against the independent ‘Leningrad party’
- On false evidence, leading officials such as Head of Gosplan and Voznesensky who also had a position in the Politburo
How was jewish ‘opposition’ crushed by Stalin
- Israel being pro-US made him revert to Anti-Semitic and said all Soviet jews were a fith column
- Rienforced by arrival of Israeli ambassador to the USSR, Golda Meir in 1948 being cheered by Jews wherever she went
- Director of the Jewish Theatre in Moscow, Solomon Mikhoels killed in a car accident arranged by the MVD
- **Jewish wives of Politburo **members Molotov and Kalinin **arrested **
What was the Mingrelian Case (Georgian Purge)
- 1951 purge launched in Georgia directed against the followers of Lavrenti Beria
Purge remained unclear and was still in progress when Stalin died it seems that the ‘Mingrelian Case’ was to weaken the authority of Beria
What was the Doctors Plot of 1952
- Stalin accussed jewish doctors of Zionist conspiracy in pay of USA to murder Zhdanoc
- Stalin threatened his Minister of State Security, Nikolai Igantiev, with execution if he did not obtain confessions so he arrested and tortured hundreds of doctors
- Thousands of Jews were deported to remote regions with new networks of Labour camps
non-Jews feared to ener hospitals and shunned all Jewish professionals
- Thousands of Jews were deported to remote regions with new networks of Labour camps
How did the cult of personality develop after 1945
- Stalin had a god-like status; made as the world’s greatest genius in al subjects
- Customary for first and last paragraph of any book to be devoted to Stalin’s genius in a subject matter
- 1948 biogrpahy of Stalin exalted him as the modern Lenin and leading Marxist theortician
- On his 70th bday newspapers were given over to his priase and in Red Square in Moscow, a giant portrait of Stalin was suspended in the sky, illuminated by halo of searchlights
- Towns vied to use Stalins name (Stalingrad,Stalinsk, Stalinabad, Stalinogorsk)
- Stalin prizes created for artistic and scientific work
What did Stalin do as he got closer to his death
- Stalin was increasingly frail and spent his time watching films, drinking and made no attempt to apppoint a successor
- Krushchev announced that the Orguburo was to be abolished and the Politburo replaced by an enlarged Presidum; hints at another purge
What was the February 1946 Bolshoi Theatre
- In February 1946 in his Bolshoi Theatre speech, his first major speech of the postwar era Stalin dashed the hopes of a relaxing of legislation
He announced that in view of the imperialist danger that continued to threaten Russia, the country would have to endure at least three or four more Five-Year plans.
Talked of the inevitable war with capitalism
How did Stalin gain control of the eastern european block
The percentages agreement meant he had significant influence
How did Stalin establish communist governments
- In Poland installed the polish committee of national liberation
Arrested 40,000 polish anti-communists
‘Salami Tactics’ to create ‘octobers’ in Hungary and Czechoslovakia
What was the period of collective leadership after Stalin’s death
Size of presidium cut to 10 and of those 5 men formed the new collective leadership:
* Malenkov
* Beria
* Molotov
* Voroshilov
* Khrushchev
Who was Georgi Malenkov 1892-1988
part of the 5-man Defence Council during the war.
1946 became deputy Prime minister and full Presidium member.
One of Stalin’s favourite apparatchiki- Stalin liked to talk about old ties with him.
Leaned towards reform and exercised a brief period of leadership after ‘53 but expelled from Presidium in ‘57 and Party in ‘61
Who was Lavrenti Beria (1899-1953)
Replaced Yezhov as head of NKVD, following his purge. An intelligent, ruthless opportunist man who’s powers increased in the war years and he was rewarded with a position as deputy Preme Minister and Politburo member in 1946
Who was Nikita Segreyevich Krushchev (1894-1971)
Peasant Origins from Kolinov (teacher called it the poorest town ever).
1935 he was Secretary of the Moscow Regional Committee where he organised the Moscow underground.
1938-47, he was in Ukraine, assisting in the military opreation at Kursk.
He entered the Politburo in 1939 and in 1947, and was chosen to supervise the agricultural production.
He went on to become First Secretary of the Communist Party 1953-64
What happened in 1952 in the Leadership Struggle
October: Presidium begins debate on succession
What happened in 1953 in the Leadership Struggle
- March: Stalin dies; Malenkov takes leadership as Chariman of Council of Ministers and General Secretary of the Party, but a week later is replaced as General Secretary by Khrushchev and a collective leadership is established
- June: Beria is arrested
December: Beria is executed
What happened from 1954 - 8 in the leadership struggle
1954
- Krushchev launches his Virgin Lands Scheme
1955
* Feb: Malenkov is replaced by Bulganin as Chairman of Council of Ministerrs
1957
- June: Anti-Party Group tries to oust Krushchev, but fails and is purged
- Zhukov is dismissed
1958
March: Bulganin is forced to resign
How did Krushchev get the role of Party Secretary
- It was announced on 6 March 1953 that Malenkov would combine his roles of Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Chairmen of the Council of Ministers, but within a few days his rivalls had forced him to step down as Party Secretary
This post was taken by Nikita Krushchev
What happened to Lavrenti Beria
Beria emerged as the leader who was most anxious to depart from Stalinist policies
malenkov and other presidium members including Krushchev conspired against him and arranged Beria’s arrest in ‘53
- Anti-Beria campaignedd was conducted in the press and was accussed of ‘criminal anti-party and anti-State activities’ to be tried and executed on 24th December 1953
How were malenkov and Krushchev split on role of the party and policy
- Malenkov, placed government>party, with Molotov’s backing, to use his influence to launch a ‘new course’; change collectivism, reduce peasant taxes and put more investment into consumer goods
- Krushchev placed Party>government, offered a less radical proposal for parallel development of heacy and light industry, portrayed as an agricultural expert to launch his Virgin Lands Scheme early in 1954; success helped give him support
Who did Khrushchev enlist after Malenkov found himself isolated after 1955 and forced to step down as Chairmen of the Council of Ministers
- Bulganin; one of a number Khrushchev had been promoting
- Acted as joint leaders until 1958
How did Khrushchev deal with the threat of the ‘Anti-Party’ group in 1957
- Majority voted for his removal but Krushchev took the matter to the Central Committee, where he ensured those favourable to himsself were brought to Moscow
- He also benefitted from the** support of Marshal Zukho**v who was now deputy Minister of Defence and brought Red Amry support; he spoke out against Malenkov, Molotov and their supporter Kaganovich who became known as the ‘anti-Party’ group were then expelled from the Central committee while Zukhov was rewarded with Presidium seats
What did Khrushchev do to Georgi Zukhov
Krushchev in Oct 1957 dismissed Zukhov and launched a porpoganda caampaign accussing of him creating a cult of personality
What did Khrushchev do to Bulganin
In 1958, Bulganin was accused of encouraging the anti-Party group and forced to step down as Krushchev took over as Premier; allowing him to have the top two jobs in Party and in Government
What destalinisation and cultural thaw happened before the 20th Party Congress
- Krushchev reversing Stlainist policies
- Doctor’s plot accussed were released
- Beria + police + gulag system attack
- a cultural ‘thaw’ appeared with a lightening of restriction on literature
Why did Khrushchev do the 20th Party Congress speech in a ‘closed session’
- Most of the Presiidium welcomed a dismantling ot the Stalinist terror but many had been involved and didn’t wished to be implicated
- Thus Krushchev was persuaded to speak out against Stalin in a ‘closed session’
What was Khrushchev ‘On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences’ Speech at the
- Khrushchev gave a blistering attack accusing him of responsibility for the purges and causing tremendous harm to the cause of socialist progress
- he quoted Lenin’s testament to illustrate Stalin’s betrayal of Leninist principles (implied Malenkov and Molotov was his accomplicies) and blamed Stalin for the murder of Kirov
- Speech met with resounding applause, copies were sent to foreign parties and filtered down the USSR Ranks, youngers demanded justice
What continuity did Khrushchev’s speech have with Stalin
- The speech paid little attention to the purging of ordinary soviet citizens and accepted economic controls, accepted economic controls, strong leadership, a single party and the elimination of factions as perfectly legitimate
- This there was a good deal of continuity as there was no wish to incriminate those like Khrushchev who had benefitted from the Stalinist Community
How did the Party change after Stalin’s death
- Under Stalin, both Party and state governmental instiutions had become more ‘rubber-stamping organisations’ dependent on Stalin
With the leadership struggle they assumed renewed importance as centres for debate along with the police that competed for influence - though Beria’s execution in ‘53 stopped this
What 2 measures did Khrushchev undertake with regards to government
1) Democratisation - this would involve weakening the traditional bureaucracy to give more responsibility to the people
2) Decentralisation - giving more intiative to localities
