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
What were examples of the implementation of thesedemocratisation and decentralisation
1) 1962: Party split into urban and rural sections at all levels
2) New rules issued e.g. limiting length of Party Officials
3) Membership was expanded: 7 million 1956 –> 11 million 1964
4) Role of the local soviets augmented and comrade courts to handle minor offences were revived
5) Non-Party members were encouraged to take supervisory roles and some were invited to Party congresses
6) Krushchev visited villages and towns
7) Economic decentralisation pursued
What were examples of the implementation of these 2 measures
1) 1962: Party split into urban and rural sections at all levels
2) New rules issued e.g. limiting length of Party Officials
3) Membership was expanded: 7 million 1956 –> 11 million 1964
4) Role of the local soviets augmented and comrade courts to handle minor offences were revived
5) Non-Party members were encouraged to take supervisory roles and some were invited to Party congresses
6) Krushchev visited villages and towns
7) Economic decentralisation pursued
How did Khrushchev decentralise the Party
- Closing 60 Moscow ministries and giving greater economic control to 15 SR’s
- 1957: 105 Sovnarkhozy (regional councils)
- Creating a Khrushchev patronage network across the country
- Partially independent judicial system - revivial of comrade courts
- Size of KGB reduced + brought directly under gov. control
How much did the War destroy the USSR’s industrial capacity
- destroyed 70% of it’s industrial capacity + ruined workforce
What was Cominform
communist information bureau to establish Soviet control over eastern bloc
What was Comecon
coordinate economic growth of countries inside the Soviet bloc
How did the Cold War impact the economy
- Refusal of the Marshall Aid
- Large defence spending, especially for the atom bomb
- Lend Lease stopped
What was the industrial aims of the 4th 5 Year Plan 1946-50
- Catch up with the US
- Rebuild heavy industry and transport
- Revive the Ukraine; 1/3 of expenditure was allocated here
How were the industrial aims of the Fourth Five Year Plan 1946-50 implemented
- Extensive Reparations from East Germany
- Maintenance of wartime controls on labour - long hours, low wages, high targets, female labour
- Grand Projects- canals and HEP plants
What were the industrial results of the Fourth Five Year Plan 1946-50
- USSR became 2nd to the USA in industrial capacity
- National income was 61% higher in 1950 than before the war
- Production doubles, urban workforce increased from 67 to 77 million (1941-52)
- By 1947, Dnieper Dam power station in action again
- got nuclear bomb
What were the industrial aims of the Fifth 5 Year Plan 1951-5
- Continuation of development of heavy industry and transport
but
Post 1953 (Stalin’s death) under Malenkov (new course) consumer goods, housing and services received stronger investment
What were the industrial details of the Fifth 5 Year Plan
- Resources diverted to rearmamnet during the Korean War (1950-3)
After Stalin’s death, Malenkov reduced expenditure of the military + heavy industry
What were the industrial results of the fifth 5 Year Plan
- Most growth targets met
- National income increased 71%
Malenkov’s changes met opposition resulting in his loss of leadership in 1955
By 1953 why had growth slowed
- Out of touch Ministers in Moscow set different industrial targets for each enterprise
- Too few administrators
- Encouraged to just match targets, exceeding targets meant targets were raised the next year as managers preferred to ‘play safe’
-
Output targets assessed by weight –> heavy goods preferred over light
Inefficient allocation –> increasing amounts of investment needed
What important economic decentralisation policies took place in 1957
1) Sixty Moscow ministries abolished
2) USSR divided into 105 economic regions, each with its own local economic council (sovnarkhoz)
What is the evaluation of these economic decentralisation policies
- Reforms had ulterior motive; removed Malenkov’s men in ministries and extended Krushchev’s patronage network in the localities
- Still needed degree of central planning
What was the aims of the 7 year plan; eventually merged into a 7th five year plan 1961-5
- emphasis on improving standards of living for ordinary people with a 40-hour week and a 40% wage rise promised by 1965
- Expansion of chemicals industry e.g. plastics, fertilisers and artificial fibres #
- Housing factories to produce prefabricated sections for new flats
- Increased production of consumer goods
- Greater exploitation of USSR’s resources - natural gas, oil and coal - and building of power station s
What impressed onlookers at the Brussels World Fair in 1958
Soviet technology and communications amazed the world at the Brussels World Fair in 1958:
How did transport change under Khrushchev
- Air transport was expanded and the Aeroflot corporation was subsidised to offer long-distance passenger travel
e.g. it was said a peasant could afford to buy an air ticket to travel 200 miles to Moscow to sell his produce and still make a profit
- In 1959, icebreaker Lenin was launched, this was the world’s first civil nuclear-powered ship
How did space travel develop under Khrushchev
In 1957, the USSR launched the Earth’s first artificial satellite (Sputnik), 1959 pictures of the dark side of the moon
Russian space science made continuous advances; April 1961 Yuri Gagarin
How did House-Building change under Khrushchev
- Given to local authority to plan specifics
- Families could stay in apartment blocks about 16 square metres
- Had running water, electricity, central heating sewage system
- Neighborhoods were designed as self-sufficient subregions, each having its own school, hospital, and grocery stores, as well as a lot of green spaces and parks within walking distance
How much did living space across the Soviet Union increase from 1956-63
640 million square metres –> 1.2 billion square metres
How did the construction industry show the effectiveness of Khrushchev’s decentralisation methods
Upon decentralisation:
* Construction costs for apartments decreased by 25%
* Employment in construction increased 4x
* Buildings completed 2x faster than in the past`
How many apartments were built in the 8 years from 1956-64
more than in the previous 40 years, encouraged people to move until eventually more people lived in city
How much did TV sets and refigerators increase from 1955-65
TV Sets x7
Refrigerators x11
Evaluate Krushchev’s developments in Industry
- Decentralisation added another layer of patronage
- Narrrowed gap w US but still massive
- From 1958 growth slowed to 7%
–> particularly consumer industry growth declined to 2% in 1964 - Cash registers used abacuses
How did the war effect Russian agriculture
- Scorched earth in the war meant only a third of farms were left operational
- 1945 harvest, produced less than 60% of pre-war harvests and 1946 saw the worst drought experienced since 1891
- 2/3 of the agricultural labour force had gone, animals destroyeed and no machinery
What were the agricultural aims of the 4th Five Year Plan (1946-50)
- Force the kolkhozes to deliver agricultural products
Revive the wheat fields of the Ukraine (1/3 of expenditure spent there)
What were the details of the implementation of the agricultural aims of the 4th Five Year Plan (1946-50)
- Massive state direction: high quotas for grain and livestock/low peasant wages
- Higher taxes on private produce, and private land expanded in war absorbed back into kolkhozes
- Tree plantations, canals, irrigation
Ideas of Trofim Lysenko
What were the agricultural results of the 4th Five Year Plan 1946-50
- State procured 70% of 1946 harvest causing a million peasants to die of starvaion
- Output of kolkhozez increased but not to 1930s levels
- Half of output came from private plots
- Lysenko inaccurate
What were the agricultural aims of the 5th Five Year Plan 1951-55
Aims:
Continuation of 4th five year plan’s aims plus Krushchevs intiative to develop ‘virgin lands’ and build ‘agrocities’ from 1953
What were the agricultural details of the 5th Five Year Plan 1951-55
- High procurement levels maintained
- Expansion of argument in formerly uncultivated areas
How was agricultural output upon Stalin’s death
agricultural output on same level as 1926-29, produced 375 million tons less grain stock than had been produced in 1940
* 1952, soviet citizens consumed:
- 3 times less meat, fish, sugar
- Five times les fruit
Than Americans, but 4x more potato
What were the agricultural results from the Fifth 5 Year Plan
- Agricultural production still behind industry and not yet to the level of 1940
- Sheeps and goats; doubled from 1945-50
- Pigs; tripled in same period
How did Krushchev differ from Stalin’s agricultural policy
· Criticised Stalin’s unreliable statistics and practices; saying it was worse than Tsarist Russia
· Khrushchev put investment and reform but handed implementation into hands of the local Party organisations
· Ministry of Agriculture’s powers were reduced so that it became little more than a consultative and advisory body
What 10 changes did Khrushchev introduce to incentivise peasants to produce more
1) Increased price paid for state procurements of grain,rose 25% between 1953-6
2) State procurement+Private Plot quotas were reduced
3) Taxes were reduced
4) Peasants who did not possess animals were no longer required to deliver meat to the state
5) Collectives allowed to set their own production targets and how they use their land
6) Increase in the number of farms connected to electricity
8) 1962 campaign for the increased use of chemical fertiliser
9) Increase in the use of farm machinery from MTS
10) Encouragement to merge collectives to create larger farms; number of collectives halved from 1950-60, while the number of state farms increased
What was the Virgin Lands Scheme and how many hectares of ‘virgin land’ had been ploughed by 1956
- increase production by cultivating grazing lands in western Siberia and northern Kazakhstan that had not been used
- Komosomol helped this; by 1956 35.9 million hecatres of ‘virgin land’ had been ploughed for wheat; the total cultivated area of Canada
What other agricultural campaigns did Khrushchev engage him
- Khrushchev also launched several campaigns for new crops such as maize due to its high tonnage per acre
He also encouraged cornflakes and a campaign against private cows
What other agricultural campaigns did Khrushchev engage him
- Khrushchev also launched several campaigns for new crops such as maize due to its high tonnage per acre
He also encouraged cornflakes and a campaign against private cows
How much did Cereal, Meat and Milk increase by 1652-64
- Cereal; 1.3x
- Meat; 1.75x
Milk; 1.75x
However Khrushchev’s target of 180 million tons of cereal was not met
Why was the Virgin Lands Scheme and other schemes ineffective in the long run
Climatic conditions not taken into account + land was worked so intensively + w/o any rotation of wheat with other crops = Land erosion took place and the soil rapidly became infertile; 20% of cultivated land produced no harvest + no hay
Tractors ineffecitve as few farmers could carry out repairs –> MTS made into repair palce
Maize grown in unsuitable conditions
State officials kept altering prices; hard for farmers to plan
How important were the private plots despite being only 3% of the total cultivated area
Private plots still made 50% of a peasants private income and contributed over 30% of the produce sold in the USSR
What did the 1963 bad harvest do
1963 bad harvest meant the USSR was forced to import grain for the first time and from the US
What government decision have contribtued to the 1963 bad harvests
decision to give Kolhoz workers passports
–> urban growth by 48%
How many more televisisons, refigerators and cars did American citizens buy compared to USSR’s
Americans purchased 7x as many televisions,11x refigerators, 73x as many cars
1958: Soviet average income was 1/4 of an americans
What did grain shortages lead to in Novocherkassak in 1962
demonstrations in Novocherkassk in 1962 with a brutal State Reaction leading to a massacre with 26 unarmed protesters machine-gunned and 87 wounded
What was the intial success of the Virgin Lands Scheme
Harvest of 1956 - 125 million tons of grain - was a record for the USSR and more than half of it came from the Virgin Lands
Yields were 65% higher than previous years
How did the Virgin Lands Scheme affect machine farming across Russia
- 20,000 tractos moved in Sprin 1954 to vrigin lands, next year it reached 200,000
- But they were often not able to be repaired
- led to decline vehicles in use in Soviet Union from 1958-61; first time in 12 years
How did the 4th and 5th Five Year Plans under Stalin affect standards of living
- Peasants were squeezed by the quotas and lived on an income that was 20% less than that of an industrial worker
- In the towns, diets were poor and housing, services and consumer goods were in short supply
- The working week remained at its wartime levels with a norm of 12 hours per day
- Wage differentials –> higher wages for Party officials
- Women were expected to make up for the war dead
By 1950 how much higher was real household consumption than in 1928
only a 1/10th higher
What was the effect of the devaluation of the rouble in 1947
cash had to be exchanged 10:1 for new roubles
Wiped out savings, little left for investment or consumption of ‘white goods’
How did working hours change under Khrushchev
· 1960 working hours reduced to 72(under Stalin) –> 40 hours
How were women incentivised to have babies under Khrushchev
· Built Childcare facilities, boarding schools
* Paid pregnancy leavee increased to 77 days to 112 days
How did pensions change under Khrushchev
· July 1956 Law on State Pensions; pensions doubled, decreased the pensions age
but only applied to factory workers until Khrushchev changed it in 1964 to also apply to peasants for the first time
How did wages change under Khrushchev
· Workers rages from 78 –> 96 (1958-65)
Real wages increased by 60% in the decade
USSR lowest wage gap in any other highly industrialised country
How did Khrushchev make education more accessible
- Length of working day of teenagers reduced to a maximum of 6 hours a day
- Abolished tuition fees for education
How fast did Khrushchevkas take to make
Khrushchevkas took** only 50 days to construct**
40% housing rate growth (fastest in the world)
How did cultural expression change under Stalin from 1945-53
· Post- War years saw the Zhdanovschina during which censorship had grown tighter
Ethnic minorities had no freedom of cultural expression
What was the cultural thaw under Khrushchev
· De-Stalinisation accompanied by a thaw on restrictions of freedoms
· Restrictions on foreign literature + radio were lifted
What happened to Anna akhmatovta during the cultural thaw
Could finally publish her book Requiem in 1963 that she had writted from 1935-40
What cultural and sports tours accompanied the cultural thaw
televisions showin intentional performances suhc as the Kirov Ballet, Moscow State Circus and the Moscow Dynamos football team
What was Intourist
Intourist, through which foreigners could visit the USSR
How wmany people attened the World Festival of Youth staged in Moscow in 1947
attended by 34,000 people from 131 different countries- or through radio/TV
How did the cultural thaw affect young people
· Young people saw the Western jazz,dress and behaviour as modern as exciting
‘Tarzan movies did more for de-stalinisation than Khrushchev’s 20th Party Congress Speech’
· Even a Soviet version of the ‘Teddy Boys’- the stiliagi
· Universities saw boycotting and protests
What did poet Joseph Brodsky state about the effect of the Tarzan movies
‘Tarzan movies did more for de-stalinisation than Khrushchev’s 20th Party Congress Speech’ - poet joseph brodsky
What did a s urvey carried out by Soviet authorities in 1061 say about the youth’s attitude to the October Revolution
· A survey barried out by Soviet authorities in 1961 showed that the majority of young people were cynical about the ideals of the October Revolution and were more motivated by material ambitions
Considering that 55% of the population were under 30, this was an exsistential threat
What were Trud classes introduced in 1954
- 1954-5 classes called Trud orr Labour itnroduced and practical lessons and workshoops
- Developed into mechanical + eletrical engineering
- As well as agricultural lessons to be implemented into the agarian
What were internats
internats, a network of borading schools for orphans + poor families
* Internats would be the ‘builders of a new society’; 320,000 students enrolled by 1960
* They also broke down ethnic and culturral traditions- creating the Soviet man
What reforms were made to the centralised university admissions system under Khrushchevv
- 1957: school gold medalists (students with straight A) and w 2 years exp didn’t have to take tests
- Reforms made to increase propotion of uni students from peasant + worker background and all industry + agricutural sites had resereved university positions
What were the effects of Khrushchev’s university reforms designed to combine work and school
- 1958: 70% of students in uni had 2 years of work exp.
a decline in enrolled students who finished 79.7% 1953-4 –> 1959-60 59% graduated (requirement to both work and study)
What was the counter to the growing Stilyagi culture
The young communists of the Komosomol
How did Khrushchev treat those persecuted in the Zhdanovschina
rehabilitated those persecuted in the Zhdanovschina like the compose Shostakovich, writers Akhmatova
What did Khrushchev do with Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn
Help him publish ‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ in 1962 described gulag conditions and acheieved over a million sales in 6 months
How was artistic expression still limited during Khrushchev
- Could critique Stalinism but not Marxist-Leninism
What happened to Boris Pasternack
Banned Doctor Zhivago won the Nobel Prize
· Pasternack apologised twice in Pravda and declined the prize
· His funeral in 1960 turned into a political demonstration where one of his banned poems was read
How did Khrushchev treat the Church
- Orthodox Church lost most of the rights; 1960 removal of the Chaimen of Council of Orthodox Church affairs with a much more atheist officer
- Metropolitan Nikolai who was the intermediary between council and church was removed and not replaced
Banning of chuch attendance of anyone under 18
By 1959 how many churches and seminaries had Khrushchev shut down
1959: half of 20,000 churches closed + 5/8 seminaries closed
How did Khurshchev supress use of Yiddish
- Yiddish Schools not reopened
- Only 71 books in yiddish from 1959-71 and only one yiddish newspaper
- Younger Jews had little command of yiddish
What % of the Central committee was Jewish in 1939 compared to 1960s
1939 10% of Central Committee was Jewish –> 1960s only 1 jew
none in Politburo
What % of Jews were in University in 1939 compared to 1962
ews made up 13.3% of Soviet University in 1935 –> 3% by 1962
How many Jews left Russia in 1957
1957 Soviet Jews only 100 allowed outt of 1000 applying - denied jews called *refusenik *
How much did domestic tourist packages to the Black Sea and Aral Sea cost compared to the real cost
Soviet Citizens only paid 10-20% of the real cost
How much did domestic tourist packages to the Black Sea and Aral Sea cost compared to the real cost
Soviet Citizens only paid 10-20% of the real cost
What allowed over a million visistors to the Soviet Union
- 1956 SU cultural agreements w Beligum Norway, Uk, France and USA
- Provisions for tourism, scientific and cultural exchange
Intourism
What does Robert Heinlin say about the true purpose of Intourism
- Robert Heinlin visited USSR in 1960 wrote Inside Intoruism’ poor exchange rate and bad infastructure
’ Collect payment in advance and not provide the service they had payed for’
What were the Cosmonaughts
Those who had been to space like Gagrain Tereskova, Ieonov and Korlov
How was the Space Race utilised as propoganda
- Showed Russia to be more technically advanced than the US (RAND) and made American Public fearful
- Soviet Citizens felt immense pride
How were Cosmonaughts used as propoganda
- Statues of Stalin replaced by Cosmonaughts
- Portrayed as the ‘super ideal’ of communism
- Visited over 22 countries - 3 million in Calcutta
- Children inspired to be Cosmonaughts
The influence of the Space Race led to how much of an increase in circulation of the Journal of Life Sciences
100,00 circulations to 1.75 million by 1965
How did the thaw promote greater opposition
- Thaw saw the return of greater intellectual freedom to create a new group of cultural dissidents utilising the arts to promote greater rights and democracy
- Not outright physical opposition
What were the 2 methods of evading Soviet censorship in publishing
tamizdat: published work abroad hoping it could be smuggled into Russia e.g. Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago. CIA helped get in material
Samizdat: labouriously duplicating material by hand, typewriter or illegal press; very dangerous
e.g. done by underground societies such as ‘The Youngest Society of Geniuses’ a student group set up in the ’60s that produced a journal The Sphinxes, which contained collections of prose and poetry
What did the monument to satirical poet Vladmir Mayakovksy in Moscow attract
became a place of regular readings known as the Mayak in Mayakovsky Square and were popular among students and intelligentsia
What happened at the Mayak in 1941
- In 1961, some of the regular attenders were arrested for political activity such as Vladmir Bukovsky and Edward Kuznetsov
What happened to Alexander Ginzburg’s dissident magazine Synxtaxis
arrested in 1960 and sent to labour camps on 3 separate occasions between 1961-9 for exposing human rights abuses and demanding reforms
How did authorities commonly deal with dissidents
- Accused them of being crazy
- 1961: 130,000 people were identified as leading an ‘anti-social parasitic way of life’
e.g. Nobel Laureate Joseph Brodsky was charged with ‘social parasitism’ and sentenced to 5 years exile in Archangel
What were illegal musical recordings known as
Magnitzdat; often wasa jazz/rock/soul or Western pop
What was Yully Kim’s ‘Moscow Kitchens’
told how subversive thought was passed around in society
What was Khrushchev’s opinion on non-conformist art
Krushchev disapproved of non comformist art on his attendance to the Manzeh Art Exhibition
What did Erik Bulatov form
Erik Bulatov founded the ‘Sretensky Boulevard Group’ including people such as Oleg Vassiliev and Ilya Kabakov
Non-conformist artists weren’t regarded as much of a threat and most took up part-time jobs to not be scrutininsed too much
What did the famous ballet dancer Rundolf Nureye do
He defected in Paris in 1961
What did the treatment of Malenkov symbolise about the change in the treatment of oppsoition
- Malenkov became director of a HEP station in Kazakhstan
- People at most expelled, never shot like in Stalin years
By 1956 how many political prisoners had been rehabilitated back into society
8-9 million humously or posthumously political prisoners were rehabilitated
around 2 million returned from gulags and another 2 million from special settlements between 1953-60
By 1957, what % of the Soviet prison population was political prisoners
By 1957, only 2% of Soviet prison populations were political prisoners
What are the 6 main reasons for Khrushchev’s fall from power
- How did contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Decentralisation
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Military
- Foreign Policy
How did a personal style of leadership contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Leadership was more collective after Stalin
- Accused of ‘one-man style’ and nepotism - son in law
- Embarassing behaviour - 1960 UN General Assembly banged the table with a shoe
How did decentralisation contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Upset central party members who lost jobs (shut down 60 Moscow Ministries)
- Regional Party secretaries offended by way the responsibilities had been divided up
- Khrushev’s demand that a 1/4 of the Central Committee be renewed at every election threatened their influence
How did agriculture contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Failure of Virgin Lands Scheme
- 1963 imports from USA
- Seen as Khrushchev’s personal strength but he failed
How did industry contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Decision to promote consumer goods and reduce arms spending alienated influential heavy industry
How did the military contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Khrushchev reduced defence spending after acheiving the atomic bomb
How did foreign policy contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Percieved failure in handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Personally blamed for poor relations with Communist China
How did foreign policy contribute to Khrushchev’s fall from power
- Percieved failure in handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Personally blamed for poor relations with Communist China
What did Khrushchev do with his son in law Alexi Adzhubel
· He was given special favours such as the** editor of Izvestia** and had a direct telephone line to Khrushchev’s office
· Elected to the Central Committee
· He was used to speak to foreign Diplomats in preference the the dour Foreign minister
He was even used by Khrushchev to arrange a visit to West germany in 1964
How was Khrushchev removed from power
· Khrushchev received an urgent call for a emergency Presidium meeting on 13th October 1964
· At the meeting his former supporters voiced their criticisms
· Khrushchev refused to resign but was denied access to the media which might have enabled him to whip up popular support - two of his supporters were the editor of Pravda and head of the state radio
· The next day Khrushchev was forced to resign
· The next day Suslov stood up to read a damning list of his shortcomings, and resolutions were passed by which Brezhnev became First Secretary and Alexi Kosygin became Premier
Within the USSR Izvetsia (edited by Khrushchev’s son-in-law) was suppressed on the day the resignation was announced so only Pravda and the radio announced his retirement
What did Pravda denounce Khrushchev for
Weeks later Pravda denounced Krushchev for his ‘hare-brained schemes, half-baked conclusions, hasty decisions, unrealistic actions, bragging, phrase-mongering and bossiness’
After 1962 how did hardliners in the Presidium tighten control over criticism of Stalinism
Khrushchev personally ordered the publication of Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich to undermine the hardliners to which the hardliners prevented any more copies of Soslzhenitsyn’s novels afet 1962
How did Khrushchev deal with opposition at the 22nd Party congress
- Molotov and Kaganovich were expelled at the 22nd Party Congress
- However, other hardlines such as Suslov continued oppsition within the party
