The Struggle for Power Flashcards
Who was Stalin?
General Secretary of the Communist Party
- responsible for the day-to-day running of the Party
- responsible for the appointment and dismissal of key members
How did Stalin rise to power?
- used his position as GS to appoint officials who supported him and remove known Trotsky supporters (to build up a power base)
- controlled meetings to isolate Trotsky
Lenin’s will and testament
- Testament kept secret
- Avoided opposition from Lenin’s supporters
- Claiming to be close to Lenin
- Political manipulation
- Socialism in 1 country
Lenin’s funeral
- Edited photos together
- Presented himself as Lenin’s key follower
- Tricked Trotsky into not attending Lenin’s funeral
- Claimed to be close to Lenin
Socialism in 1 country
- Cunning plan to make Trotsky resign
- People supported his motion
- Political difference over whether there should be ‘socialism in one country’ or ‘permanent revolution’ encouraged elsewhere
Zinoviev and Kamenev & Tomsky and Rykov
- Led Bolsheviks against each other & to their expulsion and death (eventually)
- Support for NEP as it was successful and Lenin founded it
- Political difference over whether there should be ‘socialism in one country’ or ‘permanent revolution’ encouraged elsewhere
Assassination of Trotsky
- Removed chief rival and obvious successor
- Hitman Ramon Mercador, in Mexico
- Building up supporters
- Criticises the NEP and then supports it as it was successful and Lenin founded it (political manipulation)
- rumours of his non-Bolshevik past
In early 1924, Josef Stalin seemed most unlikely to rise to the top. Yet, by 1929, he had politically defeated and neutralised all his main rivals - all of whom had seemed much more likely candidates for the leadership after Lenin’s death.
What were the weaknesses of Trotsky against Stalin?
- Jewish and was a Menshevik (seen as outsider by many party members)
- Resigned as commander of the Red Army (was in a powerful position to remove rivals)
- Permanent Revolution was unpopular
- Intellectual wins in debates (didn’t like forming secret alliances and agreements with colleagues)
- lacked urgency to become leader
- underestimated Stalin (grey blur)
What are the names of all the secret police?
- Tsar - Okhrana (-1917)
- Provisional Government - no secret police
- Bolsheviks - (1917 December - 1934)
§ Cheka
§ GPU
§ OGPU
§ NKVD - Bolsheviks (-1934) - KGB
Purges
- began in 1932
- became more violent in 1934
- used NKVD
- Stalin purged anyone who held up, criticised or opposed his plans for collectivisation of agriculture and industrialisation
- most of accused were deported or imprisoned (some were shot)
- after arrests, victims were interrogated (their ‘confessions’ implicated other people and arrests multiplied)
1st Victims = managers and workers accused of wrecking the first 5yr plan, kulaks accused of opposition to collectivisation & ordinary party members accused of incorrect attitudes
What were the reasons for the purges?
- Paranoia (threats to his position)
- Slippery slope (Stalin may have started them but they soon got out of control
- Stalin believed he was the only person capable of transforming the USSR into a modern, industrialised country (anyone who stood in his way was a ‘traitor’)
- perceived treachery (50% of all army officers killed - believed them to be spies for Germany and Japan)
- Persecution complex (believed everyone was out to get him)
How did Stalin change the secret Police?
Cheka -> OPGU (1923) -> NKVD (1934)
- secret police was already an instrument of terror (Stalin continued to use it as such, and made it his prime method of control)
- used to hunt down and destroy Stalin’s opposition
- expanded the secret police
- gave secret police more power (decree against terrorist acts after Kirov’s murder - police could arrest people without charge or trial and execute them on the spot)
Show trials
- began in 1936
- Stalin began purging the Communist Party (especially ‘old Bolsheviks’ such as Kamenev and Zinoviev)
- Along with 14 others, they were accused of organising Kirov’s murder and plotting to assassinate Stalin
- forced to confess to a range of improbable crimes, including a plot to murder Lenin
- Trotsky (in exile) was accused of leading the plotters
- trials created an atmosphere of fear
- confessed because they were physically and psychologically tortured by the secret police
Why was Stalin able to get away with the purges?
Many genuine, ‘original’ Bolsheviks refused to believe that the trials, executions etc., had happened with Stalin’s knowledge, even less so on his command. They were loyal until their executions, so they did not point fingers at Stalin. They wrote to Stalin, informing him of these unjust and inhumane trials against fellow Bolsheviks. They trusted his regime, until their death, with many using their blood to inscribe ‘Long live Stalin’ on their prison walls. However, Stalin was busy writing a book justifying his purges, and instilling fear that communism and the revolution were threatened or under attack. He convinced the public that the purges were restoring communism and equality. In his book, he called his loyal, trusting fellow Bolsheviks ‘faithful servants who were ready to work for the defeat’ labelling them unpatriotic and treacherous.
Consequences of the Purges
- millions executed & in labour camps
- almost lead to a defeat against Germany because 50% of all army officers were killed
- no credible opponent to challenge him
- All trust gone nationally
- unemployment (if no party card)
- loss of industry
Cult of Stalin
- rewrote history to glorify his own part in the Bolshevik Revolution
- made himself seem like best buds with Lenin
Social changes of Stalin
- Fees for advanced secondary schools
- Stalin’s version of history taught in school (propaganda) - gives him a more important role)
- Teachings of communist ideology = compulsory in school
- Strict discipline in schools
- Examinations revived - Red Specialists (untrained and constantly replaced)
- Still undermining teacher’s authority
- Octoborists = 8-10
- Young pioneers = 10-16
Komsomol = 16-28 (slight change)
1936 Constitution
1936 Constitution - to convince Soviet citizens and the outside world that the USSR was a free society.
Stalin described the constitution as ‘the most democratic in the world’
Key features included:
- secret ballots
- elections to the soviets every 4 years
- candidates for elections had to be approved by the Communist Party
- Communist Party was the only party to exist within the USSR
- universal suffrage (voting rights) for all over the age of 18
- guaranteed civil liberties, such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion and freedom from arbitrary arrest
Despite these promises and claims:
- members were chosen for the bodies of the Communist Party, not elected
- the two most important parts were the Politburo and the Central Committee, but these did not always meet on a regular basis and Stalin made all decisions with his group of close advisors
