theme 1: government 1917-85

Question 1

by what year was Russia a communist one part state?

Answer 1

1922

Question 2

how did Bolsheviks prevent other political parties gaining influence?

Answer 2

banned bourgeois from voting (did not agree with Bolsheviks seeing as they were redistributing bourgeois possessions)
did not allow other parties to publish their own newspapers
april 1921 stated SRs’ and mensheviks belonged in prison
1921 other parties banned

Question 3

why and whenwas treaty of brest litovsk signed and what were its consequences

Answer 3

1918
lenin needed troops out of WW1 so they can fight in civil war
Russia lost control over Baltic states and lots of land and industry. was humiliating and created enemies

Question 4

constituent assembly January 1918?

Answer 4

socialist revolutionaries gained more votes than bolsheviks, lenin shut down assembly and condemned it an instrument of the bourgeoisie

Question 5

how did the civil war consolidate bolshevik power

Answer 5

they had won over the whites.

Power moved from the sovnarkom to the nomenklatura

Question 6

how did stalin undermine trotsky

Answer 6

stopped lenins testament being read out stating preference for Trotsky
supposedly caused him to miss lenins funeral
trotsky wanted nep discontinued, used this to make him seem against lenin and expel him from the party

Question 7

how did stlain undermine bukharin

Answer 7

stressed bukharins disagreements with lenin from early 1920s
accused him of Trotskyism as he criticised the increasing bureaucracy of the party
accused him of forming factions after he had a secret meeting with Zinoviev and Kamenev in 1928

Question 8

how did stalin use his position as general secretary?

Answer 8

had access to files of everyone

controlled all the jobs so most people owed their positions to stalin

Question 9

following the civil war what was power like under lenin

Answer 9

highly centralised due to need for quick decisions in civil war.
organisations that genuinely represented the people (trade unions and soviets) were bought under control of the party
political opponents removed but debate was allowed

Question 10

what happened in the tenth party congress

Answer 10

1921. banned factions in “one party unity” as growth in membership posed threat to party stability

Question 11

what was the role of the sovnarkom

Answer 11

also known as the council of peoples commissars. in theory in charge of making key decisions and passing gov orders. 20 members

Question 12

what was the role of the central executive committee

Answer 12

coordinated admin and law making process. in practice rubber stamped orders from sovnarkom

Question 13

what was the role of the all Russian congress of soviets

Answer 13

members were elected by local soviets. supposed to approve laws from sovnarkom.
late 1920s all congress representatives had to be communist party members

Question 14

what was the role of the politburo

Answer 14

7-9 members met daily. filled in for slower central committee and made all key decisions

Question 15

what was the role of the central committee

Answer 15

power delegated o politburo. didn’t really do anything

Question 16

what was the role of the party congress?

Answer 16

discussed general programme of the party but didn’t do much. little discussion

Question 17

what was democratic centralism and what was the reality

Answer 17

all decisions were made in the interest of the people and those decisions were passed onto regional and local levels and implemented. in reality Bolsheviks rules by decree where soviets were not involved in decision making

Question 18

what was the nomenklatura system

Answer 18

list of names of approved party members. jobs and promotions allocated via this list. encouraged loyalty

Question 19

when was the soviet state renamed the union of soviet socialist republics (USSR)

Answer 19

1924. this confirmed the power of the communist party

Question 20

where did power lie under stalin

Answer 20

• shifted from party to state. -1938 politburo most powerful

- 1942 the state defence committee

Question 21

how did stalin deflect competition away from himself

Answer 21

encouraged rivalry between party and state by placing rivals in similar positions either side.

Question 22

Politburo meetings 1920s vs 1930s

Answer 22

1920s met weekly. mid 1930s met 9 times a year

Question 23

what was the 1936 soviet constitution

Answer 23

named Russia “the most democratic system in the world”. said as bourgeois class had been removed every citizen now had the right to vote and all civil right were given. it was a fraud.

Question 24

what kept communists in powerful positions under stalin

Answer 24

only communist party members could stand for elections

removal of left and right sides meant the government was full of stalin supporters.

Question 25

what did stalin keep from lenins government?

Answer 25

the main party structure and the nomenklatura system

Question 26

what was lenins ideology?

Answer 26

followed Marxism but recognised a need fro total control to get the country into a position to withstand communism. which is why he allowed terror

Question 27

what was stalins idea and how did it contradict trotskys

Answer 27

Trotsky - world revolution before industrialising their own country. stalin - “socialism in one country” where the country would industrialise first before trying to spread communism

Question 28

Chistka under lenin

Answer 28

• 1918 and 1920s.
• 1/3 party purged
• non violent
• handed in membership
• expulsions from the party

Question 29

when did terror start

Answer 29

civil war

Question 30

what happened to political terror after civil war

Answer 30

turned bureaucratic and had periodic purges of the party. achieved so effectively that party could significantly expand without sacrificing unity or conformity

Question 31

stalin chistka when was it and why did it happen

Answer 31

• 1932-35
• response to difficulties with 5 year plan and collectivisation -officials who were sceptical of the speed of implememntation
• designed to remove such officials

Question 32

how many purged in stalins chistka

Answer 32

by 1935 22% party removed. essentially non violent. showed mounting opposition to stalin

Question 33

how were the 1930s purges within the party escalated?

Answer 33

stalin set quotas for the percentage of each party branch to be identified as enemies of the people

Question 34

examples of mounting criticism against stalin that caused the great purge

Answer 34

• 1932 ryutin issued document accusing stalin of building a personal dictatorship and called for him to be removed from power (Kirov circulated this)
• stalins wife raised concerns of brutal enforcement of collectivisation before committing suicide
• party officials criticised unrealistic production targets of 5 year plans

Question 35

what event led to the murder of kirov

Answer 35

17th party congress, Kirov voiced concerns of production targets and 5 year plan to standing ovation.

Question 36

when was Kirov murdered and what did this lead to?

Answer 36

1934. purging large sections of the party

Question 37

who were first arrested and scentenced for kirovs muder?

Answer 37

Kamenev and zionviev in 1935

Question 38

what were show trials

Answer 38

trials that were filmed and recorded and relayed to the soviet population via radio and tv. the accused usually confessed often due to torture. death penalty met guilty verdicts

Question 39

trial of the sixteen

Answer 39

1936 purge of leaders of the left including zionviev, Kamenev. accused of undermining the state with Trotsky. confessed under pressure from NKVD

Question 40

trial of the seventeen

Answer 40

1937. purge of party officials accused of working for Trotsky and foreign governments to undermine soviet gov. real rime was criticising the 5 year plans

Question 41

trial of the twenty-one

Answer 41

1938 purged of the right. Bukharin and rykov accused of forming a ‘Trotskyite rightist block’ both confessed. tomsky committed suicide before trial

Question 42

Shakhty trial

Answer 42

1928. managers and technical experts put on trial for holding back the progress of industrialisation. used to send threat about if a lack commitment was shown

Question 43

purge of the red army numbers

Answer 43

1937-1938 3/5 marshals. 7/8 commanders. 35,000 officers shot or imprisoned. every naval admiral

Question 44

why was the army targeted?

Answer 44

they were critical of the demoralising effect of collectivisation

Question 45

purge of the secret police numbers.

Answer 45

under yezhov 3,000 of his own personnel purged in his first 6 months 1936

Question 46

Trotsky’s assassination

Answer 46

1940 mexico ice pick

Question 47

• evidence of Stalin’s new major purge of what and when?

Answer 47

“Doctors plot” 1953. prelude of campaign against jews. attack on people of beria’s nationality. warning to beria who had a lot of power