Theme 3 Secret Police 1 Lenin-Stalin

Question 1

How did Lenin establish the principle of the use of terror and secret police between 1917 and 1922?

Answer 1

Bolshevik Secret Police, the Cheka, was established in 1917 to root out counter-revolution and sabotage.
During the civil war, the Cheka had minimal interference from other bodies so they could deal quickly with enemies.
Intensified against opposing parties in Red Terror from 1921 to 22.

Question 2

How did the reorganisation of the Cheka impact the role and power of the secret police

Answer 2

Following the civil war, Cheka was replaced with the GPU and then the OGPU in 1923.
- Developed independence of secret police from interference.
- Became body that exclusively took orders from the leadership.

Question 3

Who did Stalin target during the period of 1928-39?

Answer 3

Purged those who held back the successful completion of his transformation with the 5YP.
Kulaks and other peasants who opposed collectivisation were particularly targeted.
Political rivals such as Bukharin and Zinoviev, Kamenev were denounced by the secret police.

Question 4

How did the secret police use coercion and torture during this period?

Answer 4

• Victims taken in the middle of the nigh to disorientate them.
• Taken to hq in Moscow where they were tortured until they confessed.
• OGPU chief produced handbook of torture methods.
• High profile victims would be put on a show trial.

Question 5

How did Yagoda’s time in power change the Gulag?

Answer 5

Yagoda became head of the secret police in 1934.
- Rapidly expanded the gulag into forced labour to support industrialisation.
- Secret police dealt with opponents rather than regular courts.
- Focused on economic achievements rather than ideological.

Question 6

What were the ‘achievements’ of Yagoda’s Gulags?

Answer 6

White Sea Canal project:
- 180,000 labourers from Gulags dug canal by hand. Completed under budget in less than 2 years but at the cost of 10,000 prisoners’ lives. The canal was dug shallower which made it useless.

Question 7

Why did Yagoda’s time in power end?

Answer 7

1936 - Yagoda himself falls victims to one of the inside party purges for his incompetence of guarding Kirov, who had been murdered.
Removed from office and later shot in 1938.

Question 8

What is Yezhov most known for doing whilst in charge of the NKVD?

Answer 8

Nicknamed “Bloody dwarf”, Yezhov was known to be enthusiastic in torturing suspects. The secret police underwent their most bloody and excessive use of purges under his guidance.

Question 9

How did Yezhov adapt the judicial processes within the USSR?

Answer 9

Process of arresting, trial and imprisonment sped up. Courts made from only 3 people (one being an NKVD member) dealt with cases.
In 1937, 231 prisoners were processed each day in one court.

Question 10

How did the use of the Gulag change under Yezhov?

Answer 10

Believed gulags to be underused so numbers of inmates increased substatially. Camps given quotas to be met of prisoner execution and officers that executions were awarded with metals.

Question 11

How was surveillance increased under Yezhov?

Answer 11

Survailance of the public was increased. Used plain-clothed officers to collect information on individuals. Large crack-down on anti-Soviet activity.
The NKVD even purged its own members.

Question 12

What was Yezhov’s opinion of torture?

Answer 12

Yezhov enjoyed torturing suspects himself. He once attended a meeting where his shirt cuffs were covered in blood.

Question 13

What happened to Yezhov?

Answer 13

Stalin grew to believe that, by 1938, the excessive use of terror was demoralising the nation. Stalin accused him of being irresponsible due to his drinking habits and excessive purging. Despite some truth behind the accusations, Yezhov used as scape goat.

Question 14

What qualities did Beria have as the head of the secret police?

Answer 14

Beria helped with the removal of Yezhov.
He had good organisation skills and unsavoury characteristics (“balding, short and fleshy”, “snake like eyes”)
Had an uncle-like image.

Question 15

What does Butler suggest about Beria?

Answer 15

Beria was an unpleasant character.
- described as “balding, short and fleshy”
- “snake like eyes”
- “prowl the streets on the lookout for young women… where Beria raped her”

Question 16

What initial reforms did Beria put in place?

Answer 16

Reintroduced conventional methods of policing that were only held with solid evidence.
Killed Trotsky in Mexico by a Stalin Agent in 1940

Question 17

How did Beria modify the Gulags?

Answer 17

Beria wanted to make them more profitable so food rations were improved so they would work harder.
- Prisoners worked alongside scientists to develop the soviet space programme.

Question 18

What evidence is there to suggest Beria had successfully developed the Gulag into an economic
powerhouse?

Answer 18

Gulag economic activity increased from 2mil to 4.5mil. 1/3 of countries gold and timber produced by gulags

Question 19

What powers were the secret police given during the Second World War?

Answer 19

-Given supervision of Red Army for monitoring disloyalty and dealing with desertions.
-NKVD given control over process of deportations of minorities over their loyalty.
- Given supervision over areas previously captured by Germans.

Question 20

What happened during the Mingrelian Affair of 1951?

Answer 20

A purge of party members in Georgia of the ethnic Mingrelian group (that Beria was a part of).

Question 21

What happened during the Doctors Plot?

Answer 21

Groups of doctors were accused of trying to assassinate Stalin and were therefore arrested. Many of these doctors were Jewish and it is believed to be a purge of Soviet Jewish People or yet another step in removing Beria.

Question 22

How powerful was Beria at the time of Stalin’s death?

Answer 22

Beria had substantial impact upon Stalin’s death. He controlled the Secret Police, soviet spies and gulag system.
- Beria’s large power base was a main factor in his removal in 1953.

Question 23

What evidence is there to suggest that Stalin was personally responsible for the development of the terror?

Answer 23

• Personally signed death warrants
• Gave NKVD quotas to meet
• Used heavily to coerce kulaks and opposing peasants into submission
• High demand of slave labour caused by the 5YP caused expansion in terror use.
• Set parameters for purging
• Purges reflected Stalin’s paranoid personality (e.g Murder of Kirov).

Question 24

What evidence is there to suggest that it was Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria that were responsible?

Answer 24

• Each were loyal followers of Stalin and his wishes
• They each had little moral conscience when torturing or using terror.
• As well as those appointed by Stalin, they would attack their own obstacles too
• Had great influence over terror and the influence over the gulags.