Unit 2- Communist Russia Vocab Flashcards
Communist Russia
Communist Dictatorship, use terror to maintain control, leaders get picked on how much they like communism- not elected.
Lenin
1917-24
Leads October Revolution where he overthrew the Temporary Government in 1917. Has to use Terror in civil war to keep control
Stalin
1928-53
Defeats rivals to become leader after Lenin dies, uses lots of terror, national Hero for winning WW2.
Khrushchev
1953-64
Policy of desalination. Moves away from terror and uses less communist ideas in rule- however not liked because of this.
Dictator
A ruler with total power over a country.
Communism
Last stage in Marx’s notion of the evolution of history.
All property is owned by the community and each person contributes and receives according to their ability and needs.
Socialism
Workers’ control of state. Means of production (factories, machines, etc.) owned collectively and run by the state. A political system.
Capitalism
Economic system based on private enterprise and the profit motive in which the market determines the price of goods, the supply of raw materials and the distribution of products.
Sovnarkom
Council of the People’s Commissars; the top Bolshevik governing body (30-40 members) set up after the October Revolution.
Politburo
Created in 1919 and took precedence over the Sovnarkom as the key decision-making body. It meant there was a small inner ruling group at the top of the Bolshevik party
Soviet
An elected local, district, or national council in the former Soviet Union. It can also be used to refer to a citizen of the former Soviet Union.
Proletariat
Industrial Workers
Bourgeois
This term was a form of abuse used against employers, officers, landowners, priests, Jews, merchants or anybody seemingly well-to-do.
