USSR Flashcards
1
Q
Trostky
Background
A
- Jewish
- The favourite to suceed Lenin
- Head of Red Army and orchestrator of October Revolution
- Became a Bolshevik 1917 (very late)
2
Q
Stalin
Background
A
- Born in poverty in Georgia
- Rude and agressive
- Clever with allies and running government
- Wanted to focus on socialism in USSR
3
Q
Kamenev
Background
A
- Active since 1905
- Major contributor to doctrine
- Opposed April Theses
- Wanted to end the NEP
4
Q
Zinoviev
Background
A
- Active since 1903
- Good orator but not intellectual
- Opposed October revolution
- Wanted to end NEP
- Highly unpopular
5
Q
Bukharin
A
- Joined 1906
- Very popular
- Lenin called him the “golden boy”
- Supported the NEP
6
Q
Stalin Strengths
A
- Had important positions
- 1922 General Secretary (He could appoint his own supporters as officials)
- Access to 26,000 personal files
- Lenin Enrolment 1923-25 helped him
- 500,000 workers who were loyal to Stalin for work
7
Q
Stalins wins
A
- Tricked Trostsky over Lenins funeral
- Lenins Testament hidden
- Popular ideas (relatively central)
8
Q
Defeat of Trotsky
A
- 1924, Zinoviev and Kamenev join Stalin against Trotsky
- Destroyed Trotskys reputation
- 1925 Stalin lost his job as Commissar for War, no longer a threat
9
Q
Defeat of Kamenev and Zinoviev
A
- 1924 -1926 all three shared power
- 1927 they both allied with Trotsky for the United Opposition
- Stalin allied with Bukharin for media support
- This was rejected and lost them all respect
- 1927 they were expelled from the party
10
Q
Defeat of Bukharin
A
- Stalin attacked the NEP and its supporters
- Began Grain Requisitioning again
- Ensured Bukharin lost government jobs
- Bukharin not politically skilled so this was easy
11
Q
Lenins Testament
A
- Written 1922/23
- Hidden from public
- Stalin - “I propose the comrades find a way to remove him”, “too rude”
- Trotsky - “most capable”, “too arrogant”
- Kamenev and Zinoviev - “opposed me when I tried to set the date for the revolution in October 1917.”
- Bukharin - “golden boy”
12
Q
Reasons for 5YP’s
Fear of invasion
A
- A strong economy + heavy industry for armaments needed if invaded
- Churchill: “strangling Bolshevism in its cradle”
- In 1927:
- The British government accused the USSR of spreading revolutionary propaganda
- In China, the Communists were attacked by their political opponents resulting in a civil war.
- Pytor Voykov, Soviet diplomat, was assassinated in Poland.
13
Q
Reasons for 5YP’s
Ideological reasons
A
- Communism was appealing for workers BUT USSR mostly peasants
- More workers = more support for communism
- Get ride of NEPmen, stalin called them “enemies of the party”
- Better living conditions could increase dwindling support
14
Q
First 5YP (Overrall)
A
- 1928, Gosplan
- Very ambitious goals
- in 1929 Stalin decided goals were to be met by 1931
15
Q
First 5YP (Positives)
A
- Industrial workers doubled
- 1500 new enterprises
- Electricity output trebled (3x)
- Advisers: Ford experts caused 140k cars made in 1932
- Entire cities founded around industrial complexs
- New roads, canals, railways
16
Q
First 5YP (Negatives)
A
- Unrealistic targets were not met
- Lack of raw materials
- Lack of skilled workers
- Decline in living conditions
17
Q
Second 5YP (Overrall)
A
- 1933
- More concerned with improving efficiency and quality
- Focus on heavy industry and communications
18
Q
Second 5YP (Positives)
A
- Three Good Years (1934-6).
- Greater emphasis on consumer industries (food processing).
- Heavy industry grew because of complexes set up during the first plan.
- Dnieper Dam produced electricity.
- By 1937, USSR was basically self-sufficient.
19
Q
Second 5YP (Negatives)
A
- Consumer goods were still lagging.
- Limited growth of oil production.
- No improvement in living standards
20
Q
Third 5YP (Overrall)
A
- 1938
- Focus on armaments
- Halted by German invasion 1941
21
Q
Third FYP (Positives)
A
- 1/3 of government spending on defence
- 9 new aircraft factories
- Heavy industry and armaments grew rapidly
22
Q
Third FYP (Negatives)
A
- Hindered by purges (Gosplan officials and experienced managers)
- Consumer industries, steel and oil production lagged
23
Q
Stakhanovites
A
- Alexis Stakhanov, moved 102 tonnes of coal in one 6 hour shift
- Head of a propaganda campaign to encourage hard work
- Workers that exceeded targets got better housing, rations and called “Heroes of Socialist Labour”
- 25% became Stakhanovites
- Negatives: Workers hated pressure, Stakhanovites attacked, Stakhanovite “Pushy and Selfish person”
24
Q
Magnitogorsk
A
- Founded 1743 but irrelevant until 1929
- 750k people moved there
- Average worker stayed for only 82 days
- 40k political prisoners used
- Closed to westerners in 1937
25
Q
Reasons for collectivisation
Economic
A
- Grain procurement crisis: 1927-28 government could not buy surplus grain = rationing in cities
- Inefficient, old fashioned, Kulak-run farms
- Unable to produce surplus to support economic growth
26
Q
Reasons for collectivisation
Ideological
A
- Collectivisation extended socialism into the country
- Eliminated Kulaks
- Closer to ending NEP which was capitalist
- 1928-29 bread+meat rationed in cities (bad for ideology)
27
Q
Reasons for collectivisation
Political reasons
A
- Stalin aware food shortages caused Tsars downfall
- Collectivisation would give Stalin upper hand against Bukharin
28
Q
Impact of collectivisation (Overrall)
A
- Started Winter 1929-30
- 24 mil peasants in 240,000 kolkhoz
- Very negative response from peasants (nearly civil war)
- 1929-34 half of russian villages collectivised
- 1929 “liquidate Kulak classes” = 2 mil sent to Siberia and thousands killed
29
Q
Kolkhozes
A
Sovkhoz: Larger state farm where peasants paid wages
Kolkhoz: Collective farms
* 1940 there were 240,000
* 50-100 families
* After 1935 peasants given small area of private land
30
Q
MTS stations
A
- By 1940 one for every 40 farms
- MTS given complete control of farms until abolished in 1953
- Hated by peasants
31
Q
Collectivisation
Positive impacts
A
- 1937 90% of farmland collectivised
- Grain output 80% higher than 1913
- 1934 end of rationing food and bread
- 19m peasants moved to cities supplied lots of labour
32
Q
Collectivisation
Negative impacts
A
- Much resistance, particularly Kulaks
- in 1930, 14 million cattle slaughtered
- Livestock figure did not return to 1928 number till 1940
- By 1934 3mil Kulaks sent to labour camos
- Great Famine 1932-33
33
Q
Collectivisation
Great famine
A
- 4-5m dead
- Ukraine, hardest hit = “Breadbasket of Europe”
- Propaganda against canibalism, still 2500 people convicted of it
- People ate worms, bark, mice and humans
- Stalin made this much worse by refusing aid and grain seizures - deliberate?
34
Q
Collectivisation
Economic impact
A
- 1928 to 1933 cattle numbers halved
- Fall in grain (73.3m tonnes to 67.6m tonnes)
- Greater use of machinery in 1930s
- Allowed for industrialisation
35
Q
Collectivisation
Social and Political impacts
A
Social
* Heavy resistance
* Extended government control
Political
* Removal of non-government influences ( e.g village priests)
* Removal of capitalist classes (15m Kulaks)
* Abolition of Mir
36
Q
Reasons for purges
Opposition to Stalin
A
- Opposition was growing due to harsh methods
- Stalins own wife committed suicide in Nov 1932
- 1932, Ryutin circulated 200 page document calling Stalin “evil genius”
37
Q
Reasons for purges
Murder of Kirov
A
- Loyal supporter, but Stalin saw him as a rival
- 1st December 1934 Leonid Nikolayev shot Kirov
- Stalin claimed a plot to overthrow him and said K+Z “Shed the blood of Kirov”
38
Q
KF of Purges
Use of NKVD
A
- 1934 Cheka became NKVD
- Stalin used them to arrest opponents, torture and threaten
- NKVD themselves purged in 1938, leader Yezhov killed in Feb 1940 after torture
39
Q
KF of purges
Gulags
A
- Common threat used to terrify people into obedience
- 12 million died in them
- 1920s and 30s very full of Kulaks
- One camp used 250k to build the Belomor canal
40
Q
Show trials
Trial of the 16
A
- 1936
- Based on Zinoviev and Kamenev
- Chief prosecutor was Vyshinksy
- Said to “shoot them like wild dogs”
- K died with honour, Z begged for his life
41
Q
Show trials
Trial of the 17
A
- 1937
- Focused on Trotskys allies
- Charges: killing Kirov, delaying 5YPs, overthrowing gov
- 13 killed, 4 sent to gulags
42
Q
Show trials
Trial of 21
A
- 1938
- Focused on Bukharin
- B tried to show how ridiculous it was but eventually pleaded guilty
- Vyshinky called him “foul smelling heap of human garbage”
- B died cursing Stalin
43
Q
Purge of Wider Party
A
- 70% of 1934 General Commitee executed or imprisoned
- Overral, 1 mil members purge
44
Q
Purge of Armed Forces
A
- Stalin killed Tukhachevsky + 7 other generals in 1937
- 1939 all Navy admirals shot
- 3 of 5 red army Marshalls shot
- 25,000 Red Army officers shot
45
Q
Purge of the People
A
- July 1937 stalin ordered removal of “all anti-soviet elements”
- 250k people identified as state enemies
- 18 million sent to labour camps where 13 million died
46
Q
Impact of purges
Political
A
- Removed all opposition
- 1930’s Stalin admired as “dictator of people”
47
Q
Impact of purges
Weakened Sovet Union
A
- 25% of mine managers purged, drop in production
- Hitler’s invasion in 1941 made lack of experienced officers a problem
- 1939-40 Finland war causes 200k casualties
48
Q
Propaganda
Cult of Stalin
A
- Started December 1929
- Showed Stalin as “father of the nation”
- Posters, paintings and parades
- Rewrote history to make himself seem second in importance only to Lenin
- After WW2 promoted himself to “Generalissimo”
49
Q
Propaganda
Official Culture
A
- Arts heavily censored to follow “Socialist Realism”
- Only Soviet films and books allowed
- Novels: Cement (Fyodor Glakov) 1925
- Movies: Chapaev, 1934, told of a peasant hero of civil war
- Doctoring of photographs
50
Q
Censorship
A
- 1936, 30 films and 10 plays banned
- Poet Madelstam performed a poem about Stalin called “The Kremlin Mountaineer”
- Arrested and died in gulag
51
Q
1936 constitution
A
- Set up 2 chamber assembly: Supreme Soviet
- Meant to guarantee rights (jobs, speech, voting)
- Rights could be taken away for “national security”
- Stalin still Chairman and General Secretary so had total power
52
Q
Control of education
A
- Stricter in 1920s as Stalin wanted a good workforce
- 1939 the majority could read
- Political Youth Groups: Octobrists (8-10), Pioneers (10-16)
53
Q
Revision of history
A
- Stories of Old Communists purged
- Trostsky was removed and Stalin made more important in stories of revolution
- 1938 Stalin ordered creation of:
1. Short Biography of Stalin
2. Short Course of History of All Union Communist Party
54
Q
Towns
Housing
A
- Moscows pop = 2.2 mil in 1929 to 4.1mil in 1936
- Average family apartment from 5.5 m(2) in 1930 to 4 m(2) in 1940
- “Corner dwellers” = homeless waiting for housing
- New towns had tents, mud huts etc.
55
Q
Towns
Everyday items
A
- Everyday items seen as luxurious and in short supply
- Queues sometimes than longer than 1,000 for shoes
- Bread rationed until 1935
56
Q
Towns
Leisure opportunities
A
- Gorky Park, built 1928: pool, music, bars
- Cinema in magnitogorsk had annual audience of 600k
- Magnitogorsk “Mini Olympics” workers of different factories compete
57
Q
Countryside
Living Conditions
A
- Conditions had always been and remained bad
- Basic one room housing
- Some had to travel to nearest towns to get bread
- No leisure opportunities
58
Q
Towns
Working conditions: Negatives
A
- Internal passports to prevent job changes
- “Progressive piecework” = workers paid by volume produced, not equal
- 1940 Labour Code: Working day to 8 hours, 6 days a week, job changing was a criminal offence
59
Q
Towns
Working Conditions: Positives
A
- Everyone had a job, during Great Depression
- 73% unemployment in Jarrow
- 0% unemployment in USSR
- Factories gave workers basic clothing and some hot meals
60
Q
Countryside
Working conditions
A
- Collectivisation: wages 20% of workers, no land or freedom, long hours
- Slow work and little effort
61
Q
Women
1917-24
A
Good:
* Zhenotdel made to help with womens issues
* Legalised abortion + divorce
* More freedom and rights
Bad:
* 1/2 of marriages ended in divorce
* Abortions 3x more than live births
* Divorce used by men to abandon
62
Q
Women
Under Stalin
A
Bad:
* Closed Zhenotdel
* 1936 Family Code: divorce more expensive, abortions illegal, mother with 6+ kids got money
* Wanted traditional family values
Good:
* Birth rate rose from 25 per 1k in 1935 to 31 per 1k in 1940
* Less divorce (less abandonment)
63
Q
Women
Employment: NEP
A
- 1928, 3 million women working
- Unemployment in NEP affected women first
64
Q
Women
Employment: Stalin’s industrialisation
A
- By 1940, 13 million women working
- 1940, 41% of heavy industry workers women
- Pasha Angelina, first female Stakhanovite
65
Q
Women
Employments: Negatives
A
- Double Burden
- Paid 60% less than men
- Less chance of success
- 20 of 328 factory directors in Leningrad were women
66
Q
Women
Politics
A
- 1917 - Given same rights as men, could hold power
- Alexandra Kollontai, first female People’s Commisar
- The Party failed to advance women 1924-41 (harassed and held back by old attitudes)
- Great Retreat - Housewives Movement 1936, message was that women were for mothering (not politics)
67
Q
Education
1917-1924
A
- “Project method” - children followed workers to learn the trade
- Traditional teaching, respect and values discarded
- Led to undereducation and lack of academics in Uni’s
68
Q
Education
Under Stalin
A
- Compulsory to age 15
- Traditional subjects + Communist Ideology
- Exams, discipline and official textbooks
Consequences:
Primary attendance 60% to 95%
Literacy 55% to 94%
69
Q
Ethnic Minorities
1917-1924
A
- 1926 Census showed over 180 nationalities in Russia
- Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia
- Equality, acceptance
- “Family of nations” was used to describe the ethnicities
70
Q
Ethnic Minorities
Under Stalin
A
- New form of Russification:
- No celebration of local languages or culture
- Russian taught as a second language in all schools
- 1937 171K Koreans deported
71
Q
Ethnic Minorities
Stalin and Religion
A
- 1939 all factories had 7 day work week (no sabbath for religious)
- 1939 only a few hundred churches in the USSR
- Continuation of Lenin’s policies
72
Q
Nazi Soviet pact
A
- 1939, Stalin in a strong position but feared Nazi Germany
- 23rd August 1939 Nazi Soviet pact signed
- Poland divided, Nazis would not attack USSR
- Both sides knew it was temporary
73
Q
Nazis Attack USSR
A
- 22nd June 1941 Op. Barbarossa begins
- 3 million Nazi soldiers (largest invading force in history)
- Thought they would easily win by autumn
- Most costly conflict in history (27 million Soviets dead)
74
Q
Reasons for Soviet’s initial loss
Purges
A
- Stalin had removed huge numbers of experienced officers from the army
- Many were hastily released from gulags
- End of 1941, 3 million soviet prisoners taken
- Nazis in control of 45% of population
75
Q
Reasons for Soviet’s initial loss
Nazi strengths
A
- Huge and well trained
- Blitzkrieg tactics
- Red Army had the resources to stop them, but Nazi surprise tactics caused chaos
76
Q
Reasons for Soviet Victory
Geography
A
- Start date of Barbarossa delayed by 5 weeks
- Heavy rain in November, then snow and temps down to -35
- Nazis not equipped, vehicles stopped working
- Dec 1941 General Zhukov counterattacked with Siberian forces (experienced+ equipped)
- Stalin called “General Winter” their greatest ally
77
Q
Reasons for Soviet Victory
Economy
A
- 3rd 5YP meant there was Industrial areas in the Urals and Siberia
- 1500 factories and 16.5 million people moved east and followed scorched earth policy
- Chelyabinsk nicknamed “Tankograd” because it produced T-34s
- 1945 USSR produced 20,900 aircraft (Germany 7540)
78
Q
Reasons for Soviet Victory
Stalin
A
- Slogans: “Great Patriotic War” and calling USSR the “motherland”
- Stayed in Moscow in October 1941 to give confidence
- Times Man of the Year 1942
79
Q
Reasons for Soviet Victory
Propaganda
A
- Over 1000 writers and artists joined the army
- 400 died in the fighting
- Controlled by the Sovinformburo
- 200 artists in Moscow alone producing propaganda
80
Q
Reasons for Soviet Victory
Russian People
A
- 7 cities earned “Hero City”
- War brought whole country together
Siege of Leningrad:
* September 1941, 3 mil people cut off
* Lasted 900 days
* Over 800k people died
* Not one Soviet citizen retreated or evacuated
81
Q
Stalingrad
A
- More than 1,000 tonnes of bombs dropped on it
- Average life expectancy of a Soviet soldier was 24 hours
- 1mil Soviet died by the end of the siege
- Snipers - Vasily Zaitsev killed 225 Nazis
- Went on till January 1943 when Nazi general surrendered despite orders not to
82
Q
Significance of Stalingrad
A
Nazis:
* 6th Army destroyed
* Allies (Italy,Hungary etc.) shattered
* Mood in Germany was fearful
Soviets:
* Great triump and huge psych. boost
* “You cannot stop an army that has done Stalingrad”
* Made a “Hero City”
* Britain celebrated Red Army day in February 1943
83
Q
Economic effects of WW2
A
- Economy was destroyed
- 1945, 70% of industrial production lost
- Dnieper Dam destroyed
- 25 million homeless
84
Q
Post WW2 recovery
4th 5YP
A
- Announced 1946
- 88% of investment in Heavy Industry
- 2 million POW’s used
- Workers had to do an additional 30 hours of work a month
85
Q
Post WW2 recovery
Performance of industry
A
- 1947 Dnieper Dam rebuilt
- Coal,oil,steel all above pre-war figures
- Factories and mines quickly rebuilt
- First atomic bomb test in 1949
86
Q
Post WW2 recovery
Performance of agriculture
A
- By 1952 had not reached pre-war levels
- Labour shortage
- Lack of machinery and horses
- Saw little investment and low wages (1/6th of workers)
87
Q
Post WW2 recovery
Post-war purges: Military
A
- Key individuals got too much praise
- They were removed from history e.g Zhukov sent to Odessa
- 1.5 million POW’s got worst
- Order 290 declared them traitors
- Stalins own son Yakov was taken prisoner and left to die in a concentration camp in 1943
88
Q
Post WW2 recovery
Post War purges: Party
A
Leningrad Affair
* 200 leading party members
* 10-25 years in prison
* 2,000 more officials exiled from Leningrad
89
Q
Doctors Plot
A
- Stalin convinced his doctors were trying to kill him
- 1953 over 30 doctors (mostly jews) arrested
- Hundreds more later
90
Q
Stalin’s Death
A
- Stalin had a stroke after heavy drinking
- Not found till 3am next morning
- Doctors reluctant to treat him
- Died a few days later
- Huge response across USSR
- Embalmed and displayed next to Lenin
