A Level History - Russia chapter 17

When did Lenin establish the Cheka?

December 1917

What was the function of the OGPU? (2)

security and supervising labour camps

In which years did the OGPU carry out security functions? (from when to when)

1922 - 1934

In which year did the network of labour camps start being built up?

1918

How did Stalin extend the use of terror?

used it on members of the party as well, which Lenin had never done

When was Trotsky expelled from the USSR?

1929

When was Bukharin removed from the Politburo?

1929

When was the Shakhty trial?

1928

Who was accused of counter-revolutionary activity in the Shakhty trial?

managers and technicians at Shakhty coal mine

Why were managers and technicians at Shakhty coal mine accused of counter-revolutionary activity?

they had questioned the pace of industrialisation

What was the result of the Shakhty trial? (3)

they were all forced to confess, five of them were executed, the rest given long prison sentences

When was the 'Industrial party' show trial?

November 1930

Who was accused in the 'Industrial Party' show trial? (3)

a random group of industrialists, Mensheviks and SRs

What was a random group of industrialists, Mensheviks and SRs accused of in the 'Industrial party' show trial?

sabotage

When was the Metro-Vickers trial?

1933

Who was accused in the Metro-Vickers trial?

British specialists

What were British specialists accused of in the Metro-Vickers trial?

1933

When were there renewed signs of opposition to Stalin?

1932

Why were there renewed signs of opposition to Stalin in 1932?

(partly) because of the famine that had been caused by forced collectivisation

When was Ryutin expelled from the party?

1930

Who led the call for changes in policy which Stalin felt greatly threatened by?

Ryutin

What was the name of Ryutin's document criticising Stalin's policy? (actual name, not what it became known as)

Stalin and the Crisis of the Proletarian Dictatorship

What did Ryutin's document criticising Stalin's policy become known as?

the 'Ryutin Platform'

What was Stalin's reaction to the Ryutin platform?

called for the execution of Ryutin

Who over-ruled Stalin in his call for the execution of Ryutin?

Kirov

What actually happened to Ryutin as a result of the Ryutin platform?

was imprisoned for 10 years

What happened to Zinoviev and Kamenev as a result of the Ryutin platform?

expelled from the party

Who was expelled from the Party as a result of the Ryutin platform? (3)

Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others

Why were Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others expelled from the party?

they had failed to report the existence of Ryutin's document which criticised Stalin's policies

What percentage of the party had been branded 'Ryutinites' by 1934?

20%

When was the USSR's internal security passed to the NKVD?

1934

When was the ordinary police put under the control of the NKVD?

1934

When were labour camps reorganised into a national network?

1934

What was the system of labour camps known as?

the gulags

When was Yagoda head of the NKVD?

1934 - 1936

Who was the head of the NKVD in 1934 - 1936?

Yagoda

When was the 17th party congress?

1934

Who was the split at the 17th party congress between?

there was a split between Stalin and others within the party

What was the split at the 17th party congress over?

Stalin wanted to maintain the pace of industrialisation but others in the party wanted to stop forcible grain and increase workers' rations

Who were the only two in the Politburo who fully supported Stalin in the split at the 17th party congress?

Molotov and Kaganovich

Which title was abolished at the 17th party congress?

General Secretary

Which title replaced General Secretary?

Secretary of Equal Rank

Who was given the title of Secretary of Equal Rank? (4)

Stalin, Kirov, Zhdanov, Kaganovich

When was Kirov murdered?

1 December 1934

What did Stalin claim about Kirov's murder?

that it was part of a Trotskyite plan to overthrow the party

What did the decree published the day after Kirov's murder say?

allowed Yagoda to arrest and execute anyone found guilty of 'terrorist plotting'

When were Zinoviev and Kamenev arrested?

January 1935

Why were Zinoviev and Kamenev arrested in January 1935?

were accused of instigating terrorism

What was the death penalty extended to in June 1935?

extended to anyone aware of subversive activity

When was the death penalty extended to anyone aware of subversive activity?

June 1935

Who killed Kirov?

Leonid Nikolayev

Which event was the key turning point for the terror? (got rapidly much more intense)

murder of Kirov

What was the purpose of show trials? (2)

to prove that there were enemies of the state in the USSR to justify the purges, and also a means for Stalin to remove his enemies and those who challenged his authority

When did a new law decree that children over the age of 12 were subject to the same punishments as adults?

April 1935

Why was a law issued stating that children over the age of 12 were subject to the same punishments as adults?

used by the NKVD to coerce confessions from people by saying their children would be falsely accused of crimes

When was the first major show trial?

19 - 24 August 1936

Who was put on trial in the first major show trial? (2)

Zinoviev and Kamenev

What were Z + K accused of in their show trial in 1936? (3)

alliance with Trotsky, stirring up discontent and plotting to kill Stalin

When were Z + K executed?

25 August 1936

Where were Z + K executed?

Lubyanka prison in Moscow

Who was sentenced to death in absentia in the show trial of August 1936?

Trotsky

When was Yagoda replaced by Yezhov as head of the NKVD?

September 1936

Why was Yagoda replaced by Yezhov? (2)

Yagoda had not been active enough in uncovering 'conspiracy' involving Z + K and failed to secure the confessions of Rykov and Bukharin

When was the Stalin constitution introduced?

1936

What did the Stalin constitution claim had been achieved?

socialism

How many Soviet Republics were in the USSR according to the Stalin constitution?

11

What was the Congress of Soviets replaced by in the Stalin Constitution?

a 'Supreme Soviet'

What was the 'Supreme Soviet' made up of? (Stalin constitution) (2)

the 'Soviet of the Union' and the 'Soviet of Nationalities'

What did the Stalin constitution promise for ethnic groups?

local autonomy

What did the Stalin constitution promise in terms of elections?

four yearly elections

Who could vote in elections according to the Stalin constitution?

everyone over the age of 18

Who was allowed to vote under the Stalin constitution who previously could not?

former people

What were the civil rights granted in the Stalin constitution? (5)

freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, right of free speech, guaranteed right to work

What was the effect of the Stalin constitution in practice? (3)

not much: promised rights largely ignored, there was little real regional independence, union laws over individual republics' laws