Theme 1- any extra info on politics

when and why did lenin prefer to use the politburo over sovnarkom?

(party over state institution)

during the civil way

because the gov needed to reeach decisions quickly and efficiently to help acheive victory

politburo had 5-7 members so was much easier to reach decisions and quicker

also the politburo contained his most loyal members—> eg:stalin, trotsky,zin and kam

sovnarkom therefore ceased to function as the main centre of gov

by 1921, how had the government changed in terms of personnel/ persons working there?

was no longer a gov of the workers, peasants and soldiers as the use of the communist nomenklatura system (responsible for chosing roles and also administered policies of war comms) meant that it appointed educated membs of middle

the communists had won the civil war due to their a____ to control the e_____ and their w_________ to d________ the government

BUT

this had made them e______ u__________

ability to control the econ

willingness to dominate the go

extremely unpopular

some of the consequences for people involved in the tambov uprising?

red army deported over 100,000 to labour camps

attacked peasant villages with poisoned gas

by 19__ lenin had destroyed soviet d_________ and had replaced it with a o__ p____ s______

1924

democracy

one party state

by using the cheka from 1917 onwards,what type of society/environment did lenin create?

lenin established the p_____ that v______ was j_______ in order to protect the r______

one in which individuals had no rights as the cheka were free to punish and persecute (arbitrarily) who the gov deemed a threat “to the rev”

principle that violence was justified,, protect the rev

CHANGES IN POLITICS/GOV UNDER STALIN DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR:

what did stalin do from 1941 in order to make sure the gov was running more effectively during the second world war?

he became Chair of Sovnarkom (state institution)

• by purging gov members, the party and the miloitary he had sabotaged the effectiveness of all aspects of the gov

• needed to be effective to win the war

• stalin thus took the leading position in the state AND partyto ensure better co-ordination

what else did stalin do during ww2 to increase the effectiveness of the gov? (think terror)

• ended mass terror→ allowed state and party officials to continue working to ensure gov ran smoothly(‘could always be shot when the war was done’)

what was the Soviet Constitution of 1936? was it effective?

aka: ‘stalin constitution’

set out structure of sov gov and rights of citizens

western socialists said it was “the most democratic in the world”

gov= based on the election oflocal soviets which elected higher bodies (eg:supreme soviets)

it guaranteed freedom of speech and moevement and religion

BUT

in reality= little to do with gov

soviets,supreme soviets, ext= dominated by the comm party→ the party held power

no rule of law THEREFORE legal rights were meaningless

this/these were superficial benefits, on the surface they seemed progressive and i favour of democracy and the people but was merely a facade of the above

defacto vs dejure

the 192_ ban on f____ reduced the s_____ for/of party p______

stalin cemented this further by…

1921,, factions,, reduced the scope for/of party pluralism

stalin cemented this further by making himself supreme, ensuring all power was personal to him,,made sure no one had authority or power that was independant of him

stalin died in 19__ the m_______ of a t_________ power

1953

master

totalitarian power

what body elected the central committee ?

what body elected the politburo?

the party congress elected the c.c

the c.c elected the politburo

therefore basis for power was rooted in one gaining a majority of votes at the party cngress and soon the politburo

from 1923, who were the 4 key contenders who had a realistic chance of emerging as leader of russia?

zinoviev

stalin

trotsky

bukharin

what type of people did stalin and his allies discredit and condemn in the power struggle 1924-28?

trotskyites

what 2 ideas did stalin advocate for in 1928(before fully defacto power) and throughout his rule which boosted his personal power and influence but also he was able to justify them by saying it was the correct “lenninist” thing to do and that he was a true leninist(← something crucial for securing ultimate power)?

these ideas welcomed a new i_____ o_______

socialism in one country(the ussr could build socialism without waiting for a globa rev(as before it was believed to be a global prpject)

collectivisation and industrialisation(abadon the NEP in favour for this more radical policy for pragmatic reasons)

^^ stalin used bukharin’s resistance to this and desire to continue the NEP against him to suggest he was not a true leninist

new ideological orthodoxy

how did stalin use the ban on factions to his advantage?

he accussed bukharin,zinoviev and kamenev of plotting against the party and forming a faction—> SERIOUS crimes , esp as lenin had banned factions in 1921

how was the nature of power/authority different from lenin to stalin?

under lenin, leadership was more pluralistic, and there were many people who had authorioty witihin the party(eg: bukharin,lenin,stalin,zinoviev)

BUT

under stalin, he had transformed the party into an organisation in which he himself had a near monopoly of authority

what was the lenin enrolment?

membs were less i____ in the ideas or g___ of the r________ and more interested in their own c______

1924 initiated by stalin

to help him win the leadership struggle by increasing party membership

it allowed 128,000 people to join the comm party to “include more working-class membs”

BUT

in practise, the new membs were loyalists, poorly educated people who merely wanted well-paid jobs and authority

^^they supported stalin because he gave them the opportunity for this to happen

how many people died as a result of the great terror

over 10 million→ around 10% of the pop

how did economic problems cause stalin to launch the great terror?

what did he do/his actions?

problems had arisen from stalin’s full scale collectivisation and industrialisation that undermined his authority

stalin accused workers and managers of being ‘wreckers’ and ‘saboteurs’ therefore enabling him to blame them for problems rather than accepting responsibility for any failures

he sent said ‘wreckers’ and ‘saboteurs’ to gulags

^^ this terror created an ‘army of slave labour’ which he could exploit

in what ways was stalin’s government totalitarian?

he did not s____ want o________, he wanted full c_____ of his people

had complete control of the econ

used widespread terror to eliminate opps (politically)

had complete control of the media

used extensive propaganda and terror to establish and further his cult of perosnality

simply,, obedience,, commitment