Russia & the Soviet Union 1917-1941 – Key Vocabulary

These flashcards cover the essential vocabulary, organisations, policies and events that shaped Soviet political, social and economic development from the 1917 Revolution to 1941. They emphasise ideology, key institutions, major campaigns, and prominent figures necessary for exam revision.

Marxism

A theory that history progresses through class struggle, ending with the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of communism.

Proletariat

The industrial working class that, according to Marxism, will lead the socialist revolution.

Bourgeoisie

The capitalist class that owns the means of production and exploits the proletariat.

Vanguard Party

A disciplined group of professional revolutionaries who guide the working class to revolution; central to Leninist strategy.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Transitional period after revolution when the communist party rules to suppress opposition and build socialism.

Anti-Religion ("Opium of the masses")

Marxist belief that religion distracts workers from class struggle and must be abolished.

Internationalism

Marxist call for workers of all nations to unite to achieve worldwide revolution.

Classless Society

Final communist stage where private property is abolished and social classes disappear.

Withering Away of the State

Marxist idea that when communism is achieved, the need for government will vanish.

April Theses (1917)

Lenin’s program demanding ‘Peace, Land, Bread’ and ‘All Power to the Soviets,’ steering the Bolsheviks toward seizure of power.

Sovnarkom

Council of People’s Commissars; the Bolshevik government formed after the October Revolution.

Soviet

Worker, soldier or peasant council that exercised local power during the Russian Revolutions.

CHEKA

Lenin’s secret police (1917-22) tasked with eliminating ‘counter-revolution and sabotage’; forerunner of GPU/NKVD.

War Communism

Emergency economic system (1918-21) that nationalised industry and requisitioned grain to supply the Red Army during the Civil War.

New Economic Policy (NEP)

Lenin’s 1921 market-oriented retreat allowing limited private trade while the state kept control of heavy industry.

Decree on Party Unity (1921)

Banned factions within the Communist Party, strengthening central control and silencing opposition.

Lenin Enrolment

Mass recruitment of less-educated, loyal workers (1924-25) to expand party membership and bolster Stalin’s support base.

Politburo

The top decision-making body of the Communist Party.

Orgburo

Party body overseeing organisation and personnel; linked to Politburo by Stalin as liaison officer.

General Secretary

Party post held by Stalin from 1922, giving him control over appointments and party bureaucracy.

Comintern

Communist International (1919) aimed at spreading world revolution under Soviet leadership.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1918)

Peace treaty with Germany ending Russia’s WWI involvement at huge territorial and economic cost.

Vesenkha

Supreme Council of National Economy, created in 1917 to oversee state-run industries.

Kulak

Relatively prosperous peasant targeted as class enemy during collectivisation.

Collectivisation

Policy (1929-33) merging individual peasant farms into state-controlled collectives to boost grain output and fund industrialisation.

Dekulakisation

Violent campaign to liquidate kulaks as a class through confiscation, deportation and execution.

Kolkhoz

Collective farm where peasants pooled land and shared income.

Sovkhoz

State farm run by paid agricultural workers, directly owned by the government.

Motor Tractor Station (MTS)

State centre that supplied machinery and political supervision to collective farms.

Urals-Siberian Method

Harsh grain-procurement tactic (1928-29) using fines and arrests to seize grain from peasants.

“Dizzy with Success” Article (1930)

Stalin’s newspaper piece blaming local officials for excesses in collectivisation, temporarily easing pressure on peasants.

Five-Year Plan

Centralised economic program setting production targets for rapid industrial growth; first launched in 1928.

Gosplan

State Planning Commission responsible for drawing up and monitoring Five-Year Plans.

Gigantomania

Soviet pursuit of huge construction projects (e.g., Dnieper Dam, Magnitogorsk) to showcase industrial might.

Magnitogorsk

Model steel city built from 1929 symbolising first Five-Year Plan industrialisation.

Stakhanovite Movement

Campaign celebrating record-breaking workers to raise productivity, inspired by miner Alexei Stakhanov (1935).

Socialist Realism

Official artistic style portraying optimistic, easily understood scenes that glorified socialism and Stalin.

Cult of Personality

Systematic glorification of Stalin as infallible leader through propaganda, art and education.

Show Trial

Public court proceeding with predetermined verdict used to discredit and eliminate political opponents.

Great Terror (1936-38)

Wave of purges, arrests and executions orchestrated by Stalin to eliminate real and imagined enemies.

NKVD

People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs; secret police that carried out Stalin’s purges after 1934.

Yagoda

Head of NKVD (1934-36) who initiated early purges, later executed in a show trial.

Yezhov

NKVD chief (1936-38) presiding over the height of the Great Terror; later purged himself.

Beria

Succeeded Yezhov (1938) as NKVD head; oversaw late purges and wartime security, executed 1953.

Kirov Assassination (1934)

Murder of Leningrad party boss used by Stalin as pretext to launch mass purges.

Ryutin Affair (1932)

Attempt by party critic Martemyan Ryutin to circulate a platform opposing Stalin; led to mass expulsions.

Shakhty Trial (1928)

First major show trial accusing engineers of ‘economic sabotage,’ inaugurating industrial terror.

Industrial Party Trial (1930)

Fabricated case against economists and engineers charged with conspiring to wreck the economy.

Gulag

Network of forced-labour camps where millions of prisoners worked under brutal conditions.

Stalin Constitution (1936)

Document proclaiming democratic rights and classless society while leaving Communist Party monopoly intact.

Socialism in One Country

Stalin’s doctrine prioritising Soviet development over immediate world revolution.

Permanent Revolution

Trotsky’s theory that socialist revolutions must spread internationally for the USSR to survive.

NEPmen

Private traders who profited under the New Economic Policy’s limited market freedoms.

Scissors Crisis (1923)

Economic imbalance where food prices fell while industrial goods prices rose, hurting peasants.

Smychka

Lenin’s desired ‘union’ between workers and peasants, strained by later grain crises.

Internal Passport (1932)

Identity document controlling movement of Soviet citizens, particularly rural migrants to cities.

Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)

Agreement between Germany and Japan (later Italy) pledging to combat Communism internationally.

Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (1939)

Non-aggression treaty between USSR and Nazi Germany, including secret division of Eastern Europe.

Rapallo Treaty (1922)

Agreement normalising Soviet-German relations, including economic and military cooperation.

Decree on Land (1917)

Lenin’s order legalising peasant land seizures and abolishing private estates.

Decree on Workers’ Control (1917)

Gave factory committees authority over production but introduced state oversight.

Red Army

Bolshevik military force formed in 1918, crucial in winning the Civil War.

OGPU

Secret police successor to CHEKA (1922-34), later merged into NKVD.

Lynch (Historian)

Author cited for analysis of Stalin’s rise, purges and cultural policies.

Gosizdat

State publishing house controlling all Soviet printed material.

Komsomol

Communist youth organisation mobilised for collectivisation and industrial campaigns.

Kolkhoz Charter (1935)

Regulations granting collective farmers small private plots and limited livestock ownership.

Urals

Region whose raw materials (iron, coal) were central to heavy-industry growth under Five-Year Plans.