stalins attitudes to foreign policy

What role did Stalin have within the party at the time of Lenin’s death?

general secretary

What was the key to Stalin’s style of government?

bureactratic centralism

In Stalin’s system what was a crime against the party?

factionalism

What happened once the ‘party line’ had been established and backed by the majority and the politburoi?

dissent equated to disloyalty

What did much of Stalin’s success in the power struggle come from?

his ability to build up a group of loyal supportwrs in the lower levels of the party leadership

What wa Stalin always presented as a continuation of?

Lenin’s legacy and was buil;t on the politics of divide and rule

What was bureaucratic centralism?

gov controlled the centre, this includes the central appointment of district officers and other party officials

What was Stalin’s main weapon?

loyal henchmen, who feared each other, fear permeated his policies through his reactions to collectivisation, growth of labour camps and use of officials

What was the Cheka remnamed to in 1926?

Who were the OGPU led by?

Menzhinsky

What was constant under the OGPU?

propaganda nd repression

When did terror reach its height?

the 1930s but used from the beginning to eliminate opponenets and intimitade people

What was Lenin’s openness about the need for terror like for Stalin?

helpful as Stalin claimed he was continiung Lenin’s regime

What does the OGPU stand for?

joint state political directerote

What was Menzhinsky’s role previously?

had been a member of the presidium of the cheka since 1919

What was Menzhinsky like as a person?

loyal to Stalin, effecient often ill and left a lot of his work to his deputy

Who was Mzenhinsky’s deputy?

Genrikh Yogoda

Why is there discouse surrounding the death of Menzhinsky?

died in 1934, likely of natural causes yet Yogoda later admiited to poisoning him

What was Stalin’s main aim in foreign policy?

keep Russia safe whilst concentrating on domestic affairs to build socialism in one country

Is complete isolation from the rest of the world possible?

no, it’s impossible

What were Russia’s 2 main concerns in foreign policy?

france and china

What does Stalin think of Comintern, what does he say about it publicly?

unwelcome nuisamce but can’t say this publicly

What was Chicherin’s role under Stalin, why was he good?

representative in foreign affairs, a polished diplomat with a moderate and reassuring image

Who was Chicherin’s deputy?

Litinov

What was Chicherin seen as being helpful in?

maintaining ‘safe relations’ with foreign powers

When was 6th Comintern Congress?

1928

What occured at the sixth comintern congress?

Stalin put his forward view that the world situation was changing , world capitalism was facing a terminal crisis and that the time was right for an all out attack on anti-communist social democratic parties in Europe.

What does Stalin call the anti communist social democratic parties at the sixth comintern congress?

called them ‘social fascists’ and the deadliest enemies of socialism and pushed for Comintern to purge ‘weak elements’ (trotskyist) to prepare for the fight for world revolution

When did Stalin push more aggressive foreign policy measures?

1928

After 1928, what did Trotsky condemn Stalin for being, why was Stalin likely doing this?

hypocritical, could have just used his revolutionary instincts to foresee that the need for socialism in one country had passed, or was picking a political fight with his biggest enemy at the time, Bukharin

What did Stalin do to Comintern?

soviet control became lighter and he put loyal ‘yes men’ there to run comintern for him

What What did Stalin do to communist parties in foreign countries?

strict discipline imposed,soviet agents were sent to infiltrate foreign communist parties and report back to Moscow

What were foreign communist leaders encouraged to do, why?

go to Russia to sharpen communist ideology and unity, in reality it was to control them and any illusions that comintern was an international brotherhood was dropped

Why were Germany and the USSR natural allies in the 1920s?

germany was isolated due to WW1 and russia due to communism

What were the years that followed the rappallo treaty like?

underpinned by significant economic and military collaborations

Why werwe relations between Germany and Russia under strain?

comintern (1921 and 1923) interferred with German politics

How much did Russia spend on German interference?

1921 comintern spent 62 million, 1922 it was 47 million, Russia was starving

What were relations between Germnay an Russia like post 1923?

even better as the chance of a german revolution was hugely unlikely

What were the consequences of the 1925 Locarno treaty for germany?

better relations with Germany Britain and France

What were the consequences of the 1925 Locarno treaty for russia?

scared of isolation

What was the Russian response to the Locarno treaty?

lots of treaties between Russia and Germany (on the eve of Locarno)

Why is the treaty in Berlin in 1926, what was it?

same year that Germany joins the league of nations, it reaffirmed the treaty of Rapallo and remained in force for 5 years and the countires pledged neutrality in case of attack, germany pledged to abstain fro any LON trade or financia boycott of russia

When was the chinese communist party formed, what was it’s aim?

1921, communist revolution in China

Who did the CCP expect help from?

Stalin and Comintern

Why did Stalin prefer to back Jiang Jieshi and Guamindang?

he believed they were likely to bring stability back to strategic areas of russia’s eastern borders and Stalin was suspicious of the independent interoretation of chinese communism

GMD conflict in March 1926?

massacred sriking workers in Canton and established a military dictatorship

2 examples of GMD conflict in 1927?

1) viciously supressed a communist led workers revolt in Shanghai and thousands of workers were killed. 2) the GMD massacred striking workers in the city of Wohani around 30,000 workers killed by the GMD that year

What did stalin do in regards to China and the politburo?

Stalin pressured the Politburo into accepting the Guomindang as a member of Comintern, links between the CCP and Russia became weaker

What did Stalin think about why there were faults in chinese communism?

NYTHING THAT HAD GONE WRONG in China was rhe fault of the communists who moved away from supporting the urban w/c and focused on the peasansts

Who criticised Stalin’s ‘betreyal’ off the CCP, why was this not a threat?

Trotsky and the left opposition, Stalins ‘socialism in one country’ was popular in comparison to Trotsky’s weak influence

What occured at the communist party congress of 1927?

occasion of much criticism of Stalin’s actions in regards to China, trotsky expelled from party

What is the Guomindang also known as?

Kuomintang (KMT)

who was the GMD led by?

Jiang Jiashi

When was the GMD defeated, who by?

1949, communist revolution