Stalin and the USSR (1924–1939)

Comprehensive review flashcards covering Joseph Stalin's rise to power, economic policies (Collectivisation and Five Year Plans), totalitarian control, Show Trials, and Soviet foreign policy between 1924 and 1939.

How did Vladimir Lenin describe Leon Trotsky in his political testament prior to his death in 1924?

He described Trotsky as "The most capable man in the Central Committee".

Why was Leon Trotsky disliked by members of the Politburo following Lenin's death?

Members of the Politburo found him arrogant and thought he held too much power.

Which three leaders constituted "The Troika" formed to oppose Leon Trotsky?

Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Stalin.

How did Leon Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution conflict with Joseph Stalin's Socialism in One Country?

Permanent Revolution advocated for a constant worldwide revolution, whereas Socialism in One Country focused on perfecting communism in one country first to serve as an example before expanding.

Which policy did Zinoviev advocate for as head of the Comintern?

He argued for agricultural development, abandoning the New Economic Policy (NEP), and introducing full communism.

Which figures did Joseph Stalin ally with to remove Kamenev and Zinoviev from the Communist Party leadership?

Bukharin and Rykov.

In what year did Joseph Stalin become the unchallenged leader of Russia?

$$1928$$

In what year was Nikolai Bukharin expelled from the Politburo after opposing the end of the NEP and the introduction of Collectivisation?

$$1929$$

What was the fundamental structural difference between a kolkhoz and a sovkhoz?

A kolkhoz was a co-operative farm run by a committee that had to meet specific production targets at fixed prices, whereas a sovkhoz was a fully collectivised state farm where all produce was owned directly by the state.

How did the Kulaks resist forced Soviet collectivisation?

They burnt their crops and slaughtered their animals rather than surrendering them to the state.

How did the Red Army retaliate against Kulak resistance to collectivisation?

The Red Army destroyed villages, arrested Kulaks, and executed them.

What percentage of peasant farms had been collectivised by 1930 before Stalin temporarily paused forced confiscations?

$$58\%$$

What percentage of Russian farmland had been collectivised by 1936?

$$90\%$$

What was the Holodomor and what was its death toll in Ukraine?

A man-made famine in Ukraine created by demanding impossibly high grain quotas, confiscating grain from homes, and sealing borders in $1933$, causing the death of $5\text{ million}$ people.

Why did Stalin deliberately instigate the Holodomor in Ukraine?

To ensure control and to weaken the Ukrainian population in order to avoid a revolution and prevent Ukrainian independence.

How many total people died from famine during the collectivisation era in the USSR?

$$10\text{ million}$$

How many Kulaks were deported to Gulags as a result of collectivisation?

$$2.5\text{ million}$$

How many peasants migrated away from the Soviet countryside during the 1930s?

$$17\text{ million}$$

What were the primary industries targeted during the First Five Year Plan (1928–1932)?

Heavy industry, specifically coal, steel, and electricity.

By how much did electricity and coal production expand under the First Five Year Plan?

Electricity production tripled, while coal production doubled.

What major infrastructure and industrial developments characterized the Second Five Year Plan (1933–1937)?

Consumer goods, armaments, and transportation infrastructure, including the expansion of the railway system, the Moscow underground, and canal and rail links connecting cities to remote regions.

By 1940, where did the Soviet Union rank globally in terms of industrial output?

It was the second most industrialised nation in the world, behind only the United States.

What was the Stakhanovite movement?

A propaganda campaign centred on a worker who mined twice his daily coal quota, used to push Soviet workers to emulate his output and work ethic.

What role did internal passports play in the USSR during industrialisation?

They prevented Soviet workers from leaving areas that had the greatest labour needs.

Which two primary Soviet youth organisations were created to indoctrinate youth in Communist ideology?

Young Communists and Komsomol.

What 1934 event provided the immediate pretext for Stalin to initiate the Show Trials and purges?

The assassination of Leningrad Communist Party leader Sergei Kirov.

Who was charged and executed following the Trial of the Sixteen in 1936?

$16$ Communist Party members, including Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev, who were charged with Kirov's murder and crimes against the state.

Who served as the state prosecutor during the major Moscow Show Trials?

Andrey Vyshinsky.

How many defendants were tried in the Trial of the Seventeen (1937), and what was their fate?

$17$ influential party members ("Old Bolsheviks") were tried; $13$ were executed immediately, and the remaining $4$ were sent to Gulags.

What occurred during the secret purge of the Red Army in 1937?

Vyshinsky announced a Trotskyist plot, leading to $8$ senior Red Army commanders being tried in secret, forced to confess, and executed.

Which prominent leaders were convicted and executed in the Trial of the Twenty-One in 1938?

Bukharin, Rykov, and former NKVD chief Genrikh Yagoda.

According to the lecture notes, what was the human toll of the Great Purge under the NKVD?

$24\text{ million}$ citizens were tortured and interrogated by the NKVD, and $13\text{ million}$ died in the Gulags.

What was the purpose of the Popular Fronts initiated by the Comintern between 1934 and 1939?

To instruct European Communist parties to unite with other political parties to form Anti-Fascist alliances against rising Nazism and Fascism.

What agreement was signed between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in August 1939?

The Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.