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The rule of Stalin How did Stalin achieve and maintain power in the USSR between 1924 and 1953?

The leadership contest; the Cult of Stalin; use of propaganda and censorship; use of control and terror

Changing life under Stalin How were the lives of the Soviet people affected under Stalin`s rule between 1924 and 1953?

Collectivisation and de-kulakisation; Five Year Plans and work practices; modernisation of industry; changing role of women

Impact of the Second World War How was the USSR affected by war, 1939-45?

Preparations for war; Operation Barbarossa; Leningrad and Stalingrad; post-war reconstruction

Cold War relations, 1945-91 Why did relations between the USSR and the USA change between 1945 and 1991?

Causes of post-war tensions; Warsaw Pact and NATO; the arms race; hot-spots - Berlin, Cuba and Afghanistan; relations in the 1980s- 'Second Cold War

Political developments, 1953-85 How did the USSR develop politically between 1953 and 1985?

Khrushchev and de-Stalinisation; industrial change and agricultural reform; the Brezhnev years; leadership changes, 1982-85

Political reform under Gorbachev How did Gorbachev`s policies bring change to the USSR?

Economic reconstruction; perestroika; glasnost and democratisation; improved relations with the West

The collapse of communism and the break-up of the USSR What factors led to the collapse of Communism in the USSR?

Unrest in Eastern Europe; rise of nationalism within the USSR; the role of Yeltsin; the end of Communism