Modern History: Russia and the Soviet Union 1917-1941

From where did Bolshevik ideology stem?

Karl Marx's socialist theories.

What stages did Marx believe a society would pass through to achieve communism?

A society would have to pass through Feudalism, Capitalism and Socialism until a Communist society would emerge.

How did Lenin adapt Marxism to conditions in Russia?

Lenin resisted Marx's process of a Communist society and employed professional revolutionaries to ensure that Capitalism and Socialism would be skipped, ensuring a quicker ascension to Communism.

When did the October coup take place?

The October coup of 1917 otherwise known as Bolshevik Revolution came second to the original February Revolution.

What was the date of the October coup?

24th and 25th of October (Julian calendar)

What happened in the October coup?

The Bolsheviks conduct an armed insurrection, arrest the Provisional Government and proclaim a transfer of power.

What was the initial structure of the early Soviet government?

The disbanding of the Constituent Assembly after their first meeting in Jan 1918 showed Lenin's distaste for a coalition of Bolsheviks with other socialist parties.

What was the purpose of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk?

The treaty allowed the Bolshevik party to gain public support for ending the war with Germany.

What were Lenin's motivations for signing the treaty?

Lenin saw that the war with Germany would not help Russia's severe economic problems.

What date was the treaty signed?

3rd of March 1918

How did the treaty disadvantage Russia?

The treaty of Brest-Litovsk forced Russia to:

give up Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Byelorussia and Russian Poland;

1/3 of its agricultural land and population;

and 4/5 of its coal mines.

When was the Julian calendar replaced by the Gregorian calendar?

Feb 1918

How long did the Russian Civil War last?

The Civil War lasted from 1918-1920

Who did the Bolsheviks have to contest with opposition from during their Civil War?

The Bolsheviks had to contest with:

Domestic opposition - stemmed from the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks excluded from power

External opposition - counter revolutionary forces. The Allies who wanted Russia back in WWI.

What did Trotsky create in April 1918?

Trotsky formed the Red Army in April 1918. This army helped mobilise the cause of the Soviets toward communism.

Who were the white army?

Anyone to oppose Bolshevik rule. External counter revolutionary forces were made up of soldiers from the French, British, Japanese. The internal section of the White Army consisted of former pro-tsarists, members of the Cadet party, Mensheviks, and Socialist revolutionaries.

What are the reasons suggested for Bolshevik victory?

Lenin's leadership

Disunity of the 'Whites'

Trotsky's skilful organisation and the Red Army's strong development

Withdrawal of Allied support from the White Army

What was the New Economic Policy (NEP)?

The NEP allowed some capitalist tendencies to replace the failed War Communism economic structure.

What was War Communism and when did it exist?

War Communism was the economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1921.

What were some of the key aspects of War Communism?

Every aspect of people's working lives were controlled

Businesses and factories were taken over by government

No goods or produce could be sold for profit

Strikes were forbidden

Food was rationed

Peasants were forced to give up the produce of their farms to the government.

What were the results of War Communism?

War Communism resulted in widespread starvation and poverty.

How did the NEP bring some form of economic stability back to Russia's economy?

Allowance of peasants to sell their own produce.

Cease of grain requisitioning.

Reintroduction of money and paying workers in cash.

Trade unions were given limited freedom to operate.

Shortened working hours.

What was the downfall of the NEP?

The downfall of the NEP was the Scissor Crisis in 1923.

How did Lenin suppress opposing views?

Suppression of opposition and opposing views by Lenin was primarily enacted by the crushing of the Workers Opposition in 1921, a group that promoted independent trade unions, additionally Non-communist intellectuals were exiled.

How did Lenin promote foreign relations in two contradicting ways?

Promotion of an international, socialist revolution that would include anti-imperialist liberation movements.

Establish normal, diplomatic and economic relations with capitalist nations for peaceful coexistence.

What was one of Lenin's international success?

1922 Genoa conference in which Germany and Russia established normal diplomatic relations. It promised economic and military cooperation between the two states.

When and how did Lenin die?

21 January 1924, Intracerebral hemorrhage as a result of a stroke

Five successors stood out to Lenin in his final years. Who were they?

Leon Trotsky

Joseph Stalin

Grigory Zinoviev

Lev Kamenev

Nikolai Bukharin

Why was Leon Trotsky considered for leadership?

Key figure in 1905 & 1917.

Architect of the Civil War victory, creator of the Red Army.

Gifted writer, speaker and intellectual.

Why was Joseph Stalin considered for leadership?

Energy, administrative talent, and skill in bureaucratic infighting brought him to the top of the Bolshevik hierarchy.

Commissar for nationalities and Commissar for state control.

Why was Grigory Zinoviev considered for leadership?

Head of the Petrograd Soviet in 1917, the first chairman of the Executive Committee of the Communist International from 1919, and a full member of the Politburo.

Why was Lev Kamenev considered for leadership?

Kamenev was chairman of the Moscow Soviet from 1918, and deputy chairman of the Bolshevik government.

Why was Nikolai Bukharin considered for leadership?

Editor of Pravada, the offical party newspaper.

He also became leader of the Communist International (ComIntern) in the late 20s

Who were the members of the Politburo in 1924?

Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Rykov, Stalin, Tomskii and Trotsky

What were the reasons for the emergence of Stalin as leader of the USSR?

Stalin eventually murdered all of his opponents on the Politburo in the plight to becoming head of the USSR. In 1919, Stalin was elected head of the Inspectorate, meaning that he found himself supervising the workings of the entire government.

Did Lenin like Stalin?

It is suggested that Lenin disliked and distrusted Stalin, historians have suggested that Stalin didn't grieve over Lenin's death.

What is dictator?

The sole leader of a totalitarian regime. A dictator employs harsh and strict methods to achieve control.

What aspects of Stalin categorised him as a dictator?

Eliminated all opposition

Censorship

Propaganda

Use of military force (e.g secret police) to control the populace

Controlled party bureaucracy in order to endear himself to popularity

What is totalitarianism?

Totalitarianism is the complete economic, social and cultural dominance of citizens. It is characterised by a singular, typically charismatic leader where an ideological society constitutes as a makeshift religion.

How does Stalin fulfil the role of a totalitarian dictator?

Charismatic,

Manipulative

Ruled with fear and control

What was collectivisation and what were its goals?

Collectivisation is the establishment of large scale farming, with all of the product being claimed by the state. This tied into the overall goal of becoming a more industrialised nation.

Why was Stalin initially appealed by collectivisation?

Stalin believed that it would be easier to control peasants in the collectives. Stalin also needed the money from collectivised grain to fund large importations of industrial machinery

What led to a quickening of the pace to collectivise?

The initial plan was for the peasants to hand over their land voluntarily but their resistance, and Stalin's desire to match the progress being made in industry, led to a quickening of the pace to collectivise.

What was a major setback of collectivisation?

The war against the Kulaks.

What is a Kulak and what happened to them?

Richer peasants. Kulak was a derogatory term. Any peasant who was against the forced requisitioning and collectivisation was branded a kulak.

Kulaks were either deprived of their land, send to Siberia, or shot.

How did people resist collectivisation and was their defiance successful?

Many resisted collectivisation by burning their crops, killing their animals and hiding those sought by officials. The dissent proved too great and in 1930 Stalin was forced to put a hold on collectivisation.

What were the 5 Year Plans?

The 5 Year Plans were a set of goals concentrated on developing heavy industry and collectivising agriculture.

What are the three essential elements to an industrialised nation?

Capital

Labour

Resources

How was labour supplied?

Thousands of people in Gulags provided a source labour. E.g White Canal Project

Who else promoted rapid industrialisation?

As early as 1921, Trotsky urged the promotion of a policy for rapid industrialisation.

When was the 1st Five-Year-Plan?

1928-1932

What did the 1st Five-Year-Plan focus on?

Rapidly expanding areas of heavy industry such as coal, oil, iron and steel.

When was the 2nd Five-Year-Plan?

1932-1937

What did the 2nd Five-Year-Plan focus on?

The second 5 Year Plan focused on improving similar things to the first, however there was some allowance for the development of light industry (clothing, shoes furniture) and water, road and rail transport.

When was the 3rd Five-Year-Plan?

1938-1943

What did the 3rd Five-Year-Plan focus on?

Consumer goods for the people of the Soviet Union such as radios, bicycles and household goods. However The plan was changed when the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany in 1941. Weapons were produced to fight the war.

What was the general consensus on these plans?

Stalin mobilised popular support for the plans. Many had a feeling that they were engaged in the great adventure of building socialism.

To what cause can the growth in party membership during the 1930s be attributed?

The growth of the party membership can be accredited to the so called benefits that came with the conscious affiliation with the party. While party membership did not imply genuine participation in governance, let alone in decision making, it was a prerequisite for public activity and facilitated promotion in employment and advancement in education.

How did Stalin use terror to maintain control?

'Purging' became a mechanism for promoting terror, the rapid development of the secret police can also be attributed to the successes of Stalin's terror tactics.

What were the purges under Stalin?

A campaign of terror at those who threatened his power, generally targeted toward party members. Those purged from the party were accused of much more serious crimes, and the punishments handed down were more severe.

How did Stalin use the murder of Kirov in 1934 to launch a massive wave of terror?

The criminal code was expanded to include a new range of crimes

Death penalty could be carried out on people as young as 12

Many people were accused of crimes they did not commit by the secret police, instilling fear in the citizens and proving that anyone - from party officials to peasants- could be charged with a crime and put to death.

What is a show trial?

A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant, often laden with bias and false accusations. Show trials occurred most notably in the 1930s.

How did the authorities convince the accused in show trials to confess to crimes (they often did not commit)?

The secret police forced the accused to confess crimes that they may not have even committed by threatening loved ones or falsely promising the individual would be exempt of the death penalty.

What is a Gulag?

The Gulag was a system of forced labor camps. The word "Gulag" is an acronym for Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp Administration.

What was the first major Gulag project?

The first major Gulag project was the White Sea Canal, the hand construction of waterway between the Baltic and White Sea, which employed 100,000 prisoners by 1932.

How were prisoners forced to work in Gulags?

Prisoners were given primitive hand tools, instead of dynamite and machinery, forced to work long hours and in below freezing temperatures

How many people went to Gulag in total?

An estimated 18 million people were sent to Gulags during the period they were operational.

What did propaganda promote?

Propaganda promoted 'working together toward the greater good' and valued the 'achievements' of Stalin as a credit to his likability. Propaganda promoted Stalin's cult of personality.

What was the impact of urbanisation on Soviet society? (Provide a statistic)

-Public transport, roads, power and water supply were drastically underdeveloped and often resulted in crime. Shortages of food and general necessities became the norm and housing was in permanent short supply.

-By the 1930s, 33% of the population was urban

How did Soviet society engage in popular culture?

Cinema became a popular form of entertainment, yet films were only shown to promote Stalin and the wonders of the communism regime. This was the same with popular music.

How did Stalin change education for children and adults?

- The curriculum was tightened and non-political subjects such was physics, chemistry and mathematics were given emphasis

- The promotion of adult education was to raise literacy levels and teach basic trade skills.

What was the Komsomol? What did the 'activists' expected to do?

The Komsomol (All Union Leninist Young Communist League) was a youth league under the control of the party. Members of the Komsomol were expected to expose any opposition or abuses against the party.

How did womens rights change under Stalin? What were all women expected to do?

- abortion outlawed

- laws against prostitution and homosexuality

- limit access to divorce

all women were expected to support the regime's goal of increasing the birth rate, regardless of role in society

What was the initial intention of Bolshevik foreign policy? How did this change under Stalin? What did he refer to this policy as?

Bolshevik foreign policy promoted the spread of Communist revolution across Europe.

However, Stalin's policy of 'Socialism in One Country' placed the emphasis in Soviet foreign policy on the need for normal diplomatic relations

How did the Soviet Union attempt to build normal diplomatic relationships? What was their fundamental aim during the 1930s?

- The Soviet Union became a part of the League of Nations in 1934

- The fundamental aim of Soviet foreign policy in the 1930s was to avoid being drawn into war.

When did the Soviet Union sign a 'Mutual Assistance Treaty' with France? What was the aim?

Who else did they sign a similar treaty with?

In April 1935, the Soviet Union signed a 'Mutual Assistance Treaty' with France, in which each power would provide assistance to one another in the event of an unprovoked attack by a European state.

In May 1935, the Soviet Union signed a similar agreement with Czechoslovakia.

What happened in August 1939? Why was this event unexpected?

The Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed.

The Pact was extremely surprising considering the complete disregard each regime had for one another's policies.

When did Germany invade the Soviet Union? What was this event called?

The German invasion of Russia, titled Operation Barbarossa began on the 22nd of June 1941.

What causes prevented the Germans from capturing Moscow?

Strategic errors on Hitler's part, the onset of winter and the transfer of troops from Siberia to the West prevented the Germans from capturing Moscow.

How did the Soviet Union attempt to prevent conflict with Japan?

In April 1941, Japan and the Soviet Union signed a Non-Aggression pact as Japan's ambitions were turned southward.