Opposition and repression 1917-1941

Why did opposition against Lenin protest about/want?

* Workers wanted soviet elections, a free press and a constituent assembly- wanted a democracy
* Overthrow of the Sovnarkom
* Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
* Increase in support for other socialist parties

What was the aim of the red terror?

* Terrify all social groups into co-operation with the regime

Why did Lenin say terror was necessary?

* He faced enormous political and economic challenges during the civil war and terror was necessary in order to respond to crisis
* it was to protect the workers- prevent counter revolution

What did Lenin do when the crisis passed?

Disbanded the Cheka in Feb 1922

What did Lenin replace the Cheka with?

GPU- continued work of secret police

How do critics on Lenin see the foundations of Stalins “great purges”

As coming from Lenin’s red terror

What happened to those who opposed rapid industrialisation and collectivisation under Stalin in 1928?

Subjected to violence by OGPU and red army

What were those who opposed collectivisation called ?

Kulaks

What did Peasants do to resist collectivisation ?

* Slaughtered animals
* Less grain harvested
* Peasant uprisings (13,570 or 2.5 million peasants)

What happened to villages that refused to collectivise ?

Soviet airforce was called in to bomb remote villages

What policy was there less opposition to?

The five year plans

What was used to motivate managers and workers to meet the demanding targets set by Gosplan?

Terror

Who was out on trial in the Shakhty show trial?

53 engineers from the Shakhty coal mine

What were the 53 engineers accused of doing?

* “counter revolutionary activity”
* There had been a drop in production at the mine- showed others what would happen if they didn’t reach targets

Why was the “industrial party” put on trial in 1930?

* Blamed for sabotaging the first five year plan

Who was put on trial in the “Menshevik” trial?

* Leading figures in the earlier drawing up of the first five year plan and the prosecution of the wreckers now found themselves on trial because of their Menshevik background

What was full by 1929?

Prisons

Who suggested an expansion of gulags/prison camps?

* Yagoda- Deputy chairman of the OGPU

By 1934 how many prisoners were in the gulags ?

Over 1 million

Who was the star and received more votes then Stalin in the 17th Party Congress?

Kirov

Who was killed in a car accident following the murder of Kirov?

Kirov bodyguard and some NKVD men

Who was arrested and eventually executed lined to the death of Kirov?

Zinoviev and Kamenev

In 1936 how many arrests/expulsions from the party were made?

11,000 arrests and 250,000 expulsions

Who replaced yagoda as head of NKVD?

Yezhov

What are the three theories as to who killed Kirov?

1. Nikolayev-expelled from the party in Leningrad- Kirov was the head and rumours that his ex wife had an affair with him- map of Kirov route to work and a plan to murder was found in his possessions
2. Stalin ordered Kirov’s murder
3. Kirov was a victim of in fighting between KKVD and the Leningrad party

Why may Stalin have the motivation behind killing Kirov?

* Kirov spoke out against the use of force against peasants
* Kirov had become more popular within the party- polled more votes at the 17th party congress
* Several provincial party secretaries and was urged to take over as General Secretary- Kirov rejected idea

Who was put on trial in the 1937 show trial (number 2)

* Piatakov, Radek and Sokolnikov
* Leading figures in the communist party who had questioned Stalins policies especially the pace of industrialisation
* Confessed to forming an “anti soviet Trotskyist centre”

Who was put on trial at the 3rd trial in 1938?

* Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda
* Bukharin- confessed to involvement in plots against Stalin and was shot
* Yagoda- confused to an array of crimes including murder of Kirov- shot with family

Who shared Stalins vision in terror?

Yezhov

Who oversaw the most bloodthirsty period of terror?

Yezhov (“the bloody dwarf)

How many people did Yezhov want to get arrested In his “arrest list”

250,000 (anti soviet elements)

What system did Yezhov implement ?

A quota system

What percentage of those arrested had to be shot?

28%

Who was purged in 1937?

The red army

How many deputy commissars for defence and members of the supreme military council were shot?

* All 11 deputy commissars for defence
* 75/80 members of the supreme military council were shot

Who was the “civil war hero” that was also tried and executed?

Marshal Tukhachevsky

What percentage of the army officer corps was imprisoned/executed?

50%- 35,000

What was the consequence of the purge of the red army?

* Effectiveness of armed forces reduced
* Incompetent leaders whose knowledge of military tactics was limited and very outdated - heavy emphasis on Cavalry on the battle field- Nazis had huge tanks
* Tukhachevsky on the other hand used up to date and modern weaponry

What percentage of the communist was expelled in 1938?

20% and thousands shot

What percentage of membership in 1939 joined the party before 1920?

10%

Why were “old Bolshevik’s” also arrested/executed ?

They were present when Stalin was not an all powerful dictator

How many out of the 1,966 delegates that were present at 17th party congress (where Kirov topped the poll) were arrested by 1939?

1,108

What was the best way that communists could stay in power?

By being loyal to Stalin

From 1929 who did the Poltiburo contain?

Stalins most loyal supporters

Who never asked Stalin for the release of his wife from the gulag?

Kalinin the president of the USSR

How many party members were there in 1935 in comparison to 1939?

1935- 2.5 million

1939- 1.5 million

How many party members were executed?

600,000

Why were younger members recruited in late 1930s?

* Younger
* Better educated
* Would be able to operate five year plans more effectively