2N Revolution and Dictatorship

Autocracy

A system of rule by one person with no limits to their power, as seen under Tsar Nicholas II.

Nicholas II's Personal Failings

He was a weak, indecisive ruler who refused to share power with the Duma or accept necessary changes.

The February/March Revolution

A spontaneous uprising triggered by bread shortages, rooted in years of suffering under an autocracy unable to adapt.

The Dual Authority

The power-sharing arrangement between the unelected Provisional Government (PG) and the elected Petrograd Soviet.

Soviet Order No. 1

A charter stating soldiers and workers should only obey the PG if their orders agreed with the Soviet's decisions.

Lenin's April Theses

A speech demanding 'Peace, Land and Bread' and 'All power to the Soviets,' arguing for an immediate socialist revolution.

The Kornilov Coup

A failed attempt by General Kornilov to seize power in July 1917, which allowed the Bolsheviks to arm their Red Guards and appear as heroes.

The October/November Revolution

A planned Bolshevik seizure of power led by Trotsky and Lenin, taking control of key communication points in Petrograd.

Dictatorship of the Proletariat

Lenin's justification for one-party rule, claiming the Party took control of the state on behalf of the workers.

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

A deeply unpopular 1918 peace treaty with Germany where Russia lost 1/6th of its population and 3/4ths of its iron and coal supplies.

The Russian Civil War

A conflict between the Reds (Bolsheviks) and the Whites (monarchists/liberals), Greens (peasants), and foreign interventionists.

War Communism

A harsh economic policy during the Civil War involving grain requisitioning, nationalisation of industry, and strict labour discipline.

The New Economic Policy (NEP)

A 1921 'compromise' that reintroduced private trade and ended grain requisitioning to stabilise the economy.

Ban on Factions

A 1921 rule introduced by Lenin making it dangerous to express disagreement with influential Party members.

The Red Terror

A period of intense political repression intended to remove all counter-revolutionaries, intensified by an assassination attempt on Lenin in 1918.

Lenin's Testament

A 1922 document that criticised Stalin's rudeness and violent methods, recommending his dismissal from the Central Committee.

The Triumvirate

An alliance between Stalin, Kamenev, and Zinoviev formed in 1922-23 to block Trotsky's rise to power.

Socialism in One Country

Stalin's 1924 theory that the USSR could build socialism on its own without needing external support from other socialist states.

Permanent Revolution

Trotsky's theory that the USSR could only survive if the revolution was constantly encouraged throughout Europe.

General Secretary

The position Stalin used to control the Party agenda, access personal files, and appoint loyal supporters to key roles.

The Great Turn

The 1927-29 radical shift in economic policy, abandoning the NEP for forced collectivisation and rapid industrialisation.

Bukharin's Downfall

Removed from the Politburo in 1929 after being accused of 'Right deviationism' for supporting the NEP.

First Five Year Plan

Launched in 1928, it prioritised heavy industry (coal, steel, oil) and aimed to increase production by 300%.

Gosplan

The State Planning Agency that set ambitious, top-down output targets for every industrial enterprise.

Stakhanovites

Workers held up as heroes for exceeding production targets, used in propaganda to boost worker productivity.

Collectivisation

The forced merging of individual peasant farms into state-owned (sovkhozy) or collective (kolkhozy) farms.

Kulaks

Richer peasants identified as 'class enemies' who were to be 'liquidated as a class' through deportation or execution.

The 25,000ers

Industrial workers sent to the countryside to promote collectivisation and forcibly round up kulaks.

Holodomor

The 1932-34 famine, particularly severe in Ukraine, resulting from collectivisation and high state grain quotas.

Internal Passports

Introduced in 1932 to restrict the movement of peasants and stop them from leaving collective farms.

The Kirov Murder

The 1934 assassination of Sergei Kirov, used as an excuse by Stalin to launch widespread purges against 'terrorist plotting'.

The Show Trials

Public trials used to eliminate Stalin's old rivals (like Zinoviev and Kamenev) and provide scapegoats for economic failures.

NKVD

The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, which oversaw secret police work and the Gulag network.

Yezhovshchina

The period of mass terror (1937-38) led by Nikolai Yezhov, involving random arrests and execution quotas.

Stalin Constitution (1936)

A document declaring socialism had been achieved; it promised democratic rights that were largely ignored in practice.

Socialist Realism

The required artistic style that glorified the workers, the Party, and the idealised future of the USSR.

The Great Retreat

A 1930s policy shift towards traditional family values, making abortion illegal and divorce more difficult.

Nazi-Soviet Pact

The 1939 non-aggression agreement with Hitler that provided the USSR with a 'breathing space' to prepare for war.