USSR QUOTES

BOLSHEVIK CONSOLIDATION OF POWER

War Communism

Lenin claimed "It was a temporary measure"

BOLSHEVIK CONSOLIDATION OF POWER

NEP

"Though ideology was a key determinant of early polices, they were quick to compromise ideological goals if the situation made it necessary" Ken Webb

POWER STRUGGLE

Timely death of Lenin - Lenin's Testament

"Unlimited authority concentrated in his hands... not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution" - Lenin's Testament

POWER STRUGGLE

Stalin's manipulation of the cult of Lenin

"Stalin was the architect of the cult of Lenin" Alan Woods

POWER STRUGGLE

Stalin's ability to play the political game - not sticking to one ideology

"Stalin's ideological flexibility weaponised the debate" Deutscher

POWER STRUGGLE

Stalin's manipulation of the party through his numerous alliances

"Stalin was moderate and methodical... he was the only one skilled at building tactical alliances and this put him head and shoulders above the rest" McCauley

POWER STRUGGLE

Trotsky's failure of the ToBL

Robert Service claims that the treaty "nearly tore the Bolshevik party asunder"

POWER STRUGGLE

Lenin's opinion of Trotsky

Lenin wrote in his testament that while Trotsky "is personally perhaps the most capable man in the present... he has displayed excessive self-assurance"

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION Primary motive of Stalin's 5 Year Plans

"we are fifty to a hundred years behind the advanced countries... we must make this gap or it will crush us" Stalin

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Fake results of the 5 Year Plans

"Economic acheivements were trumpeted, often in a way that invovled blatant distortion of reality and manipulation of statistics" Sheila Fitzpatrick

ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION

Social consequences of the 5 Year Plans and Collectivisation

"These small social and wider economic successes were achieved with total disregard for the millions of lives they cost"

POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

Stalin's use of the CHEKA

"The machine gun became for them the principle instrument of political persuasion" Richard Pipes

POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION

Stalins use of show trials

"Senior communists had to die as traitors. He himself, would be loosed upon as the saviour of the country"

CULTURAL CHANGE

Cult of Stalin

"Stalin himself believed that his image helped to solidify support for Communism" Archie Brown

CULTURAL CHANGE

Stalins use of education in transforming the lives of youth

"Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed" Stalin

CULTURAL CHANGE

Stalins view of the role of women

"A mother and a citizen who bears the great and responsible duty of giving birth to and bringing up citizens." written in the Abortion Ban

FOREIGN POLICY

Promotion of international /permanent revolution

"The creation of an international Soviet republic and to create a common struggle to defend the working class"

FOREIGN POLICY

Building of alliances

"Bolsheviks realised they had survived into the post-war era - and Soviet foreign policy changed from survival to one of consolidation" Angie Debo

FOREIGN POLICY

Soviet involvement in the Spanish Civil War

"It was the communists above all others who prevented revolution in Spain" George Orwell

FOREIGN POLICY

Soviet Union's desire for national security

"Hitler's aggressive domestic and foreign policy persuaded Stalin where the real danger to the Soviet Union lay" Tony Wood