stalin and the USSR

based off study guide given by mr. peoples

kulaks

wealthy peasants (owned large farms, were able to hire labourers, lease land)
- considered enemies of socialism by soviets

bolsheviks

russian communist party led by lenin
- radical, revolutionary, marxist
- formed in 1912
- took power in 1917 (october revolution)

mensheviks

dominant faction in russian socialist movement, less radical/popular than bolsheviks
- deemed illegal in 1921

soviets

work/soldier local councils, communist (bolshevik) ideologies dominated
- egalitarian and marxist principles

politburo

inner circle of ~20 leading members of bolshevik party
- highest policy-making authority in USSR
- led by general secretary (stalin)

democratic centralism

true democracy lies in party members' obedience to enlightened leadership (democracy in the boundary of party in power)
- lenin argues free/open discussion among low/uneducated people = fragmentation

democracy + control :)

constitutional republicanism

chief executive/people in power are elected; rules written in constitution

- US is this type of government

divine right monarchy

monarch's power is given from god, not subject to earthly authority

- govt of late russian empire (last monarch was nicolas ii)

marxism-leninism

main idea of communist party in 1900s, vanguard party to lead working class to overthrow bourgeoisie
- only developing countries could lead fight against capitalism
- workers overcoming upper class = equal society

authoritarian rule

citizens submit blindly to government
(USSR)
- total centralization of govt, cult of personality around stalin
(LENIN)
- one party state (other parties outlawed)
- bureaucratic state (central power increased under lenin)
- police state (cheka controlled people, informed govt)

treaty of rapallo

april 1922, germany/soviet russia
- renounced territorial/financial claims against each other (concessions)
- good for rus/ger, bad for br/fr

abidcation of nicolas ii

1917, nicolas ii forced to resign from power
- tsar's troops rebel against tsardom, nicolas returns to petrograd to deal w/ disturbances, rebel rail workers blocked his way
- provisional govt takes over after his abdication

treaty of brest-litovsk

russia gives up 25% of its territory to germany, annulled when germany surrenders to allied powers in nov. 1918
- lenin believed peace w/ germany was necessary to the russian revolution
- armistice signed in march 1918

treaty of versailles

treaty ended war btwn germany/allied powers, 1919

cheka

bolshevik police force
- founded 1917 by lenin
- protect revolution against "class enemies"
- mass imprisonment, torture, execution without trial

comintern

communist international, founded to start world communist revolution
- 1919, soviet union, special interest in china
- used by ussr to control world communist mvmt
- dissolved in 1943 to avoid damaging relations w/ US, UK in WWII

kronstadt sailors

1921 rebellion of sailors and civilians in Kronstadt (city)
- rebels demadned reduction in bolshevik power;
- new soviets to include social/anarchist groups
- economic freedom for peasants/workers
-dissolution of bureaucratic govt

bolsheviks raided island, killed thousands of people

petrograd soviet

soviet of petrograd (capital), main rival to provisional govt
- est. during feb. revolution
- trotsky = chairman

april theses

10 directive issues by lenin, foundation for oct. revolution
- called for soviets
- denounced liberals in provisional govt
- called for bolsheviks not to cooperate w/ provisional govt
- called for new communist policies

first five-year plan

economic goals outlined by stalin: unrealistic, caused famine, killed millions of people
- called for rapid industrialization, agricultural collectivism, removing all policies created under NEP

lenin's testament

document read by lenin, addressed to communist party members, called for change and included criticism of 6 party leaders
- warned of party split btwn trotsky/stalin
- recommended stalin be removed as secretary-general

forbidden to be discussed after stalin rises to power

soviet constitution of 1924

expanded treaty of creation in ussr, included ukraine, belorussia, transvauvasia, russia ssr's
- approved by second congress of people's deputies of ussr in 1924

NEP

new economic plan
- put forward by lenin to bring stability to economy, recover from years of war, civil war, govt mismanagement

ussr

union of soviet socialist republics, formed after 1917 revolution

ogpu

joint state political directorate
- intelligence/state security service, secret police from 1923-1934
- responsible for creation of gulag

comintern

communist international, regulated internatioanl communist movement

gulag

main camp administration/prison camp system

the stakhanovite movement

1935, workers who took pride in being able to work efficiently
- named after coal miner who was able to mine a lot of coal in short amount of time
- faced resistance as increased productivity = increased demands on workers

war communism

during russian civil war (1918-1921), attempted to provide towns and red army with supplies
- simple authoritarian control by military to maintain power in soviet regions
- not a coherent set of policies, didn't work
- lenin resorted to NEP

collectivization

collectivizing labour efforst and landholdings into state-controlled farms
- thought that it would increase production/exports, actually caused mass famine

vozhd

russian leader (similar to tsar)
- stalin sought to achieve this title, mainly able to after wwii

pogroms

organised massacre of specific ethnic groups, mostly jewish people in russia/eastern europe

purges

removal of undesirable people from an organisation/place
- stalin used purge methods to remove many military generals

collective punishment

punishment of whole group for something done by a single member
- stalin deported tons of people to remote areas of USSR

social realist literature

- protagonists = factory workers
- story based on newly-built upotian society
- every story had political purpose

total theatre

- vsevold meyerhold wanted to break down barrier btwn audience/actor
- went against conformity that stalin wanted
- ultimately tortured and killed

cult of personality

worshipping stalin
- konsomol: written to impress stalin ideas onto younger generation

nomenklatura

people who held high positions in soviet bureaucracy
- all were communist party members

intelligentsia

educated people that lead and critique politics/culture
- writers, teachers, artists, etc.

religious persecution

mistreatment based on religious affiliation

deportation of minority peoples

forcibly moving someone to somehwere else
- usually to siberia or gulags

anti-comintern pact

agreement btwn germany/japan/italy to work together to stop spread of communism worldwide, 1936

munich agreement

1938, UK/fr/italy agree to give czechoslovakia to nazi germany
- avoided war temporarily, fueled nazi germany
- russia viewed this as aggressive expansion

molotov-ribbentrop pact

german/soviet agreement to not take aggressive military action against each other
- hitler betrays pact in 1941, invades USSR

potsdam declaration

ultimatum issues by US/GB/china in 1935 for japan to surrender
- japan didn't surrender!