3. stalins rise to power and dictatorship 1924-41

when did lenin die

1924

what was lenins testament

a document giving thoughts to potential successors

who were the 5 contenders for power

stalin, trotsky, kamenev, bukharin, zinoviev

what were the strengths in stalin as a contender

• important organising role in civil war

• bolshevick

• general secretary of communist party - shows commitment

what were key weaknesses for stalin as contender

• no leading role in october 1917

• lenins testament - talks bad about him

what were key strengths for trotsky as contender

• great organisational skills - october rev, CW, red army

• close to lenin

• recommended in lenins testament

what were key weaknesses for trotsky as contender

• mensharvick before bolshevick

• arogant

• hated NEP

what were key strengths for kamenev as contender

• leader of bols in moscow

• ally of stalin

• working class background - understands them

what were key weaknesses for kamenev as contender

• opposed bolshevik revolution

• not loyal - lenins bestie but opposed him in 1917

what were key strengths for bukharin as contender

• lots of media controll

• liked by lenin

• party favourite

what were key weaknesses for bukharin as contender

• not very strtaegic

• dissagreed with some of lenin’s ideas

what were key strengths for zinoviev as contender

• helped lenin set up bol party

• ran communist party in peterograd - leadership

• head of comintern (international communism) - power

what were key weaknesses for zinoviev as contender

• not largely liked

• not respected

• wanted end of NEP

• lacked courage during civil war

who was chosen

stalin

how did stalin obvercome his rivals

1. lenins testament - he persuaded others featured in it not to publish it

2. lenins funeral - trotsky was ill and stalin tricked him into thinking it was on a different date so he didnt attend

3. removing trotsky - Z&K forced trotsky to resign as commisat of war - he lost his power

4. remove rivals - broke his allience with Z&K in 1962. 1927 - Z&K&T thrown out of party (allied with B to do this)

5. get rid of bukharin - stalin attacked him for supporting NEP and removed him from party

when were stalins purges

1928-40

reasons for the purges

• economic problems - severe economic underporformance

• threats to his position - kirov very popular

• following lenins example - red terror during civil war was a precedent for purges

• weaknesses of communist gov

timeline of purges - what happened in 1931

ex-Mensheviks shot

timeline of purges - what happened in 1933

18% of party members expelled

timeline of purges - what happened in 1934

kirov murdered

timeline of purges - what happened in 1936

first show trials - 16 party members

timeline of purges - what happened in 1937

• show trial of 17 more party members - all found guilty

• purge of military

• NKVD begin mass arests

timeline of purges - what happened in 1938

• last great show trials

• bukarin shot

timeline of purges - what happened in 1941

purges had sent 8 million people to labor camps

consequence of the purges

• Stalin dominant - they terrified everyone into obedience

• old leninists destroyed - all dead so knowone could challenge stalin

• chaos in gov and economy - loss of many experienced managers

• weakened armed forces - purge of military had killed of most of stalin’s experienced officers

• no-one felt secure in russia - they could be taken by police at any point

how were puges carried out

• NKVD (secret police)

• labour camps (gulags)

• show rials

whne was secret police renamed NKVD

1934

what powers did the NKBVD have

could arest people without charge or trial and arrest them on the spot

who was the most notorious head od NKVD and what happened to him

• yezhov

• he was replaced by his assistant

why was secret police crucial for stalin in 1930s

they were able to controll people so that stalin was in absolute control

who ran the gulags

NKVD

what did prosoners do in Gulags

• manual labor

• contrsuction - railways/dams

• mining

how many prisoners dies from cold, hunger and ill treatment

13 million

how many prisoners in gulags by 1938

7 million

what were show trails

made up crime trails that people admitted to to justify stalin’s purges to the whole world

when did show trials take place (what years)

1936-1938

what were people accused of during show trials

betraying communism/stalin or sabotage

why did the accused confess

• they were so desperate for torture to stop

• black mail

what is stalins terror

when stalin used existing bolshevick systems for purges (secret police, gulags)

what is propoganda

info of biased/miseading nature which is used to promoted a point

what is censorship

hiding info from the public eye

what were the reasons for the cult of stalin

• setting up stalin as leader = soviet people confident that sacrifices are worth it

• tradition - ruler is often ‘father of country’

• to gain support for the regime

how was cult of stalin achieved

• art - stalins image of ‘leader, teacher, friend’ was put in painings alll over USSR

• propoganda - stalin always said that lenin, ussr and its poeple were more important than he was

• books/poems/plays - they praised stalin for his achivements and made him look like he had a leading role in bolshevick rise to power

when did stalin intrduce the new constitution

1936

what was the new constitution meant to convince russians

that they were living in a free society

what did the new constitution prommise

• elections to soviets every 4 years

• candidates for elections to be apporved by the communist party

• voting rights for all over 18

• freedom of speech, press, religion

what actually happened with elections to soviets every 4 years

• no elections ot communist party - stalin made them himself

what actually happened with: candidates for elections to be apporved by the communist party

the party candidate would be the only candidate

what acctualy happened with: voting rights for all over 18

• what people were voting didn’t actually count so this was pointless - elections were rigged

what actually happened with: freedom of speech, press, religion

all freedoms exercised but only with approval of communist party

what 3 key areas of russian life did stalin try to controll

religion, education, culture

what did stalin do to controll religion

• imprison cristian leaders

• turned churches into museums

• closed down more than 60,000 places of worship

why did stalin wnat to control religion

it posed a threat to the ‘cult of stalin’ as people owed alliences to a different god

what limitations were there to his control of religion

had to keep idea of freedom of religion

what did stalin do to controll education

• made dicipline stricter

• brought back examinations

why did stalin want to control education

• so children were taught that stalin was a great leader

• teaching of communism ideology was compulsory in schools

what did stalin do to control culture

• writers, filmmakers and artists had to follow governments social realism policy

• only allowed little knowlege of the outside world to spread

why did stalin want to control culture

• stalin was writers and artists as dangerous as the had the potential to critisisce his work