Section 5 - Stalinism, politics and control 1929-43

To what extent were the purges and terror of 1937–38 due to Stalin’s determination to eliminate potential political rivals?

Determination to eliminate political rivals

• Felt threatened by growing opposition to him in early 1930s, he reacted to this by removing all possible rivals so that no one could form an alternative gov

• Was determined to be in a position of absolute power 

• Wanted the party under his total control so would carry out his policies without question (keeping the party in a constant state of instability ie who would be denounced next was a way of doing this)

• Wanted to control the people; the terror crushed opposition and any critics

• Could have been inspired by the kirov murder (potential rival), even if stalin was not implicated it was suspicious 

• They resulted in the removal of men of authority who challenged stalin in leadership struggle; kamanev, zinoviev, trotsky, rykov, bukharin ect

• Wanted to be seen as Lenin's sole heir by removing all old bolsheviks

• By late 1930s stalin believed there was a high chance of war so wanted to remove anyone who might oppose his foreign policy + did not want anyone to slow down industrialisation due to need of weapons

Personality

• Stalin's personality; paranoia, suspicious, brutal, vindictive (why people were killed and not just discarded). His wife commiting suicide also made him think no one could be trusted as theyd betray him.

• Stalin's self image; sees himself as hero of the revolution, inferiority complex - he replaced Yagoda with Yezhov and got rid of old bolshevik party members (wanted to get rid of old party members who knew his limitations and people who were intellectually superior to him)

Economic difficulties

• Mid 1930s production figures leveling off and fyps falling behind schedule (stalins management and bad harvests too)

• Leadership needed to find scapegoats for this - difficulties seen as being due to enemy sabotage and wrecking 

• Stalin wanted to shake ip managers so encouraged criticism from below, workers were too happy to blame the issues on them this then got out of hand

Social instability

• Mass urbanisation created social tension and violence in overcrowded cities which lacked basic facilities and services 

• Cities and countryside also had a great deal of hostility 

• Gov resorted to terror to end criticism of leadership

‘Stalin’s foreign policies were inconsistent and contradictory in the years 1924 to 1934.’ Assess the validity of this view.

For

• Contrary to his communist beliefs, he back the nationalist GMD rather than the chinese communist party

• Inconsistent relations with germany; 1926 treaty of berlin signed despite the contradiction of them being a western capitalist power, 1929-30 decided to look elsewhere for allies 

• Comintern; sidelined it after believing it no longer served a purpose due to outlived usefulness as a promoter of world rev, but then changed his attitude, using it to purge foreign communist parties of ‘social fascists’ and bringing foreign communist leaders to russia to control, this policy once again abandoned in 1934

• Maintained diplomatic isolating in 1920s, but then had a radical change in policy and joined the league of nations 1934

• Did little about the rise of nazis and repression of communism in germany, yet (inconsistently) made pacts with poland and france in 1930s who were threatened by/ hostile to nazi germany

Against

• Consistently acted in the interests of soviet security; supported GMD in china as they were the most likely to bring stability to russia's eastern borders also he had never supported permanent rev (spreading communism) and believed their version was flawed

• Good relations with germany until rise of hitler and rapallo treaty 1922

• League of nations was necessary for collective security with growing threat of germany, they initially rejected russia previously, nit the other way around 

• Didn’t respond to hitlers rise as germany in a bad economic and political situation, accelerating the collapse of capitalism

How far was Stalin personally responsible for the mass terror and purges of the Yezhovshchina in the years 1936 to 1938?

Stalin was personally responsible, but other key factors increased the momentum

For

• At the centre of decision making process, undeniably his responsibility

• Had the responsibility of stopping it 

• Stalin's personality; paranoia, suspicious, brutal, vindictive (why people were killed and not just discarded). His wife commiting suicide also made him think no one could be trusted as theyd betray him.

• Stalin's self image; sees himself as hero of the revolution, inferiority complex - he replaced Yagoda with Yezhov and got rid of old bolshevik party members (wanted to get rid of old party members who knew his limitations and people who were intellectually superior to him)

• Stalin's motives; Stalin thought that he was acting in the interests of the party and the revolution. He thought that his removal or the reversal of his policies would be disastrous for the Soviet Union. 

  • Removed all opposition, wished to remove anyone who could form an alternative government (threatened)

  • Wanted control of all people, absolute power. This would mean the party would be completely under his control, meaning no one would question when he wanted things done - done by creating instability (who would be denounced next?)

  • Chance of war, didn't want anyone to question his foreign policy. Also needed industrialisation to go smoothly so he could create ammunition

Against

• Economic difficulties; FYPs falling behind schedule, downturn of soviet society after 1936 (technical problems, stalin's management and bad harvest). Leadership had to find scapegoats for these failures as they were seen as being sabotage and wrecking. This got out of hand when people from below criticised managers falsely

• Social instability; disruption from the FYPs, tension and violence in overcrowded cities. Great deal of hostility towards communist party and gov were worried about a loss of control. Gov resorted to terror to get them back in control and carry on working

• Yezhov and NKVD; the NKVD was sustained by the terror (raised their profile and allowed them to become the leading institution) after the slowdown of collectivisation and first fyp.

• Gulags; provided slave labour to carry out dangerous work eg logging and gold mining. Stalin needed this money to buy in western technology

• External threats; Fear of war with germany, pressure on the armaments industry meaning already unwilling people had to be pushed even harder

• Terror achieved momentum of its own 

‘Stalin’s foreign policy, in the years 1929 to 1939, was driven solely by the need to protect Soviet borders.’ 

• His foreign policies were to protect soviet borders 

• However, also wanted a world revolution which could be viewed as an influence on his decision making during this period - therefore the word ‘solely’ is not particularly accurate

For

• The Great Turn 1928; stalin abandoned his hard line approach to the capitalised approached and revolved around bringing agriculture and industry into the focus of security and army power 

• Kellogg-Briand Pact 1929 which meant any issues would try to be settled diplomatically, rather than going to war (trying to avoid this). The USSR go further, and state that all arms should be gotten rid of 

• Pacts with France and Czechoslovakia 1935, formed to counter growing German aggression and prevent Nazi expansion towards Soviet borders.

• Nazi-soviet Pact 1939, looked to Germany for an alliance, the week before the outbreak of a war, Nazi-Soviet pact signed (this was their last option, goes against ideologies)

• Believe this will give them more time to prepare, as well as territory 

• Deal is that they will divide up poland = more land, territory, resources (this is kept until june 1941)

• Spanish Civil War 1936-39, limited Soviet intervention was driven by fears of provoking Nazi Germany

Against

•  World Revolution (comintern);

  • Comintern’s Role in Foreign Policy, very aggressive, criticises many european communist parties, feel as they have helped/not done enough to stop the rise of fascism (eg italy) - refer to them as social fascists 

  • The shift in Comintern policy (1935) to form a “popular front” against fascism was an ideological move, not purely defensive 

  
  Anti-Comintern Pact (1936)

  • Signed by germany, japan and italy 

  
  World Revolution Narrative

  • Stalin moved away from Trotsky's idea of spreading revolution everywhere at once, but the USSR still supported communist movements worldwide through the Comintern.

  • While security was the main focus, the USSR still had long-term goals of spreading communism.

How extensively did Stalinism change Soviet society and culture in the 1930s?

While lenin did lay the foundations, stalinism took these to much greater extremes

Church, women and young people

• Closed down religious schools and worship was restricted, holy sunday abolished, religious buildings destroyed or repurposed (by 1941 40,000 churches and 25,000 mosques shut) 

• 1936 constitution; religious propaganda criminalised, persists could vote again but were often purged or sent to gulags 

• Islam, jews and buddhists all targeted and suppressed

• Despite institutional power being destroyed faith remained strong (1937 census recorded 0.5m believers but this is likely to me must higher)

• Under lenin; legalised abortion, encouraged divorce and outlawed discrimination. Also emphasis on work equality but this saw few real changes

• The great retreat 1930s; population decline (purges), fear of war and family breakdowns led to a return of traditional family values - stalin portrayed as a family figure and motherhood glorified

• 1936 family code; abortion banned, divorce expensive and difficult, contraception banned  

• Reality for women; still expected to work (factories, collective farms), poor status and working conditions, high abortion to birth rates and high divorce rates continued 

• More structured school system introduced, emphasis on higher training of specialists who could help industrialisation - literacy rates; 1941 94% urban and 86% rural 

• Youth organizations; Komsomol 10-28yrs and young pioneers 10-15yrs. Some youth rebelled preferring western culture but open opposition rare

Working men and urban and rural differences

• Skilled workers benefited from industrialisation and training; wage differentials introduced 1931 and the stakhanovite movement, encouraging ambition. Shortage of skilled labour meant better pay and rising living standards

• However as war approached (1940-41) resources were diverted elsewhere

• Unskilled workers were mainly former peasants that were forced into towns for collectivisation; harsh conditions, strict discipline, overcrowded housing and frequent job changes. Vulnerable to terror - any complications led to arrest or worse

• Emphasis on urban workers but rural saw the most stalianist changes; collectivisation on previously independent rural communities and central control increased - compulsory schooling, this rise in literacy then used for propaganda

• Traditional aspects eroded (religion, community ties etc)

• Some benefits seen; access to machinery (tractors, combine harvesters) and new schools and clinics

• Peasants remained second class citizens and young people aspired to move to cities

• Urban saw chaos with the 1932-33 famine; refugees overwhelmed cities and rationing broke down until 1935

• Severe housing shortages, poor infrastructure (despite show pieces like Moscow metro) and 1933 saw the worst living standards making black markets essential

• 1935-37 slight improvements as small private services legalised (plumbing, shoemaking)  

• Conditions worsened again after this due to bad harvest and urban population growth 

• However, more stable than peasants; regulated hours, wages and factory benefits 

Socialist man and women and culture 

• Regime intent on creating a new kind of citizen; loyal, educated and selfless. Would accept party ideology without question 

• No private life; periodic events like stalin's birthday reinforced state ideology 

• Trofim Lysenko stated this citizen could be groomed and the right characteristics could be inherited; just used this to justify erasing bourgeois traits (old class enemies)

• Were discredited outside the USSR but influential within it

• Party wanted to promote the culture of socialist realism to glorify the USSR and create the ideal citizens; Komsomol attacked bourgeois culture - burned books, mocked religion and heckled performances 

• Artists and writers either complied or stayed silent whereas some were punished and sent to farms/ factories or arrested. 

• Popular culture; many preferred hollywood films over soviet propaganda and it was suggested only a fifth of workers truly supported the regime

• While lenin faced much less criticism he was still a ruthless leader and was the origin of the methods stalin used 

• Previously Lenin had established the Cheka and employed the ‘Red Terror’ to control the people and destroy both real and potential enemies. This was just extended by stalin under the NKVD the only difference being the intensity of the purges.