Life in Soviet Russia

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers life in Soviet Russia, including political structures, Stalin's domestic policies, and the impact of World War II.

Democracy

A political system where people vote for leaders in elections, there is freedom of the media, and many different political parties exist.

Dictatorship

A system where one leader or party is in control, opposition parties are banned, and strict censorship as well as violence are used to maintain power.

Communism

A type of dictatorship where the state owns everything, everyone is meant to be equal, and everyone is paid the same.

Fascism

A type of dictatorship characterized by extreme nationalism, a cult of the leader, racism, and a hatred of democracy and communism.

Bolsheviks

The Communists led by Lenin who took over Russia in a revolution in November $1917$.

Reds

The name given to the Communists who fought against the Whites during the Russian Civil War ($1918$–$1921$).

Purges

A process started by Stalin in the $1930s$ to "clean out" or get rid of potential opponents, whether real or imaginary.

Kirov

An important party member assassinated in $1934$, which Stalin used as an excuse to begin rounding up opponents.

NKVD

The secret police in Soviet Russia who arrested thousands of individuals, most of whom ended up in gulags.

Gulags

Labour camps located in remote locations like Siberia where around $18$ million people were sent between $1929$ and $1953$ to work in harsh conditions.

Show Trials

Public trials of senior party leaders where the accused willingly confessed to charges like treason because their families had been threatened.

Five Year Plans

Stalin's programs for industrialization that set specific targets to improve industry and bring the USSR up to date with the West.

GOSPLAN

The state organization responsible for setting targets for all industries during the Five Year Plans.

Magnitogorsk

An example of a new industrial city built in the USSR as a result of the Five Year Plans.

Collectivisation

The process by which the government took over all land to form great collective farms where villagers worked together.

Kulaks

Middle-class peasants who resisted the changes of collectivisation; over $1/2$ a million were killed.

Mother-Heroines

A title used to honour mothers of large families, who were encouraged and given allowances after the huge population loss of WWII.

A Short History of the USSR

A textbook used for propaganda in schools that exaggerated Stalin's role in the Communist Revolution of $1917$.

Little Octobrists

The Soviet youth group for children aged $7$ to $9$ years old.

Young Pioneers

The Soviet youth group for children aged $10$ to $14$ years old.

Komsomol

The Soviet youth group for individuals aged $15$ to $28$ years old.

Operation Barbarossa

The code name for the German army's attack on the Soviet Union in $1941$, beginning the conflict on the Eastern Front.

Great Patriotic War

The name given to World War II in Soviet Russia, which resulted in the deaths of $16.9$ million civilians.