APCG - Russia (Ch. 8)

Autocracy

A system of government in which the power to rule is in the hands of a single individual

Collectivization

a system in which private farms are eliminated and peasants work land owned by the government

Democratic Centralism

a form of democracy in which the true interests of the masses were discovered through discussion within the Communist party, and then decisions were made under central leadership to serve those interests.

Glasnost

A policy of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev which called for more openness with the nations of West, and a relaxing of restraints on Soviet citizenry.

Nomenklatura

The Soviet system of lists that facilitated the CPSU's appointment of trusted people to key positions, adopted by other communist regimes.

Oligarchs

Russian people noted for their control of large amounts of the Russian economy (including the media), their close ties to the government, and the accusations of corruption surrounding their rise to power

Perestroika

A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society

Shock Therapy

Policies in formerly communist countries that envisage as rapid a shift to a market economy as possible.

Totalitarianism

government control over every aspect of public and private life

Mikhail Gorbachev

Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in eastern Europe.

Boris Yeltsin

President of the Russian Republic in 1991. Helped end the USSR and force Gorbachev to resign.

Joseph Stalin

Bolshevik revolutionary, head of the Soviet Communists after 1924, and dictator of the Soviet Union from 1928 to 1953. He led the Soviet Union with an iron fist, using Five-Year Plans to increase industrial production and terror to crush opposition

Vladimir Lenin

Russian founder of the Bolsheviks and leader of the Russian Revolution and first head of the USSR (1870-1924).

Cheka

The secret police under Lenin and his Communist Party

Central Committee

Supposedly the most important body in a communist party; its influence declined as it grew in size and the party needed daily leadership.

Duma

Russian Parliament

Federation Council

The largely powerless upper house of the Russian parliament

Secretariat

Generic term used to denote the bureaucratic leaders of a communist party.

Vertical of Power

Russian term to describe the centralization of power in the hand of the president and his closest associations

Bolsheviks

A group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia's government in November 1917

Mensheviks

the minority party that opposed the Bolsheviks; wanted peaceful socialism; were disorganized