Unit 11 Module 8

Would Lenin live to witness the results of the NEP?

No, he would not live to witness the results of the NEP.

After Lenin died, who jockeyed to succeed him?

3 of his chief associates - Trotsky, Bukharin, and Stalin - jockeyed to succeed him.

Who did most observers assume would succeed Lenin?

Most assumed that the brilliant but arrogant Trotsky, who had led the Red Army during the civil war, would win.

What did Trotsky argue?

He argued that the Soviet Union must promote revolutions elsewhere in the West to survive and that the Soviet economy should be tightly controlled and massively industrialized from above.

Who did Lenin appoint to lead the NEP?

Lenin had appointed Bukharin to lead the NEP.

What did Bukharin argue for?

He argued for socialism by slow, careful steps.

What did Stalin believe?

He believed that Russia must survive alone - "socialism in one country."

Did Stalin's opponents overestimate or underestimate him?

His opponents vastly underestimated him.

What does the pseudonym Stalin mean?

It means "man of steel".

How did Stalin rise to power in the communist party?

He used daring and organizational talents to rise in the party.

During the Russian civil war, what role did Stalin play?

He played a prominent role in Russia's civil war and became executive secretary of the Communist Party. In this key position, he made himself master of the all-important party machinery and pursued his drive for power.

Did Lenin want Stalin to succeed him?

No, he did not want Stalin to succeed him, saying that "Stalin is too rude" to lead.

Despite Lenin's wishes for Stalin to not succeed him, how did Stalin manage to take his place?

He managed to take Lenin's place by cleverly playing on the Soviet people's love of Lenin by posing as his heir and leading a movement to deify him. He also brought into the party new people, who thereby owed him a debt.

How did Stalin edge Trotsky and his supporters out of powerful positions?

He used his control over the Central Committee of the Communist Party to edge the overconfident Trotsky and his supporters on the Left out of powerful positions and expel them from the party in 1927.

After turning against Trotsky and the Left in 1927, who did Stalin turn against next?

Next, he turned against Bukharin and the Right. Party members who had doubts about Stalin accepted the need for party loyalty.

By the end of 1928, what position had Stalin maneuvered himself into?

He had maneuvered himself into a position of dominance over the Communist Party and of dictatorship over the Soviet Union.

What did Stalin replace the NEP with in 1928?

He replaced the NEP with the 1st 5-Year Plan.

What did the 1st 5-Year Plan call for?

It called for the rapid, massive industrialization of the nation.

What were the specific goals of the 1st 5-Year Plan?

Specific goals included significantly increasing industrial production, generation of electric power, and the number of factories within 5 years.

To achieve the industrial goals of the 1st 5-Year Plan, what did the State Planning Commission (Gosplan) of Russia do?

The State Planning Commission, or Gosplan, strictly regulated all aspects of production, including targeting crucial industries such as steel, regimenting the industrial labor force, and hiring foreign engineers to help build the new factories.

How did the state help accomplish the 5-Year Plan's goals of doubling agricultural production?

The state helped by taking agriculture out of the control of individual peasants, consolidating their lands into huge collective farms that used modern machines. This became known as collectivization.

How did the state expect to pay for industrialization during the enactment of the 5-Year Plan?

By determining prices and the distribution of crops through collectivization, the state expected to use agricultural surpluses to pay for industrialization.

What would collectivization of agriculture push peasants to do?

It would push peasants to become industrial workers in the cities.

Was the process of collectivization beneficial or ruinous?

The process of collectivization proved ruinous.

Who resisted the new policies of collectivization?

Peasants, especially wealthier landowners derisively called kulaks, powerfully resisted the new policies. In protest, they destroyed their own crops and livestock.

How did officials handle the resisters to the new policies of collectivization (the kulaks)?

Officials terrorized the kulaks into submission.

What did Stalin say was an integral part of collectivism?

He said that an integral part of collectivism was eliminating the kulaks as a class.

To eliminate the kulaks, what did Stalin do?

To eliminate them, Stalin killed many peasants he considered kulaks and exiled far more to Siberia, never to return.

What did the effort to collectivize agriculture and the deadly hunger tear apart?

It tore apart rural families, communities, and established ways of life.

Despite the devastating consequences of collectivization, was Stalin able to get his way?

Yes, he was able to get his way; more than half the land was collectivized within the first year, and over 90% after ten years.

To industrialize the Soviet Union, what did planners concentrate on?

They concentrated on producer goods such as engines and tractors rather than consumer goods such as shoes and clothes.

What did technocrats and officials in the Soviet Union face pressure to produce?

They faced pressure to produce targeted results.

What did the Soviet government foster a sense of to inspire people to work hard?

They fostered a sense of emergency to inspire people, especially the young, to work hard.

What were the "shock brigades" of the Soviet Union?

The "shock brigades" were groups of enthusiastic, efficient workers that the Soviet government moved from factory to factory to stimulate production.

What were the "Heroes of Labor" in the Soviet Union?

They were workers who exceeded production targets, celebrated by the press.

Where did Soviet officials encourage women to work?

They encouraged women to work on both the collective farms and in factories; thus, by 1940, women made up almost half the labor force.

Schools, adult education classes, newspapers, union meetings, and youth associations became saturated with official doctrines of?

They became saturated with official doctrines of soviet communism, efficiency, and class pride.

What was considered "the school for socialism"?

Families were considered the "school for socialism".

What ended the experimentation of the 1920s in the Soviet state?

The tightened controls over cultural productions ended the experimentation of the 1920s in the Soviet state.

What became the required orthodoxy in art?

Socialist realism became the required orthodoxy in art. In this style, approved murals, art, and literature portrayed realistic images of people carrying out the dreams of a communist society.

At the end of 1932, what did Stalin announce about the goals of the 1st 5-Year Plan?

He announced that all goals of the 1st 5-Year Plan had been accomplished several months ahead of time.

What consequences did the 1st 5-Year Plan have on the hard-pressed workers of the Soviet Union?

For the hard-pressed workers, consumer goods beyond the necessities remained scarce. Clearly, some Soviet citizens - namely party members - benefited more than others.

What did the 2nd and 3rd 5-Year Plans following the 1st emphasize?

They emphasized consumer goods and armaments.

What did Stalin use as an excuse to eliminate potential rivals to his regime?

He used the assassination of Sergei Kirov, a high Soviet official, as an excuse to eliminate potential rivals. (This elimination of potential rivals was known as the Great Purges).

What did the assassination of Sergei Kirov introduce to Russia?

It introduced a long period of Great Purges, marked by terror, house arrests, bizarre show-trials, torture, imprisonments, and executions - all approved by Stalin.

Who did Stalin and Soviet Party officials blame difficulties during the 5-year plans on?

They blamed difficulties during the 5-year plans on many engineers, technocrats, army officers, older party members, regional nationalists, foreign conspirators and saboteurs, and purged the accused.

How did lower-level officials in the Soviet Party contribute to the waves of purges during the Great Purges?

They contributed to the waves of purges by trying to rise at the expense of higher-level officials.

Why was terror spread throughout Soviet society during the Great Purges?

Terror was spread, for everyone knew of someone accused and arrested during the Great Purges.

Thanks to the Great Purges, who now staffed the government alongside Stalin?

New, younger figures beholden to Stalin now staffed the government, the Communist Party, and the military; most of the original Bolshevik leaders and the Red Army's top officer corps were gone.

By 1939, what did the Soviet Union have?

By 1939, they had a fully planned economy, with the state determining production, prices, and distribution.