russia topic three, control

what was the cheka

bolshevik secret police founded december 1917, led by dzerzhinsky

what did the cheka do

conducted the red terror; mass executions and detention of class enemies

significance of cheka

by 1921 had around 280,000 staff, template for all subsequent soviet secret police, established that terror was a legitimate state tool

what was the red terror

1918-22, campaign of political repression targetting class enemies, white sympathisers and opposition parties

how many were affected by the red terror

tens of thousands executed, concentration camps established

what started the red terror

triggered partly by an assassination attempt on lenin in august 1918- established precedent for stalinist mass terror

how did lenin control culture and information

press censorship from 1917; non-bol paper closed, propaganda through arts, posters, education system promote marxist ideology

what foreshadows stalin’s socialist realism doctrine

lenin’s suspicion of avant-garde experimentation and new socialist art

what triggered the Great Purge

Kirov’s assassination 1 december 1934

when did the great terror peak

1936-38, the “yezhovshchina” under NKVD chief yezhov

what did stalin exploit

kirov’s murder to begin systematic elimination of all potential rivals, some historians believed he ordered it

what were the moscow show trials

three public trials in 1936, 37 and 38

who were the victims of the moscow show trials in 1936

zinoviev and kamenev, confessed and executed

who were the victims of the moscow show trials in 1937

radek and pyatakov, confessed and executed

who were the victims of the moscow show trials in 1938

bukharin and rykov, confessed and executed

how did they get the victims of the moscow show trials to confess

information extracted by torture, threats to families and psychological manipulation- the trials destroyed the old bolsheviks

what was the NKVD order no00447

secret order setting regional quotas, august 1937

what were the quotas of NKVD order no00447

76,000 to be executed and 186,500 sent to camps in first waves- NKVD chiefs competed to exceed quotas

what did the “quota race” do

expanded the scale of terror beyond initial targets, shows both central direction and local chaos

how many executed in the great terror

750,000

how many arrested in the great terror

around 1.3 million 1936-38

how many did the gulag hold in it’s peak

around 1.8 million in early 1950s

how many passed through the gulag system in total

over 18 million

what happened to the red army in the 1937 military purge

3 of 5 marshals, 13 of 15 army commanders and around 35,000 officers (30-40% of officer corps) purged

impact of the military purge

severely weakened soviet military, contributing to catastrophic early losses in operation barbarossa and the winter war with finland

what was the gulag system

network of forced labour camps across the USSR, mainly siberia and central asia

what did they do in the gulag labour camps

prisoners built canals, railways, factories- around 25,000 died building the white sea canal alone

what was social realism

official cultural doctrine from 1934

what did socialist realism state

that all art must depict reality is a positive, heroic way serving socialist ideals- experimental or abstract art was banned

how did they control censorship over art

the writer’s union controlled publication, censorship body Glavlit reviewed everything

example of opposition to socialist realism

poet Osip Mandelstam wrote a stairical poem about stalin and died in a transit camp

what was the zhdanov doctrine

1946-48 post WW2 cultural crackdown under Andrei Zhandov attacking “cosmopolitanism” and western influence in soviet arts/sciences

what did stalin do to control religion

church property seized, clergy persecuted, religious education banned - partial reversal during WW2 to boost patriotism

what anti religious group was formed in the 1920s

1925, league of militant atheists

what was the cultural “thaw” under krushchev

period of limited artistic liberalisation after 1956

what significant media was published during the cultural thaw

solzhenitsyn’s “one day in the life of ivan denisovich”- first gulag account in state media

how did krushchev act during the thaw

inconsistent- attacked abstract art and banned Pasternak from accepting the nobel prize for “Doctor Zhivago” in 1958

when was the hungarian suprising

october 1956

what happened in the hungarian uprising

hungary rose against soviet control, krushchev sent tanks- 2,500 hungarians killed, 200,000 fled to the west

significance of the hungarian uprising

showed the limits of de-stalinisation- political liberalisation stopped at soviet security interests, used terror against the satellite state while reducing it at home

how did brezhnev treat social dissidents

“psikhushki” where he declared dissidents mentally ill, avoided the crude executions of the stalin era by placing them in psychiatric hospitals

key dissidents

andrei sakharov, alexander solzhenitsyn, natan sharansky

what was the prague spring

czech leader dubcek introduced “socialism with a human face” reforms- ussr invaded with 500,000 warsaw pact troops august 1968

how did the ussr deal with the prague spring

dubcek replaced, brezhnev doctrine justified intervention, showed that reform communism wouldnt be tolerated within the soviet block

what was the helsinki accords

committed ussr to human rights standards, dissidents formed “helsinki watch” groups to monitor soviet violations