Authoritarian Regimes: Lenin and Stalin

Authoritarian Regimes

Lenin and Stalin

• Authoritarian regimes of Lenin and Stalin.

Challenges Faced by Nicholas II (1894)

• Nicholas II inherited a difficult situation from Alexander II and Nicholas I.
• The Crimean War was disastrous for Russia, exposing weaknesses.
• Defeat by Western powers humiliated Russia, damaging its reputation.
• Government inefficiency and corruption were evident.
• The economy suffered due to the closure of the Black Sea export route for grain.
• Peasant uprisings resurged, highlighting the need to address serfdom.

Alexander II: Russia's Reformer

• Serfdom needed to be abolished to address the peasantry's plight.
• Alexander II: "It is better to abolish serfdom from above than to wait for the time when it will begin to abolish itself from below."
• Problems with the Emancipation Edict:
  • Landlords, not serfs, primarily benefited.
  • Landowners received significant compensation for lost serfs.
  • Landowners retained the best land, leaving the leftovers for serfs.
  • Peasants had to pay for their new property with 100% mortgages (80% from the State bank, 20% from Landowners).
  • Repayments created a generational burden.
  • Emancipation largely failed, raising and then dashing expectations.

Growth of Opposition

• Alexander II's reforms sparked opposition despite their intent.
• Reforms raised expectations that the Tsar couldn't or wouldn't meet.
• Relaxed censorship allowed new ideas, including those from Russian dissidents abroad, to spread, advocating for overthrowing the regime and establishing representative government or 'reform from below'.
• Conservative elements (bureaucrats, nobles, landlords) disliked the reforms.
• Terrorist violence culminated in Alexander II's assassination by 'The People's Will'.

The Rule of Alexander III

• Alexander III's tutor, Pobedonostsev, urged repression:
• “The mad villains who killed your father will not be satisfied by any concession, and will only burst into a frenzy. They can be repressed: the evil seed can be uprooted only by a battle to the death with them, by blood and iron. Perish in battle, but conquer. It is hard not to conquer. ”
• Alexander III adopted reactionary policies.
• His policies undermined Alexander II's reforms, strengthening social elites.
• Stability improved, allowing Russia to restore peace and order.
• Economic policies facilitated Russia's industrialization.

Tsar Nicholas II’s Issues of Concern

• Peasantry:
  • Impact of emancipation: grievances over redemption payments and small plots, exacerbated by rising population.
• Urban Workers:
  • Working and living conditions, dangers of political organization.
• National Minorities:
  • Impact of Russification under Alexander II and III.
• Political Opposition:
  • Impact of local government reforms and growing demands from liberals, Populism, and The People's Will.
• Economy:
  • Agricultural production, industrial growth (including areas of rapid expansion), and implications for urban areas and social unrest.

Nature of Political Opposition by 1905

• Social Revolutionaries:
  • Advocated land distribution to peasants.
  • Aimed to overthrow the Tsarist government and establish a democratic republic.
• Social Democrats:
  • Based on Karl Marx's beliefs.
  • Envisioned a classless society after the destruction of class enemies, eliminating the need for government.
  • Split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks in 1903 at the Second Party Congress.
• Crisis was brewing by 1905.

Crisis Brewing by 1905

• Economic Factors:
  • Emphasis on railway expansion requiring massive state investment.
  • Funding through foreign loans and increased taxation on salt and kerosene.
  • Low urban worker wages to maximize industrial investment funds.
  • International economic slump in 1902 reduced demand for Russian goods.
  • Bad harvests in 1900 and 1902 led to peasant desperation.

The War with Japan

• Started in hope to divert attention from the economic crisis at home.
• Russian expansionist ambitions in Korea and Manchuria were threatened.
• War created more economic misery with shortages of food and rising prices.
• Japanese victories at land and sea humiliated Russia.
• Anger was directed against the government.

THE ‘BLOODY SUNDAY’ PETITION TO THE TSAR (1905)

• Steelworkers in St. Petersburg drafted a petition demanding improved conditions and political reforms.
• The petition sparked shootings of several hundred workers outside the Winter Palace.
• “Sovereign, examine our requests attentively and without any anger; they incline not to evil, but to the good, both for us and for you”.
• Goal was to establish a constitutional monarchy like in England.
• Bloody Sunday ignited the 1905 Revolution.

1905 Revolution

• Lasted most of the year.
• Comprised strikes, demonstrations, petitions, political meetings, and mutinies.
• Involved workers, students, teachers, doctors, civil servants, sailors, and national minorities.
• Demands included:
  • Representative government and civil rights (liberals).
  • Independence (Finns and Poles).
  • Equal civil rights (Jews).
  • Improved working conditions (urban workers).
• Government was forced to make concessions, including the October Manifesto.

October Manifesto

• Granted fundamental civil freedoms (personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly, and association).
• Extended Duma participation to previously disenfranchised classes, leading to a universal franchise.
• Established that no law could take effect without Duma approval and provided for real parliamentary oversight of government bodies.

Fundamental Laws

• In April 1906, Nicholas II issued the Fundamental Laws, a 124-point de facto constitution.
• Codified individual rights (freedom of religion, sanctity of private property).
• Undermined promises of political reform made in the October Manifesto.
• Force was also used; returned soldiers from the Russo-Japanese War allowed Nicholas II to crush the soviets and control the countryside.

Significance of the 1905 Revolution

• Did not overthrow the Tsar or the Tsarist social system.
• Tsar's interference with the Duma prevented meaningful parliamentary government.
• Unfulfilled promises alienated liberals, contributing to the February Revolution in 1917.

Conflicting Views in Russia

• Years between 1906 and 1914 are interpreted differently:
  • Optimists: Social, political, and economic developments suggested Russia was evolving into a modern state; World War I caused its collapse.
  • Pessimists: Lack of substantial governmental change, repression, and industrial unrest indicated Russia was on the brink of revolution in 1914; the war only delayed it.

WW1 Failures

• Eastern Front: Central Powers (German and Austro-Hungarian Empires) vs. the Russian Empire.
• Later, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, and Romania joined Russia.
• A solid trench system never materialized.
• War of maneuver.
• Russia's poor infrastructure contributed to its failures.
• Factories couldn't meet demand.
• Inadequate roads and railroads hindered army supplies.

Early War

• 1914
  • Russia launched a full-scale offensive against Germany by entering East Prussia.
  • Russians were decisively beaten at the Battle of Tannenberg and withdrew.
  • Russia had more success against Austria-Hungary, occupying the Austro-Hungarian province of Galacia.
• 1915
  • Germany took over command of the entire Eastern Front.
  • German and Austrian troops launched a major offensive in May and drove the Russians back more than 200 miles.
  • Central Powers captured Russian Poland, Lithuania, most of Latvia, and parts of Russian Ukraine.

War Coming to a Close

• 1916
  • By 1916, things improved for the Russians, who were then better supplied.
  • Russia attacked the Austro-Hungarians and, once again, drove into Galacia.
  • Romania entered the war on the side of the Allies, extending the Eastern Front by hundreds of miles south.
  • Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire counterattacked against Romania, which collapsed, and the Central Powers gained control of her vast coal and wheat fields.
  • Late 1916 also saw mutinies and revolts in Russia as soldiers became disillusioned with the war.
• Russian Wolves
  • During the winter of 1916 – 1917, huge packs of Russian wolves attacked soldiers on both sides. The wolves caused so much trouble that a temporary truce was called so the Russians and the Germans could deal with them.

War Coming to a Close

• 1917
  • 1917 was the year of the Russian collapse.
  • Tsar abdicated, and a provisional government tried to hold things together.
  • In November, the Communist Bolsheviks took control and began negotiations with the Germans, and fighting stopped in December.
• 1918
  • March 3, 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was concluded, officially ending the war on the Eastern Front.
  • Freed up substantial German soldiers to transfer to the Western Front to support the massive German Spring Offensive but still tied up a million Germans till the end of the war.

Casualties of the Eastern Front

• Allied Powers
  • Russia
    • Russians lost from 1.8 million to 2.3 million soldiers killed
    • 3.8 to 5.0 million wounded
    • 500,000 civilians died
  • Romania
    • 250,000 soldiers killed
    • 120,000 wounded,
    • 120,000 civilians killed
• Central Powers
  • Austria-Hungary
    • 1.1 million soldiers killed
    • 3.6 million wounded
    • 120,000 civilians died
  • Bulgaria
    • 87,000 soldiers killed
    • 150,000 wounded
  • Germany
    • 2.1 million soldiers killed
    • 4.2 million wounded
    • 1,000 civilians died
  • Ottoman Empire
    • 770,000 soldiers killed and 400,000 wounded.

Role of Rasputin

• Won favor with Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra because he was able to stop the bleeding of their hemophiliac son.
• Rasputin had a powerful influence on the ruling family of Russia, infuriating nobles, church orthodoxy, and peasants.
• When Nicholas departed to lead Russian forces in World War I, Rasputin effectively ruled the country through Alexandra.
• A group of nobles, led by Prince Felix Youssupov, and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich assassinated Rasputin.
  • Gave the monk food and wine laced with cyanide, and he was still alive.
  • They shot him at close range, leaving him for dead… Still alive
  • Shot him again and beat him viciously… still alive.
  • They threw his body into a freezing river.
• His body was discovered several days later, and the two main conspirators, Youssupov and Pavlovich, were exiled.

The Revolutions of 1917

• 1917 saw two revolutions in Russia - very different in character and with very different results.
• WW1
  • The outbreak of war in 1914 was greeted with enthusiasm by the Russian people and helped to unite the country behind the Tsar.
  • Telegram which was written by the Duma leader Rodzianko to Nicholas, 27 February 1917.
  • “The situation is serious. The capital is in a state of anarchy. The government is paralyzed; the transport service has broken down; the food and fuel supplies are completely disorganized. Discontent is general and on the increase. There is wild shooting in the streets; troops are firing at each other. It is urgent that someone enjoying the confidence of the country be entrusted with the formation of a new government. There must be no delay. Hesitation is fatal. I pray God at this hour the responsibility not fall upon the sovereign.”

A New Government Established

• On March 2, a Provisional Government was declared, made up largely of leading figures of various liberal parties.
• The Provisional Government met in the Tauride Palace.
• In another wing of the palace, the 'Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies' was formed.
• Became the focus for workers and soldiers' interests.
• Controlled the railways, telegraph station, factories, power supplies, and the soldiers in the Petrograd garrison.
• For the first two months of the Revolution, there was harmony between these two groups in what became known as the 'honeymoon' period.

Measures Taken During the 'Honeymoon' Period

• Arrest and imprisonment of Tsarist ministers and officials
• Disbanding of the secret police
• Amnesty for political and religious prisoners
• Establishment of freedom of the press and free speech
• Abolition of the death penalty
• Agreement to call elections for a new Constituent Assembly that would determine the new government of Russia; these elections would be held by secret ballot and universal suffrage
• The Provisional Government faced key problems it couldn't resolve, and in April, Lenin returned to Petrograd, determined to capitalize on these problems and to force a second revolution.

Provisional Government Issues

• 1. The War (WW1)
  • To fight or not to fight
  • Soldiers refused to fight and put their support behind the Petrograd Soviets.
• 2. Land Reform
  • Villages were overpopulated, and peasants craved taking all the lands from the nobility.
• 3. Nationalities
  • Bolsheviks were gaining strength because of the inability to fix the issues by the provisional government.

Bolsheviks Success

• The new government established by the Bolsheviks was the Soviet of People’s Commissars or Sovnarkom.
• The Bolsheviks passed several decrees that were a clear attempt to win popular support from outside of Petrograd.
  • Land Decree, Oct 1917: This gave peasants the right to take over land from the gentry and divide it up amongst themselves
  • Workers’ control Decree, November 1917: This put the running of factories in the hands of the workers. Factory committees were to control production and finance and to ‘supervise’ management
  • Rights of the People of Russia Decree, November 1917: This gave the right of self-determination to the national minorities within Russia.

The Bolshevik Consolidation of Power

• Control of the army:
  • Generals and the officer class were unlikely to be sympathetic.
  • Ordinary troops were quickly won over when Lenin moved swiftly to end the fighting in WW1.
• Treaty of Brest Litovsk.
• Establishment of the Cheka:
  • Lenin was determined to suppress all political opposition, so in December 1917, he established its own secret police.
  • Which aimed to destroy ‘counter-revolution and sabotage’ movements.
  • If you opposed to the new government, one could be arrested.

Ending the Constituent Assembly

• Bolsheviks took power in October 1917:
  • Claimed that they were doing it on behalf of the Congress of Russian Soviets with the support of other socialists
• Constituent Assembly met in November 1917
  • The results of the elections could not be tolerated.
• The Constituent Assembly was shut down at gunpoint by the Red Guards,
  • Said to be an expression of the old regime when the authority belonged to the bourgeoisie.
  • The Bolsheviks intended to rule as a one-party dictatorship.

Decrees Passed in the First Few Months

• Maximum eight-hour day for workers
• Social insurance to cover old age, unemployment, sickness benefits
• Abolition of titles and class distinctions
• Abolition of justice system
• Equality for women with the right to own property
• Nationalization of banks and industry
• Democratization of the army meaning abolition of ranks and election of officers
• Nationalization of church land
• Separation of Church and state; marriages and divorces now handled by the state

Treaty of Brest Litovsk

• Resulted in the loss of the following:
  • Lithuania, Livonia, Estonia
  • The Russian held area of Poland
  • Bessarabia (given to Romania)
  • Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia, where semi-independent governments were established
• In total, this resulted in the loss of one-sixth of its population, 27% of farm land including the ‘grain basket’ of the Ukraine, 26% of railway lines, and 74% of iron ore and coal reserves.

Establishment of the Cheka

• Soviet of People’s Commissars decrees the establishment of the Extraordinary Commission to Fight Counter-Revolution. The Commission is to be named the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission and is to be attached to the Soviet of People’s Commissars. This commission is to make war on counter-revolution and sabotage…
• The duties of the Commission will be:
  • 1. To persecute and break up all acts of counter-revolution and sabotage all over Russia, no matter what their origin.
  • 2. To bring before the Revolutionary Tribunal all counter-revolutionaries and saboteurs and to work out a plan for fighting them.
  • 3. To make preliminary investigation only, enough to break up [counter-revolutionary acts].
  • The Commission is to watch the press, saboteurs, strikers, and the Right Social-Revolutionaries. Measures [to be taken against these counter-revolutionaries are] confiscation, confinement, deprivation of [food] cards, publication of the names of the enemies of the people, etc.”

Causes of the Russian Civil War

• Following the Bolshevik Revolution, opposition forces, collectively known as The Whites, started to emerge almost immediately.
• Lenin had decreed in November 1917 that non-Russian territories were free to leave Russia.
• By June 1918, there were thirty-three sovereign governments in Russia.
• Many Russians were appalled by this breakup of the Russian Empire.
• The impact of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk
  • Patriotic Russians were horrified by the terms of the Treaty which had given away so much of Russian land, and this encouraged many to join anti-Bolshevik forces.
• Bolsheviks faced challenges from both left and right
  • Social Revolutionaries attempted 2X’s to assassinate Lenin
• Foreign intervention
  • The Treaty of Brest Litovsk meant German troops were now no longer tied up on the eastern front, thus Britain and France were willing to send help to any enemies of the Bolsheviks

Causes of the Russian Civil War cont

• The economic crisis
  • Failure of the new regime to end hunger was an important factor in creating opposition to Lenin’s government.
  • Lost the wheat growing Ukraine, known as ‘the bread basket’
  • Lenin sent out requisition squads to look for the grain while poor peasants were encouraged to seize food from their more wealthy neighbors.
• The Whites ended up consisting of a wide range of interest groups
  • Liberals, former Tsarists, nationalists, Social Revolutionaries, foreigners, moderate socialists
• Red Army consisted of the Bolshevik army (known as the Red Army), the Kronstadt Sailors & volunteer workers and soldiers from the collapsed Imperial army
• The Greens consisted of peasant armies

Areas of Control in Russia

• The SRs set up a government in Samara based on the members who had been elected to the Constituent Assembly. They also organised a number of uprisings in central Russia.
• In the South, on the River Don, a White ‘Volunteer Army’ was led by General Denikin who was an old fashioned nationalist determined to maintain a united Russia. His army included thousands of army officers as well as Kadets and other liberals. He failed to take the city Tsaritsyn (later Stalingrad) in 1918 but an offensive in 1919 got his army 320km from Moscow
• In Siberia, Admiral Kolchak who proclaimed himself the ‘Supreme Ruler of Russia’ headed an army of around 140,000. He hated socialism but had no clear political plan. Initially this army was very successful and they had got as far as Kazan and Samara by June 1919
• In Estonia General Yudenich led an army of around 15,000 men. It attacked Petrograd in 1919.

Bolsheviks Win the Civil War

• Bolsheviks were fighting for their very survival, and the Red Army at one point had lost control of 75% of Russia.
• The fighting was bitter and resulted in terrible atrocities and a huge loss of life.
• By the end of 1920, the Bolsheviks had resisted the attacks and driven the armies back.
• There were several fundamental reasons as to why the Bolsheviks were successful, which can be described through:
  • The weaknesses of the Whites versus the advantages of the Reds

Weaknesses and Errors of the Whites

• White armies were geographically split up
  • Made communications difficult, and it was almost impossible to coordinate the attacks
• The different groups had entirely different beliefs and aims
  • Fighting for the Constituent Assembly
  • To restore Tsarism
  • The rights of minority groups
  • Keep the Russian Empire together
• The foreign interventions also lacked any unity of purpose
• White generals of a second-rate caliber
• Harsh treatment of the troops alienated the peasant conscripts who deserted
• White generals distrusted each other

Weaknesses and Errors of the Whites cont

• Land policy of the Whites ensured that peasant support was more likely to go to the Reds
  • Returned land to their former owners and thus reversed the land reforms
  • Whites were too firmly rooted in the old Russia and never understood that victory itself was dependent on forging a new type of state.
• Nationalist groups were also antagonized by the Whites who supported the maintenance of the Russian Empire
  • The Ukrainians and Georgians would not support the Whites

The Strengths of the Reds

• Bolsheviks controlled the central area of Russia, which included Moscow and Petrograd
  • Controlled the hub of the railway network, which was essential for moving around men and supplies
  • Also contained the main armament factories
  • Was heavily populated allowing them to conscript large numbers of soldiers
• One overall commander of the Red Army (organized, discipline, and a high morale)
• Peasants were more likely to support the Bolsheviks due to the land reforms
• Reds were much more effective regarding propaganda
  • Foreign support for Whites makes the Reds appear as the true patriots
• Bolsheviks were ruthless in using Terror to silence ‘counter-revolutionary’ opposition.
  • Execution now became the most common punishment ~ 300,000.

Nature of the Fighting

• People often found themselves swept up in the fight
• It was common for units of soldiers to change sides depending on whom they thought would best serve their interests.
  • One whole regiment murdered its officers and went over to the Reds.
• Concentration and labor camps were also established.
• The most famous victims of this Terror were the Tsar and his family
  • Executed to ensure the tsarist regime could never return.
• Troops of all of these foreign countries had had enough of war, and there was no real support other than financial for the White army.

Effects of the Civil War

• Human cost in areas where battles took place
  • War casualties: 300,000. Disease: 450,000.
  • Executions carried out by the Cheka ~ over 1 million.
  • Both sides killed thousands in reprisals, and pogroms were carried out against the Jews in Ukraine and Southern Russia.
  • Disease spread rapidly through the country with 3 million dying of Typhus
  • Millions more died of starvation as a result of famine in 1921
• Economic cost
  • Every aspect of life 1918 - 1921 had to be directed towards winning the Civil War
  • It was essential for the government to get control over production and distribution of food

Restrictive Economic Measures Known as War Communism

• Nationalization of industry
  • All industry was brought under state control
  • Workers were forced to work for excessive hours without wages
  • Fines for lateness and absenteeism
  • Internal passports were introduced to prevent workers escaping to the countryside.
• Grain Requisitioning
  • In 1918, a Food Supplies Dictatorship was set up, and forcible requisitioning of grain became official policy
• Ban on private trade and rationing
  • There was a ban on private trade, and rationing was introduced
  • Class based so that the largest rations during this period went to the Red Army.

Political Impact: Centralized Control Over Party Structure

• The failure of the Whites and the continued attacks on Social Revolutionaries by the Cheka consolidated the hold of the Bolshevik Party on Russia.
• The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party was the key decision-making body of the party up until 1919.
• Two new committees were set up to run the war more effectively after 1919
  • Politburo to control overall strategy
  • Orgbureau to oversee internal administration
  • Each body was elected by groups within the party

Consolidation and Maintenance of Power

• Under Lenin
  • The Bolshevik government had fought for survival against a range of opposing forces
• Lenin died in 1924
  • State was in a stronger position
  • Key debates as to the direction the state should take
    • Which included the fragile economy
    • The extent of centralization in the Party
• Stalin defeats his rivals for leadership of the party
  • Through a ruthless attack on opposition
  • Centralized power
  • Created a cult of leadership
• Centralized the economy under government control

Stalin's Rise to Power

• The key issues that divided the contenders were:
  • Style of leadership
    • Should the USSR start spreading revolution globally or concentrate on developing it within Russia?
    • Dictatorship or collective leadership?
    • The party had become highly centralized during the civil war
  • NEP or Industrialization
    • Many party members were unhappy with the capitalist elements of it that emerged, such as the Nepmen and speculation.
    • Issues included high unemployment, inconsistency of wages and prices
    • Stalin wanted ‘Socialism in one country’
    • Russia would be able to show the rest of the world the superiority of a socialist system

Stalin’s Rise to Power

• Step 1: Defeat of Trotsky
  • Trotsky was already unpopular within the party
    • considered to be aloof and arrogant
  • Stalin’s role as Secretary General and positions in the Politburo and Orgburo
    • Allowed him to appoint his cronies to key positions
  • The 'ban on factions' -1921, forbade the party from arguing over key points of policy
• Step 2: Defeat of Zinoviev and Kamenev
  • Relied on the support of Zinoviev and Kamenev to defeat Trotsky
  • Alliance with Bukharin in support of the NEP and the peasants
  • Zinoviev and Kamenev tried to join forces with Trotsky in a 'United Opposition
    • Went against the 'ban on factions,' and as a result, they were expelled from the party.
• Step 3: Defeat of the Right
  • Stalin now changed policies, arguing for what Trotsky had wanted: rapid industrialization and breaking the power of the peasantry.
  • The Right opposed this but predictably were defeated at the Congress of 1929 and removed from the Politburo.

Rapid Industrialization?

• First Five Year Plan.
  • End of the NEP and the move to rapid industrialization and collectivization in agriculture
  • NEP was not allowing Russia to industrialize fast enough
  • Known as the ‘Second Revolution’
• Why the Change
  • Grain production was also inadequate; farming methods were still backwards with small peasant holdings using traditional methods
  • A further incentive for Stalin to speed up industrialization was the need to manufacture armaments
  • Need to feed the industrialized cities
  • Money to buy new technology

Impact of Collectivization

• Disastrous for the peasantry
  • 19 million peasants also fled the countryside to work on industrial projects
  • The overall result was the famine of 1932 to 1933
• 1st Five Year Plans aimed to increase production by 300 %
  • The focus was on heavy industry such as iron, coal, oil, and steel
  • Each factory, works, and mine had set quotas that had to be achieved over a five-year period
• Light industry - chemicals, motor vehicles, synthetic rubber, and artificial fibers (double)
• Electricity was to increase by 600%

5 Year Plans Cont.

• Second Five Year Plan (1933-1937)
  • Generally set more realistic targets than the First Five-year plan
  • Emphasis was on heavy industry
  • Consumer goods were low priority
  • Though there was a greater emphasis on communication
    • Especially railways to link cities and industrial centers
• Third Five Year Plan (1938-1941)
  • Heavily focused on defense
• As a result of the Five Year Plans, Russia’s gross national product grew by just under 12 percent a year
• By 1940, the Soviet Union had overtaken Britain in the production of iron and steel production

Impact of the Five Year Plans on the Workers

• Many workers entered enthusiastically into the challenge to modernize the Soviet Union
• Thousands of young people volunteered to work on distant projects and were prepared to put up with terrible conditions
• Wages remained low
• Safety was neglected
• Many workers moved from job to job in the hope of finding better work and conditions
• Skilled workers moved regularly as factory owners, desperate to meet targets, tried to attract them with higher wages or benefits.

Communist Party Measures to Deal with Labor Problems

• A massive training program was introduced, though this was often inadequate because it was rushed and done by poor trainers
• Tough measures, including being sent to the gulag, were brought in to deal with absenteeism, causing damage, or leaving a job without permission
• Internal passports were introduced to make it harder to move from one job to another
• Incentives were given to those workers who stayed put or who were outstanding. These could include not just more money but better living conditions or more rations
• A huge propaganda campaign was launched. Special ‘shock brigades were created to attempt to achieve high production. Workers were urged to be like the hero Stakhanov, a coalminer from the Donbass region who mined fifteen times the average amount of coal in one shift
• Where there were shortages of labor, slave labor from the gulags was used; these workers were sent to the harshest regions and faced appalling conditions. The 227-kilometer Belmore-Canal was built by the slave labor of 170,000 prisoners, of whom around 25,000 died in a year and a half. Despite such human loss, the canal turned out to be too shallow for the Soviet Navy’s warships.

Treatment of Opposition

• Purges were designed to deal with opponents to the state
• The machinery of terror had been established under Lenin.
  • The Cheka was renamed the OGPU until 1934 and thereafter was known the NKVD
• Terror had been unleashed against the peasantry in 1932 – 33
• By 1933, there were already one million Soviet citizens in the forced labor camps of the gulags
• Great Purges
  • Estimates between 5 million to 18 million
• Large numbers of government and party officials died
• The purges secured his position within the Party
• All opposition had been removed, and old Russian revolutionaries had been replaced by a younger generation of officials loyal to Stalin

Propaganda

• The goal of Propaganda was to show Stalin was a strong leader who could steer the nation through difficult times
• By the 1930s, all art forms, alongside news documentaries and history books, were dedicated to proving that Stalin was an all-powerful, omnipresent leader.
• Propaganda under Stalin successfully promoted Stalin as a genius, a caring father of the nation, and the disciple of Lenin

The 1936 Constitution

• Stalin called it ‘the only truly democratic constitution in the world’
• Everyone over 18 could vote
• Elections were to be held every four years by secret ballot
• Only Communist candidates could stand
• Everyone was expected to vote
• Used to highlight the achievements of the Communist Party (Rubber Stamp)
• The new constitution established the Supreme Soviet (Legislature)
  • Rarely met and had no real power
• The constitution also set out civil rights
  • Including freedom of speech and freedom from arrest without trial; clearly, these were rights that did not exist as the NKVD ensured that there was no open