History+ for Edexcel A Level: Communist States in the Twentieth Century

Theme 1: Establishing Communist Party Control, 1917–24

• Background to the Bolshevik Revolution:

  • Tsarist Russia: Prior to $1917$, Russia was an autocracy ruled by Tsar Nicholas II ($1884–1917$). The regime was notoriously repressive, exemplified by the Lena Goldmine massacre in $1912$. The empire included Ukraine, Georgia, Finland, and Estonia.

  • Economic Lag: By $1913$, only $2.4\,million$ out of $140\,million$ citizens worked in large-scale industry. Most were impoverished peasants.

  • Political Opposition: Underground groups included the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and the Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs). The $1905$ Revolution signaled the regime's fragility.

  • World War I Impact: Russia entered the war in $1914$. Economic chaos and military failure led to the February Revolution ($1917$), the overthrow of the Tsar, and the creation of the Provisional Government.

• Lenin’s State and Victory in the Civil War:

  • The October Revolution: Lenin and Trotsky led a coup d’état in October $1917$. Lenin argued that a global revolution was needed to replace capitalism with socialism based on Marxist theory.

  • Soviet Power: Initial rule was through the Council of People’s Commissars (Sovnarkom), comprising $13$ People's Commissars. Lenin was Chairman, Trotsky headed Foreign Affairs, and Stalin led Nationality Affairs.

  • Early Decrees: The Decree on Land (October $1917$) allowed peasants to seize land. The Decree on Peace committed to exiting the war. The Workers' Decrees (November $1917$) established an $8\text{-hour}$ day and a minimum wage.

  • Democracy vs. Authoritarianism: Lenin dissolved the Constituent Assembly in January $1918$ after the Bolsheviks failed to gain a majority. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk ($1918$) was unpopular, leading to lost soviet elections which Lenin disregarded.

  • The Russian Civil War (1918–21): Pitted the Red Army (Communists) against the Whites (Tsarists, liberals, socialists) and Green (peasant) armies. International forces from the UK, France, USA, and Japan intervened. Victory led to the emergence of the "party-state," where the Politburo ($5–7\,members$) held effectively all power.

  • Red Terror: The Cheka (All-Russian Emergency Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage) was created in December $1917$. It used imprisonment, torture, and execution to suppress dissent.

  • The Crisis of 1921: Characterized by the Tambov Peasant Rebellion ($50,000\,fighters$) and the Kronstadt Mutiny. Lenin responded by crushing the revolts and introducing the "Ban on Factions" at the $1921$ Party Congress to ensure unity.

Theme 1: Stalin in Power, 1928–53

• The Leadership Struggle (1923–28):

  • Contenders: Gregory Zinoviev (Lenin's close friend), Nikolai Bukharin (editor of Pravda), Leon Trotsky (Civil War hero), and Joseph Stalin (General Secretary).

  • Stalin’s Patronage: As General Secretary, Stalin used the "approved list" to control Party Congress delegates. He built a power base through the nomenklatura—officials who owed their jobs to him.

  • Ideology: Stalin advocated "Socialism in One Country" against Trotsky’s "Permanent Revolution."

• The Great Terror (1935–38):

  • Causes: Stalin’s paranoia regarding opposition from moderates like Sergei Kirov. Kirov’s murder in December $1934$ served as the pretext for mass purges.

  • The Purges: The "Yezhovshchina" (period under Nikolai Yezhov) involved targeted arrests of $1.5\,million\,people$, with over $680,000$ executed.

  • Show Trials: The Trial of the $16$ ($1936$) executed Zinoviev and Kamenev. The Trial of the $17$ ($1937$) purged Trotskyites. The Trial of the $21$ ($1938$) executed Bukharin.

  • Military Purge: $37,000$ officers were purged in $1937$, including Marshal Tukhachevsky.

• Stalin’s Totalitarianism: Controlled the economy, media, and use of terror. The $1936$ Constitution was superficially democratic but masked absolute Party control.

• World War II and Late Stalinism: Stalin became Chair of Sovnarkom in $1941$. The State Defence Committee (GKO) coordinated the war effort. After the war, Stalin launched the "Leningrad Affair" ($1949$) and the "Doctors’ Plot" ($1952–53$) to maintain fear among subordinates.

Theme 1: Reform, Stability, and Stagnation, 1953–85

• Khrushchev and De-Stalinisation (1953–64):

  • Power Struggle: Following Stalin’s death in March $1953$, the contenders were Georgy Malenkov (State), Lavrentiy Beria (MVD), and Nikita Khrushchev (Party).

  • Secret Speech (1956): At the $20\text{th}$ Party Congress, Khrushchev denounced Stalin’s cult of personality and the terror.

  • Reform: Khrushchev reduced the Gulag population from $2.4\,million$ in $1953$ to $1.6\,million$ by $1956$. He devolved power to $105$ regional economic councils (sovnarkhoz).

  • Overthrow: Khrushchev’s impulsive nature ("hare-brained schemes"), failure of the Corn Campaign, and humiliation in the Cuban Missile Crisis ($1962$) led the Central Committee to remove him in October $1964$.

• Brezhnev and Stagnation (1964–82):

  • Stability of Cadres: This policy ensured job security for Party officials, replacing Khrushchev’s limited terms. It led to a "Gerontocracy" where the average age of the Politburo rose to $75$ by $1982$.

  • Stagnation: Lack of social mobility and reform resulted in systemic corruption (e.g., Galina Brezhneva’s diamond smuggling) and a rising black market.

• Andropov and Chernenko (1982–85): Andropov initiated an anti-corruption campaign and "Operation Trawl" targeting absenteeism. Chernenko succeeded him briefly as a conservative placeholder.

Theme 2: Industrial and Agricultural Change, 1917–85

• Lenin’s Economic Policies:

  • State Capitalism (1918): Nationalization of large industry managed by Vesenkha.

  • War Communism (1918–21): Grain requisitioning, abolition of money/market to supply the Red Army. Resulted in industrial collapse (workforce fell from $3\,million$ in $1917$ to $1.2\,million$ in $1922$) and a famine that killed $6\,million$.

  • New Economic Policy (1921–28): Reintroduced a mixed economy. Grain requisitioning was replaced by a "tax in kind." This stabilized the economy but created the "Scissors Crisis" ($1923$) where industrial prices rose faster than agricultural ones.

• Stalin’s Economic Revolution:

  • Five-Year Plans: Focused on heavy industry (iron, steel, coal, oil). Steel production rose from $4\,million\,tons$ ($1927$) to $18.3\,million\,tons$ ($1940$). Magnitogorsk was built as a new industrial city.

  • Collectivisation: Forcible merger of peasant farms. Peasant resistance led to the destruction of $26\,million$ cattle and $60\,million$ sheep. The Ukrainian Famine ($1932–33$) caused $5\,million$ deaths.

• Khrushchev’s Reforms (1953–64):

  • Virgin Lands Scheme: Turned unfarmed land in Kazakhstan and Siberia into farms. Grain harvest rose from $82.5\,million\,tons$ ($1953$) to $134.7\,million\,tons$ ($1958$).

  • Seven-Year Plan (1959): Shifted focus to light industry (chemicals and consumer goods).

• Brezhnev’s Decline (1964–85): Economic growth dropped from $7.1\%$ ($1950s$) to $0.6\%$ ($1980$). The "Social Contract" traded political submission for rising living standards, subsidized by high international oil prices ($70\,USD/barrel$ in $1981$).

Theme 3: Control of the People, 1917–85

• Media and Cultural Control:

  • Propaganda: Used the "Myth of Two Leaders" to legitimize Stalin. Under Khrushchev, television celebrated space triumphs (Yuri Gagarin, $1961$).

  • Censorship: Glavlit ($1922$) oversaw all publications. Under Stalin, history was rewritten to erase purged figures.

  • Religion: Marx called it the "opium of the masses." Persecution was severe under Lenin and Khrushchev (closed $3,000$ churches $1958–64$). Stalin allied with the Church during WWII for patriotism.

• Secret Police Evolution:

  • Yagoda and Yezhov: Stalin's butchers during the Great Terror. The "conveyor belt system" was used for relentless interrogations.

  • Beria: Organized mass deportations of ethnic minorities during WWII (e.g., $460,000$ Chechens in one week).

  • Andropov (KGB Chief 1967–82): Moved from mass terror to "preventative" measures, like official warnings ($70,000\,issued$). He used "repressive psychiatry" to silence dissidents like Andrei Sakharov and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

• Cultural Trends:

  • Avant-garde (1917–29): Experimental art (e.g., Tatlin, Malevich). Proletkult movement.

  • Socialist Realism (1930s–53): Idealized art depicting the building of socialism (e.g., Shurpin’s "Morning of Our Motherland").

  • Non-conformity: Rise of "samizdat" (self-published) materials. Trials of Sinyavsky and Daniel ($1966$) signaled the end of the Khrushchev "thaw."

Theme 4: Social Developments, 1917–85

• Social Security:

  • Housing: Stalin prioritized industry, creating the "Kommunalka" (communal apartment) where families shared $4\,m^2$. Khrushchev built mass-produced prefabricated apartments called "Khrushchyovkas."

  • Welfare: Brezhnev’s "Social Contract" provided job security and low prices for essentials, though life expectancy for men declined from $68$ to $64$ in the $1970s$ due to alcoholism.

• Women and the Family:

  • Early Radicalism: Abortion and contraception legalised ($1920s$); "postcard divorce" introduced. Zhenotdel worked on female liberation.

  • The Great Retreat (1936): Stalin recriminalised abortion and made divorce difficult to ensure social stability.

  • Workforce: By $1940$, $13\,million$ women were in the industrial workforce. They reached half of all graduates by the $1960s$, dominating medicine ($70\%\,of\,doctors$) and education.

• Education:

  • Illiteracy Liquidation: Literacy rose from $32\%\,in\,1914$ to $94\%\,by\,1939$. Red Army literacy reached $100\%\,by\,1925$.

  • Curriculum: Stalin mandated discipline and traditional values. Khrushchev reintegrated polytechnic training to dignify labor.

Historical Interpretations: The Fall of the USSR, 1985–91

• Gorbachev’s Reform (1985–91):

  • Perestroika (Restructuring): Introduced limited market reforms. Uskorenie (acceleration) failed as oil prices crashed from $70\,USD$ to $20\,USD$.

  • Glasnost (Openness): Exposed the regime’s historical crimes and current failures. Encouraged nationalism in republics.

  • Democratisation: Competitive elections in $1989$/$1990$ weakened the Party’s monopoly. Article $6$ of the Constitution (Party supremacy) was repealed in $1990$.

• Nationalist Resurgence: The "Sinatra Doctrine" replaced the Brezhnev Doctrine, allowing Eastern Europe to abandon Communism. Revolutions in Poland, Hungary, and the fall of the Berlin Wall ($1989$) influenced Soviet republics. The Tbilisi massacre ($1989$) and Baltic independence drives ($1990$) shattered the Union.

• The 1991 Coup: Hardliners attempted to overthrow Gorbachev. Boris Yeltsin led the resistance, emerging as the dominant political force. In December $1991$, the Belavezha Accords established the CIS, and the USSR was officially dissolved on $31\,December\,1991$.