RUSSIA - stalins rise to power and dictatorship 1924-41 Flashcards
the 4 rivals to be leader of USSR
- stalin
- Trotsky
- zinoview and kamenev
- bukharin
stalin pros and cons for throne
PROS
- his position as general secretary
- reprectful to rivals - there were no extreme view on him
CONS
- Lenin’s testament criticised his rudeness and want for power
- boring
Trotskys pros and cons for throne
PROS
- brilliant speaker
- close comrade to lenin in civial war
- leadership lead to red victory of civil war
CONS
- arrogant and bossy
- used to be a Menshevik
- lack of supporters outside military
key steps to stalin as leader
- stalin took lead role at Lenin’s funeral (Trotsky was too ill to attend)
- stalin worked with zinoview and kamenev and bukharin to undermine Trotsky
- economic difficulties put pressure on NEP which Bukharin supported
- this made stalin switch to arguing for rapid industialisation
what were the purges
continuation of bolsheviks use of violence to eliminate their oppositions
Kirov’s assassination - the purges
- one of stalins closest allies but wanted a change of farming policies
- but stalin suspected he wanted to take leadership from him and therefore assassinated him dec 1934
- stalin blamed it on Trotsky
reasons for the purges
- stalins fear of Kirov so he killed him to remove popular rival
- following Lenin’s example as he did the red terror during the civil war
- stalin was paranoid - wanted to maintain his power
nature of purges
- attacks on the party and gov
- mass terror (yezhov) - forced those arrested to name others
3.use of gulags - labour camps - forced confessions - tortured until they did
consequences of the purges
- FEAR - purges terrified ppl into dominance
- CHAOS - loss of experienced gov ppl
- WEAK ARMED FORCES - the purges killed off most experienced soldiers
who were the NKVD
- stalins secret police
- received quotas for the number of mimics they arrested
2 types of Stalin’s terror
- secret police - new version of the Cheka
- gulags - labour camps used top get confessions
conditions of the gulags
- thin uniforms
- miserable food and shacks to live in
- physical labour every day
- camps all across the USSR
- used to extract and build infrastructure for the SU
how did the soviets use propaganda and censorship with the media
- films - false sense of what was going on
- artist and writers - paid to make it look amazing in SU
- photos only showed lenin (got rid of Trotsky)
how did the soviets use propaganda and censorship with education and religion
EDUCATION
- new curriculum praising stalin
- school text books had to be approved by the state
the new constitution of 1936 pros and cons
PROS
- everyone allowed to vote
- secret votes not our in open
- guaranteed workers rights to holidays, health, housing etc.
CONS
- only one party to vote for
- all rights could be ignored by secret police
- stalin ignored and ran USSR as a dictatorship
