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A Level History > RUSSIA Secret Police > Flashcards

RUSSIA Secret Police Flashcards

1
Q

When was the Cheka established?

A

1917

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2
Q

Who led the Cheka?

A

Felix Dzerzhinsky

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3
Q

What was the task of the Cheka?

A

To act against counter-revolution and sabotage

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4
Q

What powers were the Cheka given during the civil war?

A

Could act with minimal interference from other legal bodies

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5
Q

Why was the Cheka given special powers during the civil war?

A

So they could quickly deal with actual and perceived enemies

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6
Q

When did the Cheka intensify its attacks against the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks?

A

Red Terror of 1921-22

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7
Q

How many opponents did the Cheka execute during the Red Terror?

A

200,000

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8
Q

When was the Cheka replaced?

A

1922

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9
Q

What replaced the Cheka originally?

A

GPU

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10
Q

What did the GPU quickly become?

A

OGPU

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11
Q

When was the OGPU merged with an enlarged Interior Ministry?

A

1934

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12
Q

What replaced the OGPU?

A

NKVD

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13
Q

What was a significant change that came along with the introduction of the OGPU?

A

Growing independence of the secret police from interference of other state institutions

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14
Q

Why were arrests often undertaken by the secret police in the middle of the night?

A

To disorientate the accused

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15
Q

Where were the accused taken to after they had been arrested?

A

Headquarters of the secret police at the Lubyanka building in Moscow

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16
Q

Who became the head of the secret police in 1934?

A

Yagoda

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17
Q

What did Yagoda’s time as head of the secret police see?

A

Rapid expansion of the Gulag

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18
Q

When had the labour camps been expanded under the Gulag?

A

1930

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19
Q

What changed about the Gulag under Yagoda?

A

Emphasis changed from ideology to economic considerations

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20
Q

What was one of Yagoda’s greatest achievements?

A

Completion of the White Sea Canal

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21
Q

How long was the White Sea Canal?

A

141 miles

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22
Q

How many labourers from the Gulag were used on the White Sea Canal?

A

180,000

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23
Q

How long did it take to complete the White Sea Canal?

A

2 years

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24
Q

How many people were killed during the construction of the White Sea Canal?

A

10,000

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25
Q

How deep was the White Sea Canal?

A

12 feet

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26
Q

When did Yagoda’s influence increase?

A

Great Purge- 1936

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27
Q

What was Yagoda’s task during the Great Purge?

A

Arresting those members of the Party who were alleged to have links with a Trotskyite opposition

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28
Q

Why was Yagoda removed from his post?

A

Accused of incompetence in safeguarding Kirov and not pursuing the opposition with sufficient enthusiasm

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29
Q

When was Yagoda removed from his post?

A

1936

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30
Q

When was Yagoda shot under Stalin’s orders?

A

1938

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31
Q

Who replaced Yagoda?

A

Yezhov

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32
Q

What had brought Yezhov to Stalin’s attention?

A

Yezhov’s enthusiasm for personally torturing suspects

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33
Q

What was Yezhov’s nickname?

A

‘Bloody dwarf’

34
Q

When did the NKVD indulge in the most excessive phase of the purges?

A

Under Yezhov’s leadership

35
Q

What was one of Yezhov’s skills?

A

Framing the purges in ideological terms by accusing those arrested of political opposition to communism

36
Q

What was speeded up by Yezhov?

A

Process of arrest, trial and imprisonment

37
Q

When did Yezhov issue orders that required camps to meet quotas for the execution of prisoners?

A

July 1937

38
Q

What did Yezhov believe about the Gulag?

A

Underused

39
Q

How did the number of detectives recruited to the NKVD change under Yezhov’s leadership?

A

Quadrupled

40
Q

What did the NKVD increase under Yezhov’s leadership?

A

Surveillance of the general public

41
Q

Under whose leadership were members of the NKVD purged?

A

Yezhov

42
Q

Under whose leadership did the group of people considered opponents widen to include anyone who didn’t show sufficient commitment to the Revolutionary cause?

A

Yezhov

43
Q

When was Yezhov dismissed?

A

1938

44
Q

What did Stalin accuse Yezhov of when he dismissed him?

A

Being responsible for the excesses of the purges

45
Q

Why did Stalin dismiss Yezhov?

A

He became concerned that the heavy use of terror was demoralising the population at a time when war with Germany was looming

46
Q

Who was appointed to replace Yezhov?

A

Beria

47
Q

How had Beria undermined Yezhov?

A

By briefing Stalin with criticisms of Yezhov’s work

48
Q

What was Beria like?

A

Energetic; impressive with his organisational skills; unsavoury

49
Q

What was Yagoda like?

A

Keen to prove his loyalty to Stalin; ambitious

50
Q

How was Beria’s appointment viewed by the general population?

A

With some relief

51
Q

Why was Beria’s appointment viewed positively?

A

Presented as an uncle-like figure who would reform the excessive behaviour of the secret police

52
Q

How did Beria feel about indiscriminate arrests?

A

Inefficient; waste of manpower

53
Q

How did surveillance change under Beria?

A

Continued, but only led to arrests when evidence was found

54
Q

When did Beria hold public trials?

A

When solid evidence was available

55
Q

What was one of Beria’s achievements?

A

Overseeing the murder of Trotsky, killed by a Stalinist agent in Mexico in 1940

56
Q

How did Beria feel about the Gulag?

A

Wanted to make it a profitable part of the Soviet economy

57
Q

How did Beria try to increase the productivity of inmates in the Gulag?

A

Improved food rations in 1939

58
Q

How did Beria make good use of the Gulag prisoners?

A

Used the technical skills of inmates for specialist tasks; cancelled early releases from the camps

59
Q

How many scientists in the Gulag did Beria put to work?

A

1,000

60
Q

How did the economic activity of the Gulag change under Beria’s leadership?

A

Grew from 2 billion roubles in 1937 to 4.5 billion roubles in 1940

61
Q

When did the Gulag become a major contributor to the Soviet economy?

A

Early 1950s

62
Q

Which materials were produced mainly through the Gulag?

A

Gold; timber; coal

63
Q

How did the approach of WW2 affect the secret police?

A

Led to a strengthening of their powers

64
Q

When was the NKVD given some powers of supervision over the Red Army?

A

1941

65
Q

How did Yezhov make the judicial process more efficient?

A

By using three-person Troikas

66
Q

What did SMERSH deal with?

A

Suspected spies

67
Q

What treated all Soviet troops who had surrendered to the Germans during the initial invasion as traitors?

A

Order 270

68
Q

What was the NKVD given control over during the war?

A

Supervision of the Red Army; the process of deportations of those national minorities whose loyalty to the Soviet state was considered suspect

69
Q

Which national minorities were particularly targeted during the war?

A

Crimean Tartars; Volga Germans; Chechens

70
Q

What did Beria do as Stalin’s health began to fail?

A

Launched a fresh wave of purges to gain Stalin’s favour

71
Q

What was the target of Beria’s fresh wave of purges?

A

Leningrad branch of the Party

72
Q

How many members of the Leningrad branch of the Party were imprisoned or exiled in 1949?

A

Over 2,000

73
Q

Which ethnic group did Beria belong to?

A

Mingrelian

74
Q

What was Stalin’s deliberate warning to Beria?

A

Mingrelian Affair of 1951

75
Q

What was notable about the ‘Doctors’ Plot’?

A

Most of the accused were Jewish

76
Q

What was Beria’s power and influence like at the time of Stalin’s death?

A

Substantial

77
Q

When was Beria removed from power?

A

June 1953

78
Q

Why did Beria’s colleagues move so quickly to attack him after Stalin’s death?

A

His enormous power

79
Q

Who led the campaign to remove Beria?

A

Khrushchev

80
Q

What did the Politburo do to the secret police after Beria’s death?

A

Moved quickly to limit its independence

81
Q

What organisation was the secret police made answerable to after Beria’s death?

A

KGB

82
Q

What did Khrushchev do to the Gulag system?

A

Dismantled it- forced labour never again played a part in the Soviet economy

A Level History (34 decks)

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