Chp6.5 Government and Control in Wartime Flashcards
What did the modern historian Orlando Figes suggest?
“the totalitarian state had its origins in the Civil War when it was necessary to control every aspect of the economy and society”
What was Lenin’s natural inclination? (3)
- to control
- discipline
- lead from the centre
When was the centralisation of power established ?
early in Civil War when Moscow replaced Petrograd as Russia’s capital
What was the symbolic change of moving Russia’s capital from Petrograd to Moscow?
symbolic change from a city that had been built to open Russia up to the western world to a regime which believed itself superior to the world
From Moscow what style government evolved?
a military style
How many Party members fought for the Red Army in the civil war?
500,000+
In order fro government to function efficiently, what grew enormously during these years of the civil war?
Soviet bureaucracy (most decisions made by state officials rather than by elected representatives
By how much did officials outnumber workers?
by 2 to 1
What is it suggested that the extension of government from the growth of the Soviet bureaucracy created?
a ‘dictatorship of the bureaucracy’
What was the Bolshevik/Community Party’s structure based on?
annual congresses, elect by the mass membership
Where were policies and decisions shaped?
the Party’s Central Committee
When was another body created (politburo) which became the real centre for party policy?
1919
What was the theoretical sub-committee of the Central Committee which was set up in 1919 known as ?
the Politburo
Who were the Politburo, set up in 1919, first elected members? (3)
- Lenin
- Trotsky
- Stalin
After the introduction of the Politburo set up in 1919, what met less frequently during the 1920’s?
the Sovnarkom
