government: Lenin - andropov Flashcards
(35 cards)
Deal with opposition - Lenin
Red Terror 1921-22
1917-23 Cheka executed up to 200,000 ppl
Cheka led by dzerzhinsky = party committee formed dec 2927 to deal w/ counter-revolution, sabotage & speculation
Chistka 1918 + early 20’s -> non-violent
Approx ⅓ Party purged
Cheka replaced by OGPU 1922 = terror more discreet, bureaucratic + inward looking
Deal with opposition - stalin
After Lenin’s death
Outmanoeuvre his opponents in the politburo (1924-28 ish)
I.e using his power of patronage asGeneral secretary to remove and replace members i.e with Sergei Kirov made head of the party in Leningrad 1926 (s.loyalist) to replace out-of favour Zinoviev
purges 1930s
Initially non violent
Chistka of 1932-35 removed officials which opposed/concerned at speed of implementation of policies
By 1935 22% of party removed
Key victims Kamenev,zinoviev (LEft) Bukharin, Rykov (Right)
Show Trial
Former figures of party accused of anti-soviet activities i.e Trial of the 16 in Aug 1936 -> Zinoviev + kamenev
Deal with opposition - Khrushchev
Assert power and sideline rivals -> political manoeuvring
Sep. place allies in presidium
Changed composition of Central Committee, so that approx. ½ elected in 1952 were replaced w/ new members (mainly supporters of K)
By 1956, he had outmanoeuvred his main opponents
Deal with opposition - Khrushchev -> Major difference
REAL DIFFERENCE
Despite Malenlov + Molotov’s role in ‘Anti-Party Group’ they weren’t arrested/executed
Molotov ambassador to Mongolia
Malenkov in charge of electricity
deal w/ op -> Brezhnev
Assert power and sidelined rivals -> sideline potential rivals
Potential rivals in politburo sidelined Podgorny -> largely ceremonial post og head of state
centralising power - lenin
Soviet constitution of 1924
Ussr (Union of Soviet Socialist republics) federal (in theory)
Tightened the authority of the CP over republics largely based in Moscow
Russians advantaged = land mass (90%), population (72%) & CP membership(¾)
centralising power - lenin limits
Limits
Remote areas = bolshevik mafia + black marketeers
Factions within the party, sparked intro of NEP 1921 left & right -> Resolution on Party Unity 1921
cetralising power - Stalin
- centralised power to himself
role of CPSU - Lenin
Internal debates + different views
Power of bureaucracy - Lenin
Increase of party bureaucracy help consolidate control
Membership inc. by 1924 1 mn -> need admins -> start creating own class
Nomenklatura system of appointments of approved people from Party leadership
Personal Power - Lenin - collective leadership
Politburo Met daily
1919 dismissed all suggestions of personal dictatorship as ‘utter nonsense’
Personal Power - Lenin - own influence
Could bring party into line by threatening to resign
treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 and adoption of NEP 1921
Apparatus of state - Lenin
Bring under power of state
Trade unions and factory committees brought under Bolshevik control
By early 1920s real power from apparatus of state to party
1919 secret police responsible to politburo>sovnarkom
role of CPSU - Stalin - Cronyism
- led to gerontocracy
By end of 1930s Stalin was the only remaining member of the 1924 Politburo, others had been removed during disputes over economic policy - replaced with stalin’s cronies i,e Molotov and Kalnin
role of CPSU/Power of bureaucracy - Stalin
Rubber-stamping Bureaucratic machine controlled by his inner circle
As 1930s went on institutions of gov. + party meet less frequently -> politburo daily 1920s > Politburo 9 x a yr by mid-1930s
personal power - stalin - high stalinism
The cult of personality
The mingrelian Affair of 1951 - purge of party in Georgia to remove Beria’s allies
1945-53)
personal power - stalin - limits - party
Politburo made stalin lower the over ambitious targets for the 2nd 5-year plan with fear it would result in chaos and opposition
personal power - Stalin - limits - below
Limits from below
Tensions between local party members and regional authorities
1930s stalin’s statement that castigated those party members that were ‘dizzy with success’ in implementing collectivisation overzealously
personal power - stalin - limits - declining power w/in leadership of 1945
Unable to sack those who supported Beria and Malenkov in the politburo
stalin - soviet constitution 1936
The soviet Constitution of 1936
(theory) more democratic
Every citizen given vote, stalin said: ‘the constitution of the USSR is the only thoroughly democratic constitution in the world’
(practically) nothing could threaten the dominance of the CP
Only candidates from communist party could stand
khrushchev - decentralisation
his caused crisis of 1957
- attempt to remove khrushchev from power by the ‘Anti-Party Group’ led by Malenkov and Molotov, persuade presidium ask resignation -> K said it was a central committee decision and survived
khrushchev - role of cspu
Restored some of party’s decision-making but subordinated to meeting
Twenty-Second Party Congress of 1961
Major purge of local party officials
1962 divide party agr. + industrial to reduce power of Party officials
Intro tenure to Party official time in position to 3 -> threaten their security + privilege -> downfall of K
k - power of bureaucracy
Reduce influence + size of bureaucracy -> more autonomy to local & regional authorities
k - personal power
Death of Stalin politburo members formed collective leadership
Anti-party group try removing from power 1957 -> K survived
1958 march became PM as well as First Secretary -|> increased power
But not like Stalin’s all-powerful dictator as it was subject to the Central Committee + debate inside party was common
