Russia 1.3 Flashcards
(217 cards)
1
Q
When and what was the The Decree on the Press?
A
November 1917 - gave the government emergency powers to close any newspapers which supported a counter-revolution.
2
Q
When was the Revolutionary Tribunal of the Press established and what was its purpose?
A
Established in January 1918 - power to censor the press: journalists and editors who committed ‘crimes against the people’ could be punished by the Cheka - empowered to impose fines, prison sentences and exiles.
3
Q
All editors and journals were part of which Union? Who did they work for and who were they expected to be a part of?
A
The Union of Soviet Journalists
The Government
Party members
4
Q
What was the purpose of the establishment of the All-Russia Telegraph Agency (ROSTA)?
A
Solely responsible for distributing news.
5
Q
By 1921 how many newspapers and printing presses had been closed down?
A
By 1921, 2000 newspapers and 575 printing presses had been closed down.
6
Q
Name three newspapers and their print circulation by 1983 (for just two of them)
A
Pravda (Truth) - 10.7 million
Izvestiya (News)
Trud (Labour) - 13.5 million
7
Q
What were the purpose of newspapers and how did the Communists achieve this purpose?
A
Their purpose was to act as an instrument of propaganda thus were widely available and cheap to buy.
8
Q
How was the assassination attempt on Lenin used in relation to his cult?
A
Following an assassination attempt, Lenin was described in essentially religious terms - his survival was described as ‘miraculous’, and his emphasis on his willingness to sacrifice his life for his people made Lenin into a modern day Christ.
9
Q
What was a common title of Lenin?
A
‘Leader of the Revolutionary Proletariat’
10
Q
During 1919 and 1920 what was the new style of Lenin that emerged?
A
During 1919 and 1920, a new style of Lenin emerged - depicting him as a man of the people who refused luxury, a visionary and a man of great power. From 1919, he was also presented wearing a cap - implied he was approachable and down to earth.
11
Q
Despite Lenin being uncomfortable with his cult, what made him tolerate it?
A
He understood its importance as it gave the revolution a face, someone the Russian people could identify with and support.
12
Q
Identify two aspects of Lenin’s cult immediately after his death.
A
The embalming of Lenin’s body for display in the mausoleum in the Red Square was the most striking example of the use of Lenin as a focus for political purposes.
Petrograd was also renamed Leningrad in 1924 to honour him.
13
Q
How did future Soviet leaders use the cult of Lenin?
A
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, the cult of Lenin was used to support their claim to be the legitimate heirs of the Soviet Union.
14
Q
What organisation did Dzerzhinsky introduce in 1922 and what was its purpose?
A
Glavlit, a new organisation - oversaw a more systematic censorship regime:
The GPU was put in charge of policing every publication available in the Soviet Union.
New professional censors employed - all articles for publication required approval from Glavlit.
All books investigated for anti - Communist bias and a list of banned books compiled by the GPU - ‘book Gulags’.
15
Q
How did Stalin used censorship against his previous opponents in the mid 1930s?
A
the works of Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky and other leading revolutionaries from the 1920s had to be purged from Soviet libraries. Lenin’s own works were ‘edited’ to remove complimentary statements about Stalin’s opponents. Even Stalin’s works were edited to remove any indication he had once been close to those he purged.
Soviet history was rewritten, to remove the contributions of Stalin’s opponents and emphasise Stalin’s role in the revolution.
16
Q
From 1928 what did Glavlit control and what did this mean for censorship?
A
From 1928, Glavlit controlled access to economic data and restrictions were placed on all kinds of ‘bad news’. The Soviet media were forbidden from publishing stories about natural disasters, industrial accidents or even bad weather to present the Soviet Union as a utopia.
17
Q
What became ‘newsworthy’ instead?
A
Instead the achievements of socialism were highlighted. Favoured topics included: exceeding targets of the latest Plan, successful expeditions to the Arctic and Northern Russia insearch of gold and oil - triumph of technology over nature. Stalin given credit for all achievements.
18
Q
What was the Kyshtym disaster?
A
Sept 1957 - nuclear disaster, 200 fatalities and 240,000 people being exposed to dangerous radiation levels. People only became suspicious when map readers noticed small communities had disappeared between 1957 and 1961.
Soviet authorities took 2 years to evacuate all unsafe areas.
19
Q
How did the government use consumer magazines to promote propaganda?
A
Many were aimed at specific groups of people and were censored heavily. They added propaganda praising the government on the front pages of extremely popular magazines.
Sovetskii Sport (succeeded Red Sport (1924) in 1946) - hugely popular magazine - gained respect for accuracy and honesty even if it praised the government on the front page.
20
Q
What did the encouragement of publishing the letters of readers expose?
Give an example and Khrushchev’s subsequent response.
A
The long-term problems with Soviet society.
Letters to women’s magazines, like ‘the Woman Worker’, complained about male alcoholism, inequalities and domestic violence. Instead of suppressing the letters, Khrushchev’s media responded with a campaign against worthless men - they focused on their lack of devotion to Communism and male hypocrisy.
21
Q
How was the October Revolution broadcasted?
A
Through radio in morse code.
22
Q
How did the government use radios, despite their cost?
A
Loudspeakers installed in public places, factories and clubs. Group listening resulted in a collective response - ensured everyone got the intended message.
23
Q
Why was radio useful?
A
Enabled government to get message across to those illiterate - 65% of the population.
24
Q
Why was radio useful during the German Invasion?
A
Speed at which government could convey messages proved invaluable during German Invasion (1941) - German troops 50 miles from Moscow - Stalin gave radio speech live from Red Square to commemorate October Revolution - highly effective in reassuring Soviet population.
25
How did the government try to restrict access to foreign networks? We’re they successful?
Government tried to restrict access to foreign networks by mass-producing cheap radios with a limited range but also had to rely on jamming foreign radio stations and threatening to arrest those who listened to stations such as Voice of America or the BBC. Threats rarely succeeded but limits on amount of information received by Soviet public was important in restricting the level of public debate.
26
In 1950 how many television sets were they and how many were there by 1958?
10,000 sets to 3 million.
27
What did Soviet cinema under Khrushchev focus on?
Soviet cinema under Khrushchev was more focused on traditional themes such as Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War. Rather than focusing on the contributions of Stalin, they focused on the role of ordinary people.
28
What was the first television news show and when was it broadcast? What did it often feature?
1961 - Estafeta Noveseo (News and Mail). The programme contained regular features about model workers on farms and in factories as a part of Khrushchev’s drive to increase labour productivity.
29
Under Brezhnev what did Soviet film and TV focus more on? What did this result in?
Under Brezhnev, film still had traditional elements but there were more films dealing with working people and their daily lives. Significantly Soviet filmmakers tended to focus on fashionable citizens living in luxurious apartments - stoked public desire for consumer goods and fashion.
30
How was television coverage the downfall of Brezhnev? What was his last television appearance?
Soviet officials also ensured his speeches were transmitted in full and he was the centre of a great deal of domestic media coverage. By the late 1970s this backfired - the media showed a man who was clearly physically and mentally incapacitated, who struggled to make speeches and had difficulty walking. Television coverage of him continued until the last week of his life and his last television appearance was him struggling to walk up the steps of the Lenin Mausoleum.
31
Was Brezhnev successful in policing all media? How did this affect the state?
Under Brezhenev, Soviet leaders also lost control of the print media. The KGB continued to police political publications but Westen magazines became increasingly available in Soviet cities as part of the black market. Whilst not political they undermined the Soviet system by showing the quality and luxury of Western life.
32
What conclusions can be drawn from Soviet media?
For many years Soviet media control was extremely effective - turned Lenin into the first hero of the revolution and a man that people could identify with.
Under Stalin, propaganda focused on Stalin as Vozhd (great Russian leader) and his heroic nation of perfect workers.
Consumerism led to increased magazine circulation, the availability of television sets and even a black market in Western magazines. All of these changed the nature of media.
Under Khrushchev there was an increasing emphasis on ordinary people.
Television however exposed Brezhnev’s frailty and Western magazines exposed inequalities between the Soviet Union and the West - both undermined the Soviet system. As technology advanced it became more difficult to restrict the population’s access to information.
33
What was the purpose of Stalin’s cult?
Served a specific political purpose - it emphasised Stalin’s legitimacy to take over leadership of the Party. Equally, the cult created a figure that Soviet citizens could trust, respect and even worship.
34
What was the myth of Two leaders?
This myth led Soviet people to believe that the October Revolution, victory in the Civil War and the foundation of the Soviet Union had been masterminded by a duumvirate consisting of Lenin and Stalin.
35
What did the myth require and how did Stalin achieve this?
The myth required Soviet history to be extensively rewritten, placing Stalin at the centre and removing Trotsky and other revolutionaries from the story. Achieved by:
The publication in 1938 of two histories of the Communist Party, both edited by Stalin.
Socialist Realist paintings which were created showing Stalin working closely with Lenin.
Altering photographs - Trotsky and other former leaders were taken out of pictures with Lenin.
36
How did Soviet media show Stalin as Lenin’s heir?
Implied Stalin was continuing on the path created by Lenin.
Gustav Klutsis’ photomontages show a row of figures running from Marx, through Lenin to Stalin, implying that Stalin is the latest in a tradition of revolutionary leaders.
37
How did Stalin’s cult present him as the vozhd, who was celebrated?
Pravda praised the vozhd’s wisdom daily and Stalin’s birthday became a national celebration with parades.
38
How did Stalin’s cult change following the Great Patriotic War?
His role as Generalissimo or war leader, became the focus of much Soviet propaganda. Before the Great Patriotic War Stalin was presented as a revolutionary and a thinker, but as Generalissimo he was presented as a military genius who saved the nation.
39
Which city had its name changed to Stalingrad and when?
1925, Tsaritsyn.
40
What quote became widely used in Party membership?
‘Stalin is the Lenin of today’
41
Who made a career out of playing Stalin?
Actor Mikhail Gilovani
42
Evidence for even those not liking him having respect for him.
Prisoners in the Gulag wept when they heard of Stalin’s death.
43
Despite Khrushchev criticising Stalin’s cult, how many cults did he put forward and of who?
Lenin and himself.
44
How did Khrushchev revive the cult of Lenin?
In the 1930s Lenin’s death was stressed, in the 1950s his cult was based on the slogan ‘Lenin Lives!’ - approachable, humane and a family man. Khrushchev reminded the people that the government was founded on Lenin’s revolution rather than Stalin’s terror.
45
How did Khrushchev use Soviet propaganda to create his own cult?
A disciple of Lenin who was completing the journey that Lenin had started.
Responsible for new successes - the Space programme and Virgin Lands harvests.
A hero of the Great Patriotic War.
The great reformer who was perfecting the Soviet system
A respected statesman who negotiated with the US President as an equal.
46
How was his cult his downfall?
By associating himself so strongly with the success of the Virgin Lands Scheme, he was seriously damaged by its failure. His embarrassing foreign policy and his failure to deliver on his optimistic promises about out-producing the USA led to a collapse in confidence in Khrushchev’s fitness to govern.
47
What was Brezhnev’s cult in relation to Stalin?
A shadow of Stalin’s cult.
48
Why did Brezhnev adopt a cult of personality?
For pragmatic reasons. By 1964, a cult of the leader was well established as an essential feature of Soviet politics.
And to consolidate his position.
49
What did Brezhnev’s cult present him as?
A great Leninist - Brezhnev had not known Lenin, but he claimed to be continuing the work started by Lenin, particularly working for world peace.
A military hero - official publications stressed his military prowess in the Great Patriotic War. He was promoted to the position of Marshal of the Red Army and received 60 medals,
A true man of the people - biographies told of his humble origins and how he worked as an engineer in the steel industry.
50
How was his cult useful to him?
Presented Brezhnev as a popular leader - one reason was his reluctance to bring about change but the cult gave him symbols of power without having to exercise it.
51
Why was Brezhnev’s cult counterproductive?
Brezhnev was mocked for his claims to greatness. Veterans of the Great Patriotic War resented the inflation of Brezhnev’s role in the war. The lavish lifestyle of Brezhnev’s family undercut the claims that he was a man of the people.
52
How many medals did he award himself and what was a common Soviet joke as a result of it?
Brezhnev awarded himself at least 100 medals including the Lenin Prize for Literature for his memoirs which exaggerated his role in the Great Patriotic War. Soviet joke, he was having his chest expanded to accommodate more medals.
53
Why did Brezhnev’s cult take on a more practical element according to Medvedev?
His cult took on a more practical element after 1975 when his health deteriorated. Historian Medvedev claimed for the last 6 years of his life he was clinically dead - leader unable to function but cult provided appearance of leadership to Soviet population.
54
What did Marxism say about religion?
‘Opium of the masses’
55
Why was Lenin critical of the Russian Orthodox Church and to organised religion in general?
The Russian Orthodox Church was an extremely rich institution and an essential ally of the Tsar.
Religion stood for values that were sometimes opposed to Communist values.
Religious groups were independent of the government and therefore could organise opposition.
56
Which two main early decrees attacked the Church?
October 1917 Decree of Land - gave peasants the right to seize land belonging to the Church.
January 1918 Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State, and of School and Church- Church lost privileged position in society - Church land, buildings and property were nationalised, its publications outlawed and religious education was banned in schools
57
What did the 1922 Soviet Constitution guarantee and why couldn’t Soviet courts uphold this?
Freedom of conscience for all Soviet people.
Soviet courts lacked the power to force the government to obey the law.
58
By when was Patriarch Tikhon under house arrest, and who was he?
The head of the Orthodox Church - by the end of 1918.
59
What happened to Orthodox priests in Moscow in January 1918?
Orthodox priests in Moscow were massacred in January following a Church decree excommunicating the Bolsheviks.
60
What did the Politburo issue to the Cheka in November 1918?
Politburo issued a secret order to the Cheka sanctioning the mass execution of priests.
61
How were priests attacked during the Civil War and Red Terror and what were the consequences?
Priests were deprived of the vote, denied rations during the civil war and suffered as victims of the Red Terror of 1921-22. By 1923, 28 bishops and over 1,000 priests had been killed.
62
What was the government’s early policy towards Islam?
Initially, Communist forces used the Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State to justify seizing the property of waqfs (Islamic foundations and charities). Policy was quickly reversed - waqfs continued to fund schools in Muslim areas and Communist leaders encouraged local Muslims to join the Party.
63
Why was the government less harsh on Muslims?
Islam had no official link to Tsarism and Islam was more ingrained into society and the way of life.
64
Why was the Living Church established?
The Living Church was established to be a reformed version of the old Orthodox Church in which ordinary people had power.
65
How did Archbishop Vedenskii challenge the Church? What was the government’s response?
the leader of the Living Church, Archbishop Vedenskii, was not prepared to support the Communists. In 1923 he publicly debated science and religion with Lunacharsky, gaining widespread support that science could not disprove the existence of God - public debates proved counterproductive and in 1925 the Central Committee stopped public debates within the Church.
66
Was their policy of splitting the Church by backing the Living Church successful?
It was successful but did not diminish Church growth which continued throughout the 1920s.
67
When was the League of Militant Goodness established and what was its purpose?
1929. A propaganda campaign against religion. It launched events to disprove the existence of God - peasants taken for plane rides to show them heaven did not exist in the sky.
68
By the end of 1930 how many village churches were no longer operating or destroyed?
4/5
69
Surveys of peasantry in the mid 1920s revealed what percentage were still active Christians?
55%
70
For what two main reasons did the Communists object to Islam?
Claimed that Islam encouraged ‘crimes based on custom’ (particularly those on women’s rights) and that Islamic organisations had the loyalty of many people in the Caucasus and Central Asia.
71
How did the Soviets weaken Islam?
Closed mosques, turning them into sports clubs or storage units. 25,000 in 1917 to just 500 in the 1970s.
Discouraged pilgrimages and attacked Islamic shrines.
Started campaigns against women wearing the chador, a traditional dress which sometimes included a veil.
Opened anti-Islamic museums in the midst of recognised holy places.
Polygamy prohibited on the grounds of its subjection of women.
Ramadan fasting was condemned as interfering with work discipline.
72
How did the Soviets use International Women’s Day in 1927 to attack Muslims?
Campaign against veiling of women was launched on International Women’s Day 1927 when huge gatherings of women took part in a ceremony where they cast off their veils and threw them onto a bonfire.
73
What did these measures result in?
series of violent revolts in 1928-29, during which Chechens were particularly active. The unrest was crushed through the use of the Russian armed forces. Many retained private beliefs in private whilst others joined underground brotherhoods, tariqat, to continue the fight for Islamic rights.
74
How was Stalin different to Lenin when dealing with religion?
He was pragmatic when dealing with religion.
75
Why did Stalin order the closure of many churches and after the Great Terror in 1939 how many bishops were left?
During the collectivisation drive, Stalin ordered the closure of many churches in the country largely because they were aiding resistance to his policies. And after the Great Terror, in 1939, only 12 of 163 bishops were still at liberty.
76
How did Stalin attack Islamic tariqats and was he successful?
Attacked Jadids and Sufi groups who were dedicated to ‘saving Islam from Marxist pollution’. By the end of 1936, Sufi groups had been destroyed. Nonetheless, in spite of the claims of Soviet propaganda, Islam survived and Sufi groups, often led by women, kept the traditions alive and growing, particularly in Kazakhstan.
77
What was Stalin’s outlook towards the Church during the Great Patriotic War and why?
During the Great Patriotic War Stalin made a pragmatic alliance with the Church. One of his strategies for winning the war was to appeal to the patriotism of the Russian people to inspire them to fight.
78
In exchange what did the Metropolitan Sergei do for Stalin?
He urged Christians to fight for the motherland, proclaiming Stalin ‘God’s chosen leader’.
79
What concessions were given to the Orthodox Church during this period?
Anti-religious propaganda ceased. Communist publications, e.g. Bezbozhnik ‘The Godless’, were officially closed.
Stalin promised to end censorship of religious magazines following the war.
Stalin promised that closed churches would re-open
80
How many churches re-opened in 1945?
414
81
Between 1946 and 1948 what was the change in the Priesthood of the Orthodox Church?
9254 to 11,827
82
What was Khrushchev’s stance on religion?
Khrushchev was fervently anti-religious and pursued a programme of active repression - saw it as part of his mission to revive the anti-religious campaign of the 1920s.
83
What did Khrushchev’s 1958 anti-religion campaign include?
Churchers re-opened during the Great Patriotic War were closed.
Anti-religious propaganda was reintroduced.
Anti-religious magazines were reintroduced, e.g. Science and Religion was published regularly from 1960.
84
How did Khrushchev use the Soviet space programme to attack religion?
Yuri Gagrarin famously commented that having travelled up to the heavens he had found no God.
85
Why did Khrushchev’s campaigns particularly target female believers?
Government figures showed that two-thirds of Orthodox church goers and over 80% of Protestant Christians were women. Khrushchev was also concerned that women were passing on religious beliefs to their children.
86
How many churches were there in 1959, 1960 and 1965?
1959 - 22,000
1960 - 13,008
1965 - 7,873
87
Were his campaigns completely successful?
However, he failed to win the battle for the ‘soul of the Soviet people’. Women organised their own campaigns to protect their religious freedoms. Some marched and others took their children out of school to counter anti-religious propaganda.
Khrushchev’s anti-religious campaign led to the birth of a new dissident campaign that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s.
88
What was Brezhnev’s stance on religion?
Pragmatic. Brezhnev was aware that stories of religious persecution were frowned upon in the West and had a damaging impact on the USSR’s attempt to conduct foreign policy. Brezhnev advocated spreading the philosophy of atheism rather than attacking religious organisations.
89
What did Brezhnev open in 1968 and why?
The Institute for Scientific Atheism, which published articles in newspapers and advised teachers how to spread atheism in the classroom.
90
Why did Brezhnev change the government’s view towards Islam?
His foreign policy of seeking allies in the Middle East led to a change of policy towards Islam. Previous leaders described Islam as ‘backward and barbarian’. Under Brezhnev, the government started supporting anti-American Islamic groups. From the late 1960s, they described it as ‘progressive’ and ‘revolutionary creed’.
91
How did Brezhnev monitor the Church?
The government used the Council of Religious Affairs to monitor religious services and clergy were classified according to loyalty to socialism. The Orthodox Church was expected to support Soviet policies.
92
Were all Church members were satisfied?
In 1976, a group of Orthodox priests set up the Christian Committee for the Defence of Believers’ Right to draw attention to human rights abuses. This was too far for Brezhnev and its leader, Father Yakunin, was imprisoned for 5 years for anti-Soviet propaganda in 1979.
93
What was the percentage of people professing a religious faith between 1960 and 1985?
A survey in 1980 found what percentage of people still believing in God?
20%
25%
94
What was the Cheka’s role during the Civil War and who headed it?
To protect Communist rule.
Dzerzhinsky
95
What did they during the Civil War?
In Jan 1918, with the Red Army they closed down the Constituent Assembly.
Cheka helped Red Army requisition Grain and supported Red Army’s attack on Kronstadt Naval base and enforced the end of private trading.
96
What was the role of the OGPU during the NEP in regard to intellectuals and experts?
Lenin suspicious of intellectuals and experts who did not support the government fully. 1922 - Dzerzhinsky instructed to supervise deportation of professors and engineers Lenin suspected of being anti-Communist.
GPU kept public opinion under close scrutiny during 1920s. Had power to intercept post and other communications. GPU kept intellectuals and students under close scrutiny - fear of unlikely support.
97
What was the 1922 trial of Socialist Revolutionary Leaders?
Accused of treason, sabotage and planning to overthrow the Soviet State. All sentenced to death (Aug 1922). Most, however, imprisoned and only executed in Stalinist terror.
98
What was the role of the OGPU during the NEP?
Imprisoning Nepmen who had grown too rich
Harassing women who dressed in Western styles
Persecuting young people who danced to jazz
99
Who became head of the NKVD in 1934 and what did he oversee during his time as head?
Yagoda - oversaw the rapid expansion of the Gulag.
100
What was one of Yagoda’s achievements?
One of Yagoda’s achievements was the completion of the White Sea Canal - 180,000 labourers digging by hand. Canal under-budget and completed within two years, cost 10000 lives and the depth was reduced to just 3.6m to cut costs - useless for shipping.
101
How many were arrested between 1934 and 1935?
More than 250,000
102
Why did Yagoda prove to be a disappointment?
Stalin expected more. He wanted to use the opportunity created by Kirov’s murder to move against Bukarin and Trotsky’s supporters. Moreover, the scale of terror in 1935 and 1936 was not unusual by Soviet standards, further disappointing Stalin.
103
When was Yagoda removed?
When was he tried and shot?
Why was he significant?
1936
Trial of the 21 - 1938
He collaborated with Stalin in turning the NKVD against the Communist Party - his role was a turning point in Soviet politics.
104
When did Yezhov replace Yagoda and what was his nickname?
1936 - ‘bloody dwarf’
105
What was Stalin’s justification for extensive terror?
Sharpening class struggle - Stalin argued that as socialism advanced, the class struggle intensified as Capitalists fought harder as socialism succeeded.
106
What was a troika?
In September 1937, how many prisoners was the Karelian Troika processing each day?
Courts (Troikas) made up of three people, one of whom was the regional NKVD boss, dealt with cases. Sept 1937 - the Karelian Troika processed 231 prisoners each day.
107
How did they surveillance of the general public increase?
By how much did the number of detectives recruited by the NKVD increase by?
Plain-clothes police officers used, alongside a system of informers from the general public. Considerable use was made of the Soviet criminal code to condemn people for anti-Soviet activity. The number of detectives recruited by the NKVD quadrupled and extra staff employed to torture suspects.
108
What was the ‘Conveyor belt system’?
To speed up process of getting confessions NKVD agents worked in shifts around the clock. This meant torture and interrogation could continue relentlessly until prisoners confessed.
109
Under Yeshovshchina how many were arrested? Of those how many were deported and how many were executed?
1.5 million arrested
635,000 deported and over 680,000 executed
110
How did Yezhovshchina affect the government districts of Leningrad and Moscow?
Mass arrests of government officials left entire apartment blocks empty - Turing government districts into ghost towns.
111
What were the consequences of the terror?
Stalin emerged stronger than ever. Terror removed almost anyone from government who had fought in the Civil War or who had worked with Lenin.
Terror caused massive economic problems. Deporting and executing factory managers and economic planners removed experts needed to run Stalin’s command economy.
112
Why was Yezhov removed from power and how?
Stalin used Yezhov as a scapegoat as Stalin wished to reduce the level of terror.
Stalin accused him of being responsible for the excesses of the purge.
Yezhov and over 300 of his closest associates were shot in 1940
113
How was Beria presented to the public?
An uncle-like figure who would reform the excessive behaviour of the NKVD. He reintroduced more conventional methods of police procedure and public trials were only held where solid evidence was found.
114
What was Beria’s view on the Gulag?
Beria wanted to make the Gulag more profitable.
115
What did he introduce in 1939 to try to do this?
In 1939, food rations were improved, not for humanitarian concerns but to get maximum work out of prisoners.
116
By how much did gulag economic activity increase between 1937 and 1945?
And how much of Soviet gold was it outputting by the mid 1950s?
Gulag economic activity at 2 billion roubles (1937) to 4.5 billion roubles (1940).
1/3 of its gold.
117
What did Beria introduce in 1943?
In areas that the Red Army captured from the Germans, Beria set up Special Departments to root out traitors and cowards. Anyone suspected of co-operating with the Germans was either shot or deported to the Gulag.
118
What was the Katyn Massacre of 1943?
One department, SMERSH, dealt with suspected spies and was probably involved in the murder of more than 4000 Polish officers at Katyn in 1943.
119
What was order 270 and after the war how many Soviet prisoners of war did the NKVD interrogate, what was the fate of most of them?
Order 270 treated all Soviet troops who had surrendered to the Germans during the initial invasion as traitors. After the war in 1945 the NKVD interrogated 1.5 million of these Soviet prisoners of war, most were deported to Siberia.
120
When was the mass deportation of the Kalmyks and what was the result?
1942 - Beria organised mass deportation of the Kalmyks, from Kalmykia (NW of the Caspian), to Siberia. Stalin feared the Kalmyks would welcome a German invasion. By 1953 only 53000 of the original 130,000 survived the brutal treatment they received in Siberia.
121
When and what was the mass deportation of Chechens?
What was the result?
1944 - Beria ordered the deportation to Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan of all 460,000 Chechens from Chechnya within seven days. Chechens unwilling or unable to leave were locked in stables and barns and burned alive. Deportation resulted in 170,000 deaths.
122
What was a common saying of Gulag inmates about Stalin?
Common saying of Gulag inmates is that if only Stalin knew about their situation he would put an end to it.
123
Evidence for Stalin taking a personal interest in the Terror?
Stalin personally signed many death warrants.
Collectivisation required kulaks to be swept away.
Stalin gave the NKVD quotas to meet.
Historians such as Ivan Chukhin have suggested that the huge expansion of terror in the 1930 as was the result of the demand for slave labour to ensure that the targets of the Five-Year Plans were met.
Stalin set the parameters for the purges. Death of Kirov used to start the Great Purge and the dismissal of Yezhov was the signal that it was slowing down. Stalin’s death led to the dismantling of the Gulag system and a reduction in terror.
124
Evidence that Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria had a role in influencing the development of terror?
All three men had sadistic tendencies.
None had much impact on quotas yet all three took the opportunity to add to the death lists - all used it to expand their career.
The leaders did have influence over the implementation of terror and the operation of the Gulag.
125
Anne Applebaym quote
‘Stalin selected the victims - and his subordinated leaped at the opportunity to obey him’ - Anne Applebaym (2003)
126
What was Andropov's goal?
To control dissidents through a minimum of violence.
127
What did Anna Akhmatova have to say about terror under Andropov?
People were no longer arrested ‘for nothing’, now they were at least arrested ‘for something’.
128
Who were the dissidents?
Intellectuals (usually political dissidence)
Political dissidents - human rights
Nationalists
Religious dissidents
Refuseniks - Soviet Jews who wished to emigrate to Israel.
129
What was samizdat?
Many of the dissidents were often Communists themselves who wanted the system to work better for them. Their actions were often limited to producing material that criticised the Soviet system. The Illegal, self-published materials, often little more than handwritten notes, were known as samizdat, and their production became a popular hobby in the late 1960s.
130
What was one of the most well-known samizdat materials and what was it?
One of the most well-known of the samizdat materials was the ‘Chronicles of Current Events’, an underground newsletter that highlighted human rights abuses and the treatments of dissidents.
131
What was KGB Order No. 0051 and when did Andropov issue it?
In 1968 he issued KGB Order No. 0051 which set out the policy of increased surveillance of and action against dissidents. Andropov adopted a number of strategies for dealing with dissidents.
132
Why did Andropov want to deal with dissidents in a more subtle way?
Did not want international criticism.
133
Between 1967 and 1970 how did Andropov make the KGB extremely efficient?
KGB agents were promoted on the basis of their success in dealing with dissidents.
In 1967, he established the Directorate V, a special branch of the KGB, to deal specifically with dissidents.
134
How did Andropov deal with high profile dissidents?
High profile dissidents with an international reputation were allowed to emigrate.
135
Under Andropov how many high profile dissidents were allowed to emigrate?
100,000
136
How did Andropov change Soviet policy towards Refuseniks
Most Jews who wanted to leave were given exit visas
137
How did Andropov justify this policy?
Andropov justified the policy by referring to the demographics of the USSR in the fact just 1% of the population was Jewish. However they were still well-represented in creative and intellectual industries. 20% of writers and journalists were Jewish. In that sense, Jews were more likely to be found in the professions that produced dissidents. (Pragmatic).
138
When was the policy of repressive psychiatry endorsed?
1969 in a secret resolution of the Council of Minsters.
139
Why was repressive psychiatry better than sending dissidents to prison?
Sending someone to hospital was much less likely to attract the attention of the world media than sending someone to prison. Moreover criminal records were public and thus traceable whereas psychiatric records were private.
Also, psychiatric patients could have their ‘treatment’ be indefinite whereas a prison sentence would come to an end. Psychiatric patients could also be drugged to be kept quiet.
140
Why did Andropov change the emphasis of the KGB from repression to prevention, and how?
He believed the Stalinist repression was ineffective and there was a growing belief in the Party that socialism was incompatible with repression.
From Nov 1972, the KGB adopted a policy of issuing official warnings.
141
How many Soviet citizens received a KGB warning in the 1970s?
Around 70,000.
142
How many subversive groups did the KGB claim these warnings stopped the formation of?
2000 subversive groups in the early 1970s alone.
143
What did many intellectuals end up working as- as punishment?
Janitors.
144
How many political prisoners did Amnesty International estimate there were in the USSR by the mid 1970s?
10,000
145
What did the label of dissident do to a person?
The label of dissident would also mark them out in civilian life, with discrimination at work, failure to gain a place at university and continued surveillance and harassment.
146
Who was Sakharov?
The 'Father of the Hydrogen Bomb'.
147
In 1968, who and what did the samizdat production produced by Sakharov criticise?
Criticised Lysenko and argued that the Soviet Union should respect human rights.
148
Why were the KGB reluctant to persecute him?
His samizdat production was published in the West a month later and he was well-respected in the West.
149
How did the KGB try to suppress him?
The KGB restricted his right to travel and was warned to stop dissident activities. Sakharov instead gave a full report of the intimidation to the New York Times. The KGB orchestrated a press campaign against him.
KGB documents described him as ‘Public Enemy Number One’. Eventually he was forced into internal exile.
150
What did Solzhenitsyn do and how did the KGB react?
Solzhenitsyn was a novelist. He finished his novel the Gulag Archipelago in 1968, smuggling the manuscript to the West for publication. It described the horrors of Stalin's prison camp system. Two years later, he was awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature. His fame meant that the KGB could not imprison him and instead he was forced into exile in America in 1973.
151
Why did the USSR not want stories of dissidents to reach the West?
The bad publicity generated was a constant source of irritation to the Soviet government as they became increasingly concerned with its international reputation.
International condemnation sometimes led to the release of dissidents.
152
In 1968 how many people turned up to a public protest at the Red Square in protest to the Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia?
7 people.
153
Why did the Central Committee pass a decree in August 1980?
Poor harvests, the war in Afghanistan and growing corruption and non-conformity. The prospect of the 1980 Moscow Olympics only led to a law and order campaign.
Andorpov attacked various forms of antisocial behaviour, such as drunkenness.
154
What period do members of the ‘Chronicle of Current Events’ recall being one of the most difficult to operate in?
After 1982 when Andropov’s monitoring of dissidents increased.
155
What did Andropov recognise as the main cause for popular discontent and what did he tell his doctor?
Andropov was well aware that the dissidents did not represent the majority of the Soviet population and that popular discontent was more likely to be based on economic concerns.
Andropov told his doctor, ‘We’ll make enough sausages, and then we won’t have any dissidents’.
156
Name one person Andropov prosecuted for corruption?
Andropov investigated senior party officials and industrial managers who were using Soviet resources to make them rich. Brezhnev’s Minister of the Interior, Nikolai Shchelokov, was put on trial for corruption - took his life before the trial.
157
How did Andropov try to get in touch with society?
Andropov took lead by visiting factories to talk to workers. In Feb 1983, he visited a Moscow factory. Surrounded himself with relatively free thinkers. Andropov made a conscious effort to promote a younger, more reformist generation.
158
Were his reforms successful in the long-run?
Operation Trawl was able to less absenteeism in the short run but after Andropov became ill he could not sustain the campaigns and whilst Cherneko continued the campaign of workplace discipline, he scaled back the anti-corruption to protect his supporters.
159
What ensured a conforming population?
A system of propaganda, censorship, rewards and sanction.
160
How did Lenin see the potential of culture as compared to Stalin?
To serve the ideology of Communism but Stalin made an effort to create a new culture based on promoting idealistic images of life under socialism.
161
Who were 'Fellow Travellers'?
Artists who worked with the new regime and who worked with the material of the events of the period.
162
Who headed the Commissariat of Enlightenment and what was his aim?
Anatoly Lunacharsky - argued that following the revolution proletarian culture should flourish and create its own ‘Proletarian culture’, or Proletkult.
163
During which period was Proletkult a national movement and what did workers and peasants have access to?
1918-20.
Access to local studios where they could paint, sculpt, rehearse plays and put on shows.
164
By 1920 how many members of Proletkult in how many sudios were there?
By 1920, there were roughly 84,000 members of Proletkult working in over 300 studios.
165
How as the anniversary of the Revolution in 1920 celebrated?
A re-enactment of the storming of the Winter Palace using over 8000 people - parades through Red Square.
166
What was significant about Proletkult?
Proletkult was an independent organisation, free of Communist Party control.
167
Why was Meyerhold's Mystery Bouffe (1918) cancelled after one performance?
In the theatre, Meyerhold’s Mystery Bouffe (1918) was a fantasy based on the workers defeating their exploiters, but it was so confusing to audiences that it was cancelled after one performance.
168
Why did Lenin dissolve Proletkult?
He believed that it was embracing Furturism, which was the worst kind of bourgeois art and argued most working people simply could not understand it.
Moreover, he believed that working people needed a basic education rather than opportunities for artistic expression and so saw Proletkult as a danger to the revolution.
169
When and why was the Department of Agitation Propaganda (Agitprop) created?
In 1920. Propaganda was organised to support the government and it built on propaganda work that had been going on since the revolution.
170
What type of artists produced agitprop?
Avant-garde and experimental.
171
Who created the poster 'Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge' and why was it significant?
El Lissitzky.
Lissitzky’s poster also formed the basis of a sculpture in which a red wedge splits a block of white stone - unveiled in Moscow in Oct 1918 to celebrate the anniversary of the October Revolution.
172
Who was Sergei Eisenstein and what did he do?
Made a series of agitational films which combined a revolutionary message with experimental filmmaking.
October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1928) dramatised the events of the October Revolution and actually killed more people during its filming than the actual Revolution as they used live ammo. By the late 1920s his methods were criticised as they could not be understood by workers and peasants.
173
How did Pravda describe Dziga Vertov's films?
'Insane' and 'Puzzling'
174
What was forced to close following a campaign against avant-garde in Pravda?
The Petrograd State Institute of Artistic Culture was forced to close in 1926.
175
What was the Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia?
Emerged in late 1920s. They painted in the nineteenth-century traditional style and produced paintings that celebrated the achievement of the Soviet government. These were praised by Party officials.
176
What was the aim of the Cultural Revolution 1928-31?
The Cultural Revolution sought to sweep away the old bourgeois elements within society.
177
What did Stalin say in his article in The Bolshevik in 1930?
That revolutionary art should reflect government priorities rather than individual creativity.
178
When was the Union of Soviet Writiers (USW) established and why?
1932.
In order to develop 'Socialist Realism'.
179
What did Stalin call writers and artiists?
‘Engineers of human souls’`
180
What was the aim of Socialist Realism?
Socialist Realism would be used to convince the population that Stalin’s statement of 1935, ‘Life had become more joyous’, was true.
181
What did Ivan Kulik, President of the USW, define Socialist Realism as?
It contained a ‘true reflection of reality’
It aimed to ‘participate in the building of socialism’.
182
How did Stalin ensure that the population had easy access to these reading materials?
The low price of these books and the tenfold increase in library acquisitions ensured the population had easy access to the material.
182
How did Literature change during Socialist Realism?
Emphasised heroes of socialism.
Gladkov’s 1924 novel Cement was used as an example as it tells a story of a group of workers who, having played a major role in the Civil War, reconstruct a cement factory.
183
How did Ballet change during Socialist Realism?
Under Stalin ballet became more traditional from creative choreography to telling epic stories. Prokofiev’s ballet was designed to celebrate Soviet industrialisation.
184
How did Architecture change during Socialist Realism?
‘Stalinist baroque’ made use of classical lines. Many built in this style including Moscow University (rebuilt in 1945). Moscow metro system decorated with chandeliers and elaborate murals, showing the endeavours of the workers.
185
How did Stalin use film during the War?
During the Great Patriotic War, the cinema was used to promote patriotism in defence of both Mother Russia and socialism, Alexander Nevsky was one of the most popular.
186
What did Fedor Shurpin's 'Morning of Our Motherland' (1949) showcase?
Stalin standing in a landscape transformed by collectivisation and industrialisation, with tractors and pylons.
187
Was Socialist Realism realistic?
Socialist Realism was deeply unrealistic but these pictures were designed to show Soviet citizens the future they were working towards, a utopian future.
188
What was Zhdanovshchina?
A campaign in 1946 to remove all aspects of ‘bourgeois’ culture from the West - it was heavily influenced by the Cold War. Shostakovich was subjected to humiliation of being called into Zhdanov’s office to have suitable tones tapped out to him on a piano by Zhdanov himself.
189
Why did Khrushchev want to create an alliance between socialism and intellectuals.
Improvements in education meant that the Soviet class of intellectuals was the fastest growing section of society in the 1960s. Khrushchev believed that they should help the government build socialism and true intellectuals would understand the benefits of Communism.
190
Give one example of a publication in the thaw of 1953-54?
Ehrenburg’s story The Thaw was published in the Soviet journal New World and was critical of various aspects of Stalinism, including mass terror.
191
Give one example of a publication in the thaw of 1956-57?
Following Khrushchev’s Secret Speech, Dudintsev’s Not by Bread Alone was published in the New World. Again, it was critical of Stalin’s period and tells the story of an innovative worker’s battles with the unjust Party bureaucracy.
192
Give one example of a publication in the thaw of 1961-62?
Following the Twenty-Second Party Congress and the vote to remove Stalin’s body from the Red Square, a number of books were published that were critical of Stalin’s rule.
193
What was significant about the World Youth in Moscow in 1957?
Young people danced to jazz music and African drumming.
194
Why was Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago unacceptable?
It was critical of Lenin’s leadership and therefore unacceptable to Khruschev’s regime and so led to cultural restrictions. The final freeze led to the arrest and imprisonment of several artists.
195
How did Khrushchev challenge non-conformity through 'popular overtsight'?
After 1954, propaganda posters increasingly poked fun at Soviet people - presenting non-conformist citizens as comically bald, fat or lazy.
Citizens were expected to keep other citizens under surveillance
196
'The Alcoholic' (1959)
Depicts a drunk man lying in a pool of his own vomit.
197
‘The Cowshed’ (1958)
Shows two cows living in a palace, complete with chandeliers, with a quote from Khrushchev criticising wasteful spending on farms.
198
Who were 'stilyaga' and what did Gosplan believe about them?
Young women who adopted Western fashion - 'style hunters'.
Officials at Gosplan believed that women’s natural desire to shop could lead to lasting economic problems.
199
How did the government respond?
Official campaigns against Western fashion and ‘loose women’ in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
200
How did Soviet authorities target women during the World Youth Festival in 1957?
The 1957 World Youth Festival raised concerns that young Soviet women were having sex with male delegates from other countries - squads of Party members patrolled the streets and shaved the heads of these women. In some cases they were deported and forced to work on farms in the Virgin Lands.
201
Between 1964 and 1970, by how much did spending on clothes increase by and how many of the clothes available were never sold?
Between 1964 and 1970, spending on clothes tripled. In cities, over half the clothes that were available in shops never sold.
202
By 1985 how many Western magazines were available on the black market?
450.
203
What was Brezhnev's view on nonconformity?
Brezhnev narrowed the boundaries of what was acceptable after the cultural thaws of the Khrushchev years. Brezhnev was extremely critical of Khrushchev’s willingness to publish works that exposed the difficulties of life in the Soviet Union.
204
Whose ballet won international praise following tours of Western capitals in the 1970s?
Yury Grigorovich’s choreography of the ballet Spartacus (written in 1954 about ancient slave rebellion) won international praise following tours of Western capitals in the 1970s.
205
What caused Khrushchev international embarrassment for the Soviet government in 1958?
Pasternak was awarded the 1958 Nobel Prize for Literature. Khrushchev refused to allow Pasternak to travel to Sweden to receive his prize - caused international embarrassment for the Soviet government and Khrushchev later regretted his actions.
206
What was Khrushchev's reaction to the collection of abstract art by young artists in an exhibition in the Kremlin?
In 1962, Khrushchev visited the exhibition hall in the Kremlin to view a collection of abstract art by young artists. Khrushchev was horrified and fumed with rage. The artists left the exhibition in fear of arrest but no action was taken against them.
207
How did the government use the Komsomol to challenge non-conformity?
Komsomol groups were employed to patrol the streets and dance halls to report on young people whose behaviour was deemed unacceptable. In 1961, the government held a conference that decided which dance moves were permissible. Enforcing the decision was a complete failure.
208
Why was the trial of Joseph Brodsky in 1964 significant?
Brodsky was not licensed under the USW and read poems allowed at secret gatherings .
His trial was used to send a firm message to all those artists who wished to work independently of the state.
Brodsky was sentenced to five years of hard labour in prison,
This indicates that the thaws of Khrushchev’s years would not be fully tolerated by Brezhnev’s government.
209
In early 1965, what did the report commissioned find out?
1292 anti-Soviet authors who had written almost 10,000 anti-Soviet documents.
210
Why were Sinyavsky and Daniel put on trial?
In order to send a clear message that the thaw was over, Sinyavsky and Daniel, two authors who had been allowed considerable freedom and fame under Khrushchev, were arrested for producing ‘anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda’ under Article 70 of the criminal code in September 1965.
211
What sentences did both receive and why was this significant?
The trial was essentially a Show Trial - Sinyvasky and Daniel were sentenced to seven and five years in a labour camp respectively. The sentences were designed to warn writers who had flourished under Khrushchev.
212
By the early 1970s, how many dissidents were estimated to be receiving 'repressive psychiatric treatment'?
7000 to 8000
213
What was the impact of the Prague Spring in 1968?
Solzhenitsyn expelled from the Writers’ Union in 1969 and Tvardovsky, editor of New World was finally forced to resign in 1970.
214
What did Ilya Kabakov produce that was a form of dissidence?
Ilya Kabakov created a fictional autobiography called Ten Characters to illustrate the dullness of Soviet life.
215
How was Goriunova's Forest Ritual (1968) a form of dissidence?
Goriunova’s Forest Ritual (1968) was a live performance in which she posed naked in a forest - a direct attack on the prohibition of nudity in Soviet art, and a statement about female beauty.
216
How did Andropov's government clamp on on non-conformity?
The government restricted output of songs not composed by official Soviet composers to 20 percent of radio airtime. A commission was set up to vet all rock groups before they were given permission to perform and Komsomol groups were once again employed to patrol streets and report on unacceptable activity.
