Russia

Question 1

when was the first five year plan?

Answer 1

1928-1932

Question 2

what was the first five-year plan?

Answer 2

increasing heavy industry, but was limited due to neglecting consumer industries

Question 3

when was the second five-year plan?

Answer 3

1933-1937

Question 4

what was the second five-year plan?

Answer 4

electric industry took off, more reasonable targets and better organisation but limited due to the slowing down of oil industry

Question 5

when was the third five-year plan?

Answer 5

1938-1941

Question 6

what was the third five-year plan?

Answer 6

production and productivity remained high in heavy industry, quantity/quality of armaments rose but limited due to Russia’s entry into the Great Patriotic War which declined resources and there was a shortage of raw materials

Question 7

how did collectivisation improve the economy?

Answer 7

grain production initially increased dramatically but then evened off, the state procured more grain for redistribution and use of new scientific technology was minimal and ineffective in agriculture

Question 8

how did collectivisation worsen the repressive regime?

Answer 8

the death penalty was imposed for stealing grain, peasants who ate their own seed corn were shot along with those sent to guard it, discussion of the grain crisis was banned and restrictions were imposed on those who were moving around for food

Question 9

what was collectivisation?

Answer 9

refers to the process of bringing a number of small farm units together to form bigger farms

Question 10

what were Stalin’s aims for collectivisation?

Answer 10

wanted to create ‘socialism in the countryside,’ getting rid of the NEP, eradicating kulaks and increasing rural productivity

Question 11

when was the OGPU set up?

Answer 11

1924

Question 12

when did the NKVD replace the OGPU?

Answer 12

1934

Question 13

what did the NKVD do?

Answer 13

crucial to the imposition of the purges, gathered evidence against in high-ranking communists, helped send over 40 million people in gulags and labour camps

Question 14

how did the military help enforce terror in Russia?

Answer 14

used to implement economic policy, helped administer purges, however by the end of the purge on 40% of the top military personnel had disappeared

Question 15

when was the first show trial?

Answer 15

August 1936- included Bukharin, Tomsky and Rykov

Question 16

what excuse did Stalin use for the first show trial?

Answer 16

the murder of Sergei Kirov

Question 17

when was the second show trial and what was the result?

Answer 17

early 1937, resulted in thirteen executed and the remainder sent to gulags where they died, including Radek and Pyatakov

Question 18

when was the third show trial and what was the result?

Answer 18

March 1938- all were executed, including Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda

Question 19

how did Stalin increase censorship?

Answer 19

by 1932 all literary groups were shut down and Stalin wanted writers to depict the struggle of ordinary people to overcome oppression
those who rebelled were executed or sent to gulags

Question 20

what was the New Soviet Man?

Answer 20

the ideal soviet citizen who was hardworking, law abiding, moral and supportive of the communist party

Question 21

what was the Stakhanovite movement?

Answer 21

used to raised productivity, inspired by Alexei Stakhanov who produced 100 tonnes of coal, those who met above the quota received rewards

Question 22

what did Stalin used to promote the cult of personality?

Answer 22

posters and slogans promoting Stalinist initiatives and newspapers like the Pravda

Question 23

how did luck factor into Stalin’s rise to power?

Answer 23

Stalin was able to supress Lenin’s Testament, he took advantage of Trotsky’s absence from the funeral

Question 24

how did Trotsky’s weaknesses factor into the rise of Stalin?

Answer 24

Trotsky was viewed with suspicion in the party as he was a Menshevik, Trotsky declined the role in Soviet government and many feared that Trotsky would use the Red Army to establish a military dictatorship

Question 25

how did Stalin use his position to rise to power?

Answer 25

Stalin used the Lenin enrolment to increase party membership and he was General secretary and so able to use the powers of patronage to put his supporters in higher roles

Question 26

what were the ideological divides in the power struggle?

Answer 26

dispute between the left and the right over whether the NEP should remain, Trotsky and the left wanted to press for a Permanent Revolution whereas the right and Stalin emphasised Socialism in One Country

Question 27

what were Lenin's weaknesses as a leader?

Answer 27

Lenin had to use considerable force to achieve his aims, Lenin was single-minded about Marxism he refused to listen to anyone else, opposition to Lenin strengthened after banning parties and Lenin's reforms in politics and economics could have been seen to set Russia backwards

Question 28

what were Lenin's strength as a leader?

Answer 28

Lenin was a 'conviction' politician, Lenin acknowledged rural unrest, Lenin was able to attract loyalty within the party, Lenin was an opportunist and he was very intelligent

Question 29

what was the scissor crisis?

Answer 29

a period when the supply of food increased at a rate that far exceeded domestic demand which resulted in a swift fall of price

Question 30

why was the NEP introduced?

Answer 30

solve the food crisis after bad harvests, quell the impossibility of further resistance and show Lenin's pragmatic and flexible freedom

Question 31

what were the features of the NEP?

Answer 31

denationalisation of small-scale enterprises/ return to private ownership, continuation of state control of heavy industry, removal of restrictions on the private sales of goods and services, a return to the encouragement of foreign trade and an end to grain requisitioning

Question 32

what were the consequences of the NEP?

Answer 32

short-term impacts were positive: industrial output increased, greater amount of food/consumer goods, creation of NEPmen but the scissor crisis was negative

Question 33

what were the long-term consequences of the civil war?

Answer 33

industrial output in a number of sectors fell dramatically, some services became free because it was impossible to pay for them, millions were in poverty due to the famine, NEP was introduced and more power became centralised

Question 34

when and what was the Kronstadt rising?

Answer 34

Feb 1921- sailors mutiny at a naval base, who had previously supported the Bolsheviks

Question 35

when and what was the CHEKA?

Answer 35

set up in Dec 1917 to deal with counter-revolutionaries and them implementing the Red Terror

Question 36

what were the key features of war communism?

Answer 36

nationalisation of larger enterprises/ industry, partial militarisation of labour and forced food requisitioning of agricultural production

Question 37

why did the strength of the Red Army lead to Bolshevik victory?

Answer 37

Trotsky's military leadership matched no White leader and the use of strategy and tactics (they were co-ordinated and were able to control the railways)