Russia - power Flashcards
(46 cards)
1
Q
main reasons why Russia turned Communist in 1917
A
- failure of WW1
- failure of provisional government
- bad leadership of tsar
- large divide between rich and poor
- bolsheviks - Lenin’s April Theses
- long term dissatisfaction
- check and gulags
- red army - led by Trotsky - success of civil war
2
Q
why were the bolsheviks successful in winning gaining power of Russia and civil war
A
- Lenin’s leadership skills
- Trotsky’s planning and red guard
- support from soldiers
- propaganda and censorship
- war communism
3
Q
summary of bolshevik takeover
A
- power ‘fell’ into bolshevik hands
- provisional govt had no military support or authority
- Trotsky in Petrograd Soviet swiftly seized key points
- excessive fighting in Moscow - limited in Petrograd
- new govt of 14 commissars - all bolshevik
- Lenin forcibly shuts down January constitute after gaining 175 votes of 717
4
Q
6 steps towards communism
A
- feudalism - middle class wealthier and labours work in towns
- bourgeois revolution - middle class take power from monarch and aristocracy
- capitalism - proletariat grain class consciousness - being oppressed
- socialist revolution - proletariat move to revolutionary consciousness - seize power from bourgeois
- socialism - proletariat find counter revolutionaries
- communism - get rid of govt
5
Q
October revolution
A
1917 - bolsheviks seized power in well planned, well executed uprising
- only 300,000 bolshevik members at time - portrays the revolution as mass uprising by workers
- stormed winter palace in Petrograd
6
Q
January 1918 elections
A
- bolsheviks gained 9 million votes and 175 seats
- socialist revolutionaries gained 21 million and 410 seats
- lenin shut down the constituent assembly replacing it with the all-russian congress of soviets
7
Q
Lenin’s removal of other parties
A
march 1918 - bolshevik party renamed communist party
by 1921 - ‘the place for Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries is in prison’ - 5,000 Mensheviks arrested in first 3 months of ‘21
8
Q
treaty of Brest-litovsk
A
1918 - took Russia out of WW1
- lost control of Baltics, Finland, Ukraine
- national humiliation for conservatives - restore Russia’s pride by overthrowing bolshevik regime
- conservatives supported by the whites - allies from Britain, France, US, Japan
9
Q
The civil war
A
1918-21 - reds led by Trotsky - militarily, economically, politically organised - fighting for same cause
- reds were conscripted - 5 million
- whites various groups connected only to destroy bolsheviks - poor communication, limited by inefficiency and corruption
10
Q
civil war results
A
- power centralised due to demands and strict control over military techniques
- war communism - 150,000 ‘volunteers’ requisitioned grain
- power firmly in hands of sovnarkom and politburo
11
Q
tenth party congress
A
march 1921 - civil war won
- party membership increased to 730,000
- lenin banned factions in party - ‘on party unity’ - imposing Lenin’s views and values on party
- go up against rule - expulsion
12
Q
Tambov rising
A
1920 - peasants revolted against bolshevik regime - badly treated in forced requisitioning of grain
- green army
- 50,000 bolshevik troops sent in to put down revolt
13
Q
Kronstadt mutiny
A
1921 - sailors in Kronstadt wished to oppose bolshevik order
- 100,000 killed during reclaim of naval base
- 2,500 killed without trial
14
Q
democratic centralism
A
- bolsheviks claimed their govt based on this principle
- ‘soviets’ used to represent workers at local levels
- feed wished to higher people who acted on behalf of people
- not the case Lenin centralised power
15
Q
Lenin’s centralisation of power
A
- both chair of sovnarkom and one of 9 politburo members
- dismissed ideas of personal dictatorship
- knew had authority - threatened to resign if there were heated debates over difficult issues
16
Q
nomenklatura system
A
- made people stay loyal to party
- loyalty rewarded in party by promotion
- 1924 - 1 million party members
17
Q
Lenin’s use of terror
A
1917 - cheka - dealt with counter revolutionaries - soon operated above law
1917-23 - red terror - 250,000 deaths - secret police grew from 40,000 in 1918 to 250,000 in 1921
1922 - cheka replaced by OGPU - focused on inside the party - christka (cleansing) 33% of party purged
18
Q
limits to centralisation under lenin
A
for example:
- kamenev and zinoviev opposed launch of revolution in 1917
- fierce debate over acceptance of treaty of Brest-litovsk
- right wing and left wing factions in party - despite ban
19
Q
Stalin’s role as general secretary
A
1922 - keep eye on opposition
- helped him in power struggle post Lenin
- gained access to 26,000 personal files
- lenin enrolment - 1923-25 500,000 new party members - more support for him
- had right to change staff - changed into his supporters - blackmail for votes in his favour
- was a ‘grey blur’ in meetings - took notes on everyone
20
Q
stalin outmanoeuvring politcal opponents
A
- left of party - zinoviev, kamenev, Trotsky called for ‘permanent revolution’ - world wide revolution
- right of party - bukharin, tom sky, rykov wanted to stick with Lenin’s NEP
- stalin used difference to manipulate them
- left wing expelled from party in 1926 - accused of forming factions
- right - stalin brought out bukharin’s disputes with Lenin in early ’20s - accusing him of factionalism - 1929 removed with tomsky - rykov remained head of govt until 1930
21
Q
Stalin’s use of secret police
A
- renamed OGPU the NKVD
- root out further opponents - response to party difficulties in launch of Five Year Plans and collectivisation
- anyone who opposed was removed
- by 1935 22% of party removed from posts - non violent process
22
Q
show trails
A
1935-36 - mass denunciation and arrest of party members in ‘left opposition’ accused of anti-Soviet activities
23
Q
trail of the sixteen
A
1936 - leaders of the left - Zinoviev, Karmenev arrested accused of working with Trotsky and murder of Kriov
24
Q
trial of seventeen
A
1937 - purge of party officials again accused of working with Trotsky
25
trail of the twenty-one
1938 - purge of the right - tom sky committed suicide before trial - Rykov and Bukharin accused of forming 'trotskyite-rightist bloc'
26
purges in red army
1937-38 - massive purge of military
- 3/5 marshalls purged
- 35,000 officers shot or imprisoned
- navy lost 100% of admirals
- to cut down power of army and ensure loyalty to stalin
27
how did stalin gain further control over party and state
- only surviving member of 1924 politburo - met less frequently - weekly in '20s to 9 times a year by mid 30s
- power focused on subgroups outside politburo - stalin could exercise firmer control
- intimidated people in important meetings - fear of saying something disagreeable to stalin resulted in execution
28
limits on Stalin's power
- could not control and decide every issue - required to prioritise issues
- in '32 wanted to execute ryutin for denouncing him - politburo refused to agree - sentenced 10 years in labour camp
- forced to accept redrafted second five year plan targets to avoid humiliation
- although there were limits - significantly more control over govt than Lenin - impossible to see stalinism as result of Leninism - operated differently - secret police, personal dictatorship, fundamental ideology (socialism in one country vs permeant revolution)
29
Stalin's power over party during WW2
- use of terror reduced during war
- generals like Zhukov were release from labour camps
- use of propaganda the appealed to Russian nationalism to mobilise masses into war effort
- stalin suffered a breakdown - did emerge a soviet hero - saving USSR from nazis
30
high stalinism
1945-53 - party moved quickly to reassert authority after slight relaxation of control during war
- politburo became much younger after WW2 - Beria, malenkov now eclipsing people like molotov
31
mingrelian affair
1951 - purge of arty in Georgia - beria's allies
- targeting those of mingrelian nationality
- renamed politburo the presidium - enlarged membership from 10 to 36 - bringing Brezhnev - no links to Malenkov or Beria
- weakness - unable to sack supporters Beria and Malenkov - some promoted
32
the doctors plot
1953 - planning another purge before death
- group of doctors arrested - accused of trying to assassinate stalin
- possible campaign of terror against soviet jews - more likely steps towards elimination of beria
- also criticised secret police - lack of vigilance - indirect attacks on beria - stalin died before carried through w purge
33
who came to power after Stalin's death
1953 - the presidium formed collective leadership
- Khrushchev, beria, malenkov
- beria presumed successor - head of secret police - was a target
34
what did beria do in response to being a target
- released an amnesty on 27th march '53 - over 1 million prisoners released to seem more liberating than stalin
- too dangerous to be kept around
- accused of being British spy, arrested and executed
35
Khrushchev become first secretary (re-named general secretary)
september 1953 - used his position to place allies in presidium
- paid attention to central committee - over 50% admitted to it in '52 were sacked and replaced by allies of khrushchev
36
Khrushchev's secret speech
1956 20th party congress - criticising stalin
- accused stalin of creating cult of personality, acting as a tyrant and using unnecessary terror, making economic mistakes
- wanted return to Leninism and de-stalinisation
37
de-stalinisation
- regular politburo meetings resumed
- decentralisation of decision making to the republics
- the select police brought under party control and lost control over labour camps
- 2 million prisoners released between 1953-60 - only 4% who appealed for release on political grounds were actually released
38
khrushchev's controversial ideas
- decision making decentralisation - reduced power of party leaders
- in '57 resulted in an 'anti-party group' led by molotov and malenkov - persuaded presidium to ask for krushchev's resignation - decision was rejected
- unlike stalin - did not executer opponents - molotov became ambassador to Mongolia and malenkov in charge of electricity
39
when did Khrushchev become prime minister
1958 - as well as first secretary - heading both state and party
40
main reasons for downfall of Khrushchev
- removing Stalin's body from Lenin's mausoleum in red square
- dividing party into agricultural and industrial departments - reduced power of party officials
- introduced limit to length officials could serve in their posts to 3 years
- increasing unpopularity
- humiliation of cuban missile crisis
- failure of virgin lands scheme
41
dismissal of Khrushchev
1964 - decided by central committee
| - significant - people in party grown confident enough to have him sacked
42
Brezhnev regime when came to power
- reversed de-stalinsation instantly - abolishing reforms Khrushchev introduced
- divisions in party of agricultural and industrial were dropped
- limits to office terms removed
- introduced 'trust in cadres' policy - party officials remained in roles to do jobs without interference
- no more subjectivism - any decision made had to be consulted with party first - helped smooth out divines and promote same 'one party unity' as Lenin in '21
43
change under Brezhnev
- very little change apart from de-stalinisation
| - party began to grow stagnant
44
Brezhnev personality
- down to award himself numerous medals for achievements - Lenin peace prize
- very elitist and corrupt
- enjoyed western cars and hunting - not part of socialist ideals
45
stagnation under Brezhnev
- party leadership evolved into an oligarchy (small group of people running country) - ensured promotion for his old cronies
- allowed corruption to go unnoticed - nepotism (jobs to relatives/friends) was rife in his system
- USSR became gerontocracy (rule by old people) - people not replaced in their posts unless the died - due to 'trust in cadres' - politburo in '84 had 7/11 member over age of 70 - meetings less productive
46
leaders post Brezhnev
- Brezhnev died 1982
- Andropov died in 1984 - recognised need for reform but too ill
- Chernenko in 1985 - had emphysema when appointed
