soviet union 1924-64 Flashcards
german invasion (ww2)
-operation barbarossa began the night of 21/22 June 1941
-Stalin himself was shocked despite being warned by his intelligence agents
-he worked hard to devise a plan but then retreated to his country home for ten days, led to accusations of him becoming so depressed by the invasion he could not face action
-politburo took command in his absence
role of GKO in ww2
-power over all existing party and state bodies, to supervise the military, political and economic life of the country
role of Stavka in ww2
-responsible for all land, sea and air operations
success of stalin as wartime leader
speeches can be compared to churchill in respect of their effect
-ruthless orders e.g. order 270 issued after the surrender of 100,000 encircled men in Ukraine
-economy continued production
failures of stalin as wartime leader
-purge of high ranking red army officers shattered morale
-inflexible mentality prevented tactical withdrawals that could have avoided catastrophic losses
-only gave 9 public speeches
-food distribution not organised effectively
-failed to transfer armaments from Ukraine deeper into USSR
-first 6 months of war 3 million POW taken
role of NKVD during the war
-discipline and terror tactics remained vigilant
-german attack of Stalingrad caused issuing of order 227 ‘not one step backwards’ any soldier who fell behind shot on sight
-‘blocking units’ equipped with machine guns were added to NKVD units to prevention desertion or retreat
change in composition of party due to war
-role of commissars downgraded
-troops given political education, increasing the number in the party
-of the 3.9 million new members during the war 2.5 million were military
situation for national minorities during war
-Stalin feared betrayal from non-russians and as a result had many moved to remote, barren areas, a process carried out by Beria and the NKVD
-after the german invasion in 1941, 400,000 ethnic germans were deported to siberia and central asia
hitler’s plan for russian agriculture
-aimed to seize farmland and industry and use it to german advantage
-end of 1941, german occupied soviet territory contained 63% of the country’s coal, 58% steel, 45% railways and 41% arable land
wartime economy
-established 30th June 1941
-‘scorched earth’ policy (to destroy anything useful to the enemy before retreat) rendered farmland useless
-1523 soviet factories with their workers were transported from western russia to the east
-industrial growth of five year plans capitalised on
foreign aid for the war
-UK and US supplied essential materials e.g. tyres and telephones
-17.5 million tons of military equipment was shipped from the west to the USSR, 94% from US
-Lend-Lease scheme meant 11 billion dollars of aid was provided by US
conditions for workers during the war
-dec 1941 new law, all undrafted workers mobilised for war
-overtime obligatory, holidays suspended, working day increased to 12 hours
-factories placed under martial law, absenteeism seen as desertion and could result in death
conditions for citizens during war
-8.6 million soldiers killed 1941-45, average daily rate twice that of the allies
-such a loss of life lead to food shortages, over a quarter of the deaths suffered by the USSR were said to be by starvation
-allies provided tinned spam
war propaganda
-people encouraged to sacrifice themselves for ‘great mother russia’
-anti-german letters published in pravda one wrote ‘we must not say good morning or goodnight in the morning we must say kill the germans and at night we must say kill the germans’
culture during the war
-artists enjoyed more freedom, previously banned individuals allowed to work again
churches during the war
-russian patriarch’s position restored and clergy set free from camps but had to swear to soviet state
-staling wanted to use the church to lift morale so attendance was encouraged
-services became patriotic ceremonies of worship of Stalin
women and the family during the war
-new measures to combat falling birth rate:taxes increased for those with fewer than two children, restrictions on divorce tightened, abortion forbidden
-women’s burdens increased as they became essential to the workforce whilst being expected to raise a family
-by 1945: over half of workers were female and 4/5 land workers were too
stalin’s post wat attitude
-emerged more paranoid than ever, mainly with returning POW who he regarded as being tainted with western values
-collaborationist citizens who fought for germany were executed and their communities made to suffer (cossacks virtually wiped out)
-other returning men were interrogated by NKVD in ‘filtration camps’
political impact of war
-seen as triumph for stalinist system, made soviet government popular in national terms and in international terms it emerged as a great financial power
-it retained all land from nazi-soviet pact and more
-stalin retained posts of head of government and party secretary and chose very much the same men to be in the politburo as in 1939
impact of war on civilians
-many achievements on 1930s destroyed
-19 million civilians were lost
-comradeship brought about more liberal thinking especially due to the exposure of the west
-hollywood media and western goods made it to the USSR giving the citizens hope of a new open society emerging but 1945-53 was some of the harshest time under stalin
impact of war on industry
-quarter of industry destroyed
-villages, towns down to the ground and nearly 100,000 collective farms destroyed, livestock slaughtered
-thousands of kilometers of railtrack destroyed
-1946 saw the introduction of a fourth five year plan aimed at national reconstruction
post war industrial recovery
-came at an amazingly fast pace, by end of 1947, hydro-electric power station on dneiper dam was back in operation
-production of coal and steel nationally passed pre war figure
-but there were still issues with consumer goods, they were few and far between
impact of war on agriculture
-many had turned their back on kolkhozes and in the late war years the peasantry made up the backbone of the army causing an acute labour shortage
-much of Russia’s arable land was left uncultivated
-shortage of labour and machinery made progress difficult
-grain harvest of 1946 was barely half of that of 1940
agricultural policy post war
-1946, all those that worked on their own plots had their land confiscated and lost their entitlement to rations
-1948, Stalin introduced ‘transformation of nature’ plan including extensive tree planting, the construction of irrigation canals and the adoption of Lyensko’s ideas
lyensko’s agricultural plans
-theory of vernalisation: crops and animals could acquire new characteristics through modification (enforced change)
-he claimed that grain intended for spring sowing could be changed to be suitable for winter sowing if it were subject to moistening and refridgeration
social change under stalin
-peasants squeezed by quota system and lived on an income less than 20% of an industrial worker
-working week remained at pre war levels
-continuation of Stakhanovite programme
-women were expected to to make up for war dead, in the building trade 1/3 of workers were women
-by 1950 household consumption was only 1/10 higher than 1928
Krushchev’s aims for society
-interpreted communism as meaning a better life for everyone
-always remained a true believer in communism
-but the way in which he removed his opponents suggest a man furthering personal power
-role of the party became greater
new party programme 1961
-soviet union had already built socialism and was on the way to creating communism
-communist party was of everyone, not dictatorship of the proletariat
-communist party was key institution towards communism
-by 1970 there would be no housing shortage
-soviet union will have overtaken US in production by 1970
-by 1980 real income will have increased by more than 250%
krushchev’s success in improving living standards
-consumer goods: radios, televisions etc. became more readily available and small quantities of foreign goods were imported
-housing: construction of prefabricated houses somewhat alleviated overcrowding
-taxation changes: bachelors tax and childless couples tax removed
-education: higher education numbers almost trebled
-services: improvement in medicine and welfare
change to ‘socialist legality’ under Krushchev
-new criminal code introduced 1958, this code overturned the basis on which trials were conducted and brought about ‘due process’
-KGB reformed following the release of gulag prisoners 1956, many top officials were replaced by komosol members whose career had been formed in the party rather than the police
continuity with ‘socialist legality’ under Krushchev
-new criminal code was more of a propaganda move than a shift in the law, USSR remained a police state rather than experiencing reform
-1957 ‘Parasite Law’, which encouraged citizens to report to the authorities for those not undertaking paid work
-Krushchev attempted to restore the death penalty for those with a wealth of more than 2 million roubles
continuity of churches with Krushchev
-had a different approach to Stalin but was more ideologically consistent
-anti-religious propaganda was strengthened and taxes on religious activity were increased
-atheism was brought into the curriculum
-mass closure of monasteries, churches reducing churches from 22,000 in 1959 to just under 8,000 by 1965
-churches were often turned into museums or community centres
continuity of ethnic minorities under Krushchev
-made no moves towards greater independence for nationalities
-ultimate aim was for ethnic distinctions to disappear and for all of the soviet union to adopt one
-refused to let jews emigrate to israel after the second world war
cultural change under Krushchev
-de-stalinisation was accompanied by a ‘thaw’ , connections with the west opened and better freedoms granted
-literary works e.g. Not by Bread by Vladimir Dudinstev could criticise Stalin but not the general regime
-restrictions on listening to foreign radio broadcasts were lifted and some citizens could travel abroad
-World Festival of Youth in Moscow (1965) allowed young russians to see the behaviour of westerns, Russians had their own version of ‘teddy boys’ - ‘stilagi’
