Stalin's Russia (1924-41) Flashcards
(50 cards)
1
Q
How did Lenin’s legacy contribute to Stalin’s rise to power?
A
- died Jan 1924
- Lenin left no clear successor, creating a power vacuum
- his testament criticised Stalin & others BUT was suppressed
2
Q
What was Lenin’s Testament
A
- document outlining recommendations for the party’s future
- critical of Stalin, calling him “too rude” and suggesting he be removed as General Secretary
- however, not published publicly due to opposition from Zinoviev and Kamenev, who feared it would damage them too.
3
Q
What leadership problems did Lenin’s death create in 1924?
A
- Politburo divided between diff ideological camps ( left & right opposition)
- competition & instability
- fragmentation allowed Stalin to play factions against each other
4
Q
How did Stalin use the General Secretary position to consolidate power?
A
- appointed GS in 1922
- provided him control over party membership & appointments
- could manipulate loyalty in party by appointing such members only
- promoted loyal Party members, sidelined rivals, and controlled the flow of information
- used the Secretariat to control local Party organisations, ensuring that Party Congresses supported his policies
5
Q
significance of the “Lenin Enrolment”
A
- mass recruitment drive (1923–25)
- brought over 500,000 new Party members, mostly poorly educated and easily influenced
- Stalin used this to expand his power base within the Party
6
Q
How did Stalin undermine Trotsky’s influence?
A
- Stalin forged an alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev (the “Triumvirate”) to isolate Trotsky.
- he accused Trotsky of factionalism, misrepresenting Leninism, and disloyalty (e.g., publishing “Lessons of October” in 1924)
- Stalin ensured Trotsky missed Lenin’s funeral.
7
Q
How did Stalin eliminate the Left and Right Oppositions?
A
- Stalin exploited divisions between the Left (Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev) and the Right (Bukharin, Tomsky). He allied with the Left to remove the Right, then turned on the Left
- By 1927, Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev were expelled from the Party
- By 1929, Bukharin and the Right Opposition were removed from power due to disagreements over the NEP and collectivisation
8
Q
How did Stalin use ideology to manipulate the Party?
A
- Stalin promoted the idea of “Socialism in One Country,” which appealed to nationalism and stability after years of turmoil.
- This contrasted with Trotsky’s “Permanent Revolution,” which seemed risky and unpatriotic.
9
Q
What Party mechanisms did Stalin use to suppress rivals?
A
- Stalin controlled the Orgburo, Politburo, and Secretariat.
- which allowed him to set agendas, remove opposition, manipulate appointments.
- he used the ban on factions (1921) to accuse rivals of disloyalty.
10
Q
Stalin’s primary aims in government after coming to power?
A
- consolidate personal dictatorship
- transform the USSR into a major industrial power
- enforce ideological conformity
- eliminate internal opposition
11
Q
What administrative methods did Stalin use to control the USSR?
A
- mass propaganda
- censorship
- surveillance
- indoctrination
- political terror
- Institutions like the NKVD and Gosplan (for planning)
- Show trials and purges were key tools to maintain obedience
12
Q
What did Stalin mean by “Socialism in One Country”?
A
- Introduced in 1924–25
- it meant the USSR should focus on strengthening socialism domestically rather than spreading revolution abroad
- replaced Trotsky’s idea of “Permanent Revolution” and gained wide Party support.
13
Q
Why was “Socialism in One Country” significant politically?
A
- helped Stalin gain support from nationalists and moderates in the Party who were weary of external wars
- portrayed Stalin as pragmatic and patriotic, and undermined Trotsky’s internationalist stance.
14
Q
What were the main methods used during the Great Terror?
A
- Purges of Party members, Red Army, intelligentsia, and ordinary citizens.
- Show trials (e.g., Trial of the Sixteen, Trial of the Seventeen, Trial of the Twenty-One).
- Torture, false confessions, executions, and gulag sentences.
- Quotas for arrests and executions issued by Stalin.
15
Q
consequences of the Great Terror
A
- over 1 million executed, millions sent to gulags.
- decapitation of Red Army leadership (e.g., Marshal Tukhachevsky purged).
- created a culture of fear and obedience.
- Stalin emerged as an unchallengeable dictator by 1939
16
Q
What role did show trials play in Stalin’s governance?
A
- used to publicly justify terror and portray enemies as traitors (e.g., Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin).
- created an illusion of legality.
17
Q
What were Stalin’s main foreign policy aims
A
- Protect the USSR from external threats.
- Avoid war to focus on domestic development.
- Build alliances with Western powers (e.g., Franco-Soviet Pact, 1935).
- Oppose fascism (e.g., support for Republicans in Spanish Civil War).
18
Q
Why did Stalin sign the Nazi-Soviet Pact in 1939?
A
- to buy time for military preparation.
- distrust of Britain and France (failed collective security).
- territorial gains: Poland, Baltic States (secret protocol).
- believed Hitler would not attack immediately.
19
Q
effects of the Nazi-Soviet Pact
A
- allowed Hitler to invade Poland without fear of Soviet interference.
- USSR invaded eastern Poland (Sept 1939), later annexed Baltic States.
- short-term security, but Operation Barbarossa (1941) showed it failed long-term
20
Q
What were Stalin’s main aims for the Soviet economy?
A
- rapid industrialisation to catch up with the West.
- achieve economic self-sufficiency through “Socialism in One Country”.
- eliminate the NEP and capitalist elements (kulaks, private trade).
- strengthen military-industrial capacity.
- transform the USSR into a modern, centrally planned economy.
21
Q
Why did Stalin reject the NEP?
A
- seen as a betrayal of socialism (allowed private trade and small businesses).
- NEP failed to produce enough grain for urban workers.
- Stalin needed control over agriculture and industry to fund industrial growth.
22
Q
What were the Five-Year Plans and when did they begin?
A
- 1928
- series of state-directed plans for rapid industrialisation
- focused on heavy industry : coal, steel, oil, electricity
- managed by GOSPLAN ( state planning committee )
23
Q
goals of the First Five-Year Plan (1928–32)
A
- double industrial output within 5 years (achieved in under 4).
- focus on coal, iron, steel, and electricity.
- build new industrial cities (e.g., Magnitogorsk).
- end reliance on foreign imports.
24
Q
How successful was the First Five-Year Plan?
A
- massive increases in output: Coal +64%, Iron +87%, Electricity +250%.
- targets were often exaggerated or falsified.
- poor quality goods and inefficiency.
- emphasis on quantity over quality
25
What changed in the Second (1933–37) and Third (1938–41) Five-Year Plans?
- greater focus on consumer goods (though still neglected).
- military buildup in late 1930s due to growing threat from Nazi Germany.
- development of transport, metallurgy, and chemicals
26
Why did Stalin implement collectivisation?
- to increase grain production and ensure state control over food supply.
- eliminate kulaks as a class and crush peasant resistance.
- fund industrialisation through grain exports.
- ideological: Replace capitalist farming with socialist collectives.
27
What were kolkhozes and sovkhozes?
- Kolkhozes: Collective farms where peasants shared work and output.
- Sovkhozes: State-run farms where workers were paid wages.
individuals farms were merged into these collective farms
- 1933 : 75% of all farms were collectivised
28
How was collectivisation enforced?
- Dekulakisation: Mass deportations, executions of wealthier peasants.
- grain requisitioning and forced consolidation.
- brutal violence and resistance (including killing livestock).
29
consequences of collectivisation
- Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine, 1932–33: up to 7 million dead.
- Livestock fell by over 50%.
- Peasant resistance crushed; Stalin gained control over the countryside.
- Grain exports increased but at huge human cost.
- Agriculture remained inefficient and underproductive.
30
Why did Stalin prioritise industrialisation?
- USSR was economically backward and vulnerable.
- needed strong industry for defence (e.g., against Germany).
- support the ideology of self-reliance.
31
How did Stalin achieve industrialisation?
- through central planning under the Five-Year Plans.
- emphasis on heavy industry and infrastructure.
- use of slave labour (Gulag prisoners) in massive projects (e.g., White Sea Canal).
- mobilisation of workers with propaganda
32
successes of Stalinist industrialisation
- USSR became the second-largest industrial power by 1940.
- steel, coal, and electricity production increased massively.
- helped the USSR survive and eventually win WWII.
- created millions of jobs and urbanised society
33
limitations and failures of industrialisation
- poor quality goods and low productivity.
- consumer goods were neglected.
- harsh conditions and forced labour.
- economic growth came at the cost of human suffering and inefficiency.
34
What role did Stalin’s regime assign to women?
- mothers & homemakers
- integrated women into workforce
- encouraged to engage in politics (low ranking positions)
35
What measures did Stalin introduce to promote the family?
- 1936 Family Code: Banned abortion (except for medical reasons), made divorce more difficult and expensive.
- Financial incentives for large families (e.g., awards like Mother Heroine for women with 10+ children).
- Tax breaks for married couples with children.
- Maternity leave of 77 days with job protection.
- Expansion of state nurseries and childcare to allow mothers to work.
36
What was the role of women in the workforce under Stalin?
- women entered industry in massive numbers during the Five-Year Plans and WWII.
- by 1940, over 13 million women were industrial workers (40% of industrial workers).
- often had lower pay and fewer promotions but were essential to the workforce.
37
Did women benefit from Stalin’s policies?
- Education: Women gained access to technical training and higher education (by 1940, 43% of university students were women).
- Legal equality on paper, including rights to employment and equal pay.
- But in practice, women remained underrepresented in leadership and were still expected to be primary caregivers.
38
How did Stalin treat non-Russian nationalities?
- promoted Russification - Russian language and culture imposed.
-
39
What happened to ethnic minorities during Stalin’s rule?
- forced deportations (e.g., Chechens, Crimean Tatars).
- minority languages suppressed.
- loyalty was questioned
40
How did industrialisation under Stalin affect urban workers?
- rapid urbanisation: population in cities like Magnitogorsk grew from ~25 to over 250,000 in a few years.
- harsh factory conditions: long hours (10–12 hrs/day), strict discipline, and physical punishments for mistakes or "idling".
- internal passport system (1932) restricted movement and tied workers to their workplace.
- shortages in housing and consumer goods were common due to prioritisation of heavy industry
41
How did Stalin use incentives and punishments to control workers?
- high-performers received bonuses, better housing, and social prestige.
- punishments: Absenteeism criminalised in 1940; late workers could be arrested.
- poor quality output and falsification of records were common due to fear of punishment.
42
Did the lives of workers improve under Stalin overall?
Yes: Greater job security, some social mobility, and industrial growth provided employment.
No: Repression, poor living standards, loss of rights, and fear dominated daily life.
43
Stalin's propaganda
- posters, radio, films, newspapers, literature, education.
- youth organisations like the Komsomol taught children obedience and loyalty to Stalin.
- titles included “Father of Nations,” “Brilliant Genius of Humanity,” and “Gardener of Human Happiness.”
- photographs and history textbooks were altered — enemies (e.g., Trotsky, Bukharin) were airbrushed out of history.
- Stalin became the subject of art, poems, songs
- school textbooks rewritten to elevate Stalin’s role in the October Revolution.
- teachers were judged on students’ ideological commitment, not just academic achievement.
44
slogans & symbolic imagery of Stalin's USSR as propaganda
- hammer & sickle
- communist symbol representing solidarity between agricultural & industrial workers
- "thank you comrade Stalin for our happy childhood"
45
key roles of the NKVD
- arresting "enemies of the people"
- running the labour camp (Gulag) system
- conducting interrogations, show trials, and purges
- surveillance of Soviet citizens and officials
- enforcing political loyalty and Stalin’s will
46
What methods did the NKVD use to extract confessions or suppress dissent?
- torture, beatings, and psychological pressure
- threats to family members
- forced confessions often used in show trials
- execution without trial in many cases
47
How extensive was state surveillance under Stalin?
- informants were everywhere: co-workers, neighbours, even children reporting parents
- mail and telephone lines were monitored
- internal passports and residence permits controlled movement
- surveillance was especially intense in factories, universities, and government offices
48
What was the Gulag system?
- network of forced labour camps
- run by NKVD
- political prisoners, kulaks, ethnic minorities(poles), common criminals
- 2 million+ deaths from overwork, starvation, and harsh climate
49
what kind of work did Gulag prisoners do ?
major infrastructure and industrial projects, such as:
- White Sea Canal (1931–33): 100,000 prisoners, ~25,000 deaths
- Railroads, mines, logging, construction
- some Gulags also produced goods for civilian use
50
How were the NKVD and Gulags linked to the Great Terror
- NKVD carried out mass arrests, executions, and deportations
- estimated 1.5 million arrested, 681,000+ executed
- many survivors sent to Gulags after show trials or summary punishment
