TOPIC 1

Question 1

October revolution

Answer 1

October 1917

Bolsheviks seize power from the provisional government. Lenin promises- “peace, land and bread”

Question 2

Decrees on land, workers control and press

Answer 2

November - December 1917

Beginnings of Bolshevik reform, press decree bans opposition papers

Question 3

Constituent assembly dissolved

Answer 3

January 1918

Bolsheviks reject electoral loss, showing unwillingness to share power

Question 4

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Answer 4

March 1918

Ends Russian involvement in WW1

Huge land losses

Allows bolsheviks to focus on international threats

Question 6

Civil war

Answer 6

1918-21

Red army = Bolsheviks

Against

Whites

Justifies war communism and centralised control

Question 7

Kronstadt rebellion + ban on factions

Answer 7

1921

Reveals Bolshevik unpopularity even among workers

Lenin crushes opposition and tightens party control

Question 8

Formation of the USSR

Answer 8

1922

Formal unification of republics under centralised rule

Question 9

Lenin dies

Answer 9

1924

Succession struggles, Stalin manipulates party

Has power from being general secretary

Question 10

Stalin assumes full control

Answer 10

1928

Shift to totalitarianism

First five year plan begins - heavy industry

Question 11

Great purges - yezhovshchina

Answer 11

1936-38

Mass arrests, show trials, executions

Consolidates Stalins power

Question 12

Stalin dies

Answer 12

1953

Power struggle between Beria, Khrushchev and Malenkov

Question 13

Khrushchev secret speech

Answer 13

Denounces Stalin

Starts de-stalinisation

Question 14

Khrushchev ousted

Answer 14

1964

Brezhnev becomes general secretary, ending reform efforts

Question 15

ANDROPOV AND CHERNENKO

Answer 15

1982-85

Elderly stagnant leadership

Young Gorbachev takes power after

Question 16

Lenin

Answer 16

Founder of the Bolshevik state

Created the one party leadership

Question 17

Stalin

Answer 17

Created centralised totalitarian state through the use of purges

Control of party

And economic planning

Question 18

Khrushchev

Answer 18

Introduced reforms and attempted de-stalinisation

Remained authoritarian

Question 19

Brezhnev

Answer 19

Conservative

Restored Stalinist features

Period of “stability of Cadres” and stagnation

Question 20

Structure of government under Lenin, what years ?

Answer 20

1917-1924

Sovnarkom - (government) - real power in the politburo

Democratic centralism - all party decisions binding

Cheka - used to crush rebels and dissent

Gradual centralisation - soviets and democratic institutions made irrelevant

Question 21

Structure of government under Stalin, what years?

Answer 21

1928-1953

Politburo dominated by Stalin

Party became a total personal dictatorship

Fear and repression essential for control

Question 23

Structure of government under Khrushchev, what year?

Answer 23

1953-64

Attempts to decentralise - split party into agricultural/industrial wings

Reduced the NKVD power and released political prisoners

Still repressed Dissent - Hungarian uprising 1960

Question 24

Structure of government under Brezhnev, what years ?

Answer 24

1964-82

Stability of cadres - long serving, conservative bureaucrats

Corruption

Centralisation returned

Government was inefficient and stagnant

Question 25

Methods of control

Answer 25

One party state - all opposition banned after 1921 Terror - Cheka = Lenin and NKVD = Stalin Propaganda - cult of personality of Lenin and Stalin Control of media - all news was state run, strong cencorship Military - used in civil war and uses to oppress opposition

Question 26

Totalitarian model

Answer 26

USSR = single ideology One party state Terror based regime

Question 27

Revisionist View

Answer 27

Emphasises the role of institutions and ordinary people in shaping soviet governance

Question 28

Democratic centralism

Answer 28

Once a decision is made by the party - it must be followed

Question 29

Nomenklatura

Answer 29

Elite class of party officials who have key positions

Question 30

Central planning

Answer 30

Economic and administrative decisions made centrally by the state

Question 31

De-stalinisation

Answer 31

Khrushchev efforts to reduce repression and to force decentralisation