Stalin's Russia Exam Questions

Front 1

Do you agree with the view that collectivisation was a failure?

Back 1

> Human cost: up to 10% in a single village exiled, famine/cannibalism, resentment towards government
> Industrialisation: Grain exports rose, living standards fell, tension between groups, urban population trebled in some cities (led to housing shortages
> Political: Overall a success because Party leaders were loyal to the policy, Stalin had achieved greater control and emerged innocent

Front 2

Do you agree that the biggest motivation for collectivisation was economic?

Back 2

> Economic: Mechanisation would free up labour, production would increase (Grain Procurement Crisis)
> Ideological: Essential in embracing socialism, greater revolutionary spirit
> Political: Struggle against the rightwing, greater control

Front 3

Do you agree with the view that Socialist Realism was the most effective method of control?

Back 3

> The Great Terror: fear in the Russian people, eliminating the old elite, removing rivals
> Socialist realism: Propaganda, controlling every aspect of life, rewriting history, glorifying policies
> Collectivisation: Loss of independence, changing traditions, removing people he viewed as threats

Front 4

To what extent was the Congress of Victors the main cause of The Great Terror?

Back 4

> The Congress of Victors: Catalyst event
> Kirov's murder: Trigger
> Terror economics: Official reason
> Paranoia: Ultimate motivation

Front 5

To what extent was there a 'Great Retreat' in Russia?

Back 5

> Women: Made up 41% heavy industry workers by 1940, Pasha Angelina... however, had not been liberated from domestic duties, expected to have children, frowned up for wives to be involved in politics
> Family: Wedding rings reintroduced (expensive paper), free love banned, divorce rates fell (expensive), propaganda portrayed men as responsible for family breakdowns
> Education: Children now expected to conform rather than challenge (Komsomol), new curriculum glorifying great Russians (Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great)

Front 6

Do you agree with the view that the Lend lease programme was mainly responsible for Russia's success in WWII?

Back 6

> Lend-lease: SPAM meat, transport... however did not have much military/industrial significance
> The Grand Alliance: German forces distracted (England and America)
> The Home Front: turning to the 'Motherland', the Church etc.
> German war economy vs. Russian war economy: Germany underestimated size/scale, focused on consumer goods, tactical mistakes whereas Russia's planning was highly effective, relocating industry etc.

Front 7

Do you agree with the view that Stalin had total control by 1953?

Back 7

> Socialist Realism (how this affected every aspect of life)
> The Great Terror (had the ability to remove his rivals under a justification)
> However, there were limitations- could not call on the Russian people on the basis of Communism at war, Collectivisation created resentment

Front 8

To what extent were the lives of the Russian people affected by WWII?

Back 8

> Human cost: 30 million/10% dead, war families, labour reserve schools, women at work
> Economic cost: living standards (eg. electricity supplies, blockade bread), German 'scorched-earth' policy

Front 9

How did Stalin's priorities change through the progression of the economic plans?

Back 9

> Switch from NEP: Favouring heavy industry, laying foundational industries, country of steel (Magnitogorsk)
> Consolidating gains: transport, incentives scheme, continuing with heavy industry
> Preparation for war: Defence spending, reducing working mobility, heavy industry (continued in fourth plan)

Front 10

Do you agree with the view that the main impact of The Great Terror was economic?

Back 10

> Economic: Chaos in gosplan, fall in production, lack of experienced workers
> Human: Eliminating the old elite, terrorised families, forging new identities
> Political: Removing rivals, fear in the Russian people, greater control

Front 11

To what extent could The Great Terror be considered a success?

Back 11

> Economic failure
> Huge human cost: the Red Army, mass murder etc.
> Political success: Stalin emerged stronger than ever and was free of political rivals

Front 12

Is it fair to say that Russia was a superpower by 1953?

Back 12

> Global: Spheres of influence, Eastern bloc, Cold war
> Economic: Fourth plan (defence spending)
> Military: Soviet bomb, uranium in Czechoslovakia, didn't purge nuclear scientists

Front 13

Do you agree with the view that the biggest effect of the war was on the Russian people?

Back 13

> Economic cost: Infrastructure, Germans destroying territory, living standards, production and consumption
> Human cost: Death, working through the war, women at war, family at war

Front 14

Do you agree that the reformation of the military was the main reason why Russia was unprepared for war?

Back 14

> Military: Comradeship weakened, Red Army purged
> Espionage: Stalin wouldn't trust spies, focused on Trotsky
> Economic: No budget for defence spending, chaos in Gosplan (however this compared favourably with Germany)

Front 15

Do you agree with the view that the first Five Year Plan could be considered a failure?

Back 15

> Successes: Control, increasing production, social mobility (education), Magnitogorsk
> Failures: Targets, branches of industry, living standards, abolition of the free market

Front 16

Do you agree with the view that the second Five Year Plan could be considered a success?

Back 16

> Successes: Consolidated gains, Stakhanovite movement (effective propaganda), Moscow metro system, living standards
> Failures: Branches of industry, nobody prepared to criticise, targets, consumer goods, social inequalities

Front 17

Do you agree with the view that the third Five Year Plan could be considered a failure?

Back 17

> Successes: Rearmament and defence spending, heavy industry (marginal), worker discipline
> Failures: Purges led to chaos in Gosplan, inefficiencies unchallenged, targets

Front 18

Do you agree that the main reason for Stalin coming into power was his political position within the Party?

Back 18

> Political position: General secretary (deciding who sat in the Politburo), could eradicate corruption.
- Trotsky was Red Army leader, Zinoviev and Kamenev had support in Petrograd/Moscow, Bukharin had no vote
> Personality: Stalin was moderate, prepared to appeal to national pride (however Bukharin was 'golden boy' and a good theorist)
> Relationship with Lenin: managed to manipulate Lenin's testament, Trotsky and Lenin's funeral etc.

Front 19

Do you agree that the biggest motivation for the first Five Year Plan was economic?

Back 19

> Economic: Response to NEP's failure, new approach needed, resources left Russia behind Germany
> Political: Emerging from a pupil to a leader, defence for war
> Ideological: Socialism only possible in a highly advanced industrialised nation, revolution should serve the working class (as opposed to NEP)