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249 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What was meant the the term 'political testament'?
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The term 'political testament' descreibes a will, which puts forward how a political party should be run and who should take control of that party, and is left by the leader of the party before their death.
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What did Lenin's political testament suggest?
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Lenin's political testament suggested that Stalin should be removed from his post as General Secretary of the Communist Party and named Leon Trotsky as his successor.
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When did Lenin die?
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21st January 1924
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When did Lenin's widow hand his political testament to the Bolshevik Central Committee?
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May 1924
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How did Stalin react to Lenin's political testament?
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- After it had been read, Stalin left the room and burst into tears
- It seemed that the enormous power base, which he had begun to build for himself inside the Party, was about to be wiped out in a single blow - Many of Stalin's actions over the next 15 years were aimed at destroying the evidece that showed that Lenin had recommended his dismissal and destroying people who knew the truth about his relationship with Lenin |
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What was Lenin's attitude to Stalin?
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- Just before his death, Lenin had a number of serious disagreements with Stalin
- Lenin was angry at Stalin's brutal methods while in charge of putting down rebellious nationalities - When Stalin became General Secretary, Lenin was furious at the way he handed out jobs to his supporters - Lenin's political testament was read out at the Politburo shortly after his death and it demanded Stalin's complete removal from power - The political testament was hushed up and Stalin later won popularity by pretending he had been Lenin's most trusted comrade - It now seems clear Lenin would have preferred Trotsky to be his successor |
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Why was Stalin able to survive despite Lenin's clear wish to have him removed from power in his political testament?
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- Stalin was saved, not because the other Bolshevik leaders had any great liking for him but because they were afraid of Leon Trotsky taking Lenin's place
- Many members of the Politburo saw him as a useful ally against Trotsky - In this fateful decision, millions of lives, including that of the Bolshevik leaders themselves, were thrown into the balance |
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Why were many members of the Party suspicious of Trotsky?
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- The fact that Trotsky was so able and played such a glorious role in the Revolution and Civil War made other Communists suspicious and jealous of him
- They saw him as a possible dictator, so they became determined to stop him becoming leader - Stalin's undistinguished record and his apparent lack of charisma seemed to make him an ideal ally for those who opposed Trotsky - Trotsky's enemies completely underestimated Stalin's own ambition and this worked in his favour |
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How did Stalin's roles as General Secretary of the Communist Party help him to gain control and influence?
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- As Commissar for War, Trotsky could have used the army to take power, but he refused to do this
- Nonetheless the very fact that he held such a powerful position made him feared and hated by the rest of the Politburo - No one else wanted Stalin's job as General Secretary so unlike Trotsky he attracted little fear or jealousy - Stalin used his position to appoint more junior party officials who supported him-these junior officials elected the Politburo itself - By promoting his friends he gained their votes and was able to control the Politburo |
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When did Stalin announce his policy of 'Socialism in one country'?
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1924
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What was Stalin's policy of 'Socialism in one country'?
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This theory suggested that the Soviet Union should begin to strengthen itself internally, instead of trying to spread Communism worldwide.
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Who supported this policy of 'Socialism in one country'?
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Bukharin
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What was the opposing theory which had been put forward by Trotsky?
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'Permanent revolution'
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What did the theory of 'Permanent revolution' suggest?
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The idea of 'Permanent revolution' was that while a revolution may happen in one country, the final success of socialism in one country, is impossible without revolutions in other advanced countries of Western Europe. This would mean the Soviet Union actively helping Communists in other countries to overthrow their governments whilst continuing the revolution in Russia.
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Who supported Trotsky's policy of 'Permanent Revolution'?
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Lenin and the Mensheviks.
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Why was Trotsky's policy of Permanent revolution unpopular and how did the fact that he had to stand by his policies make him unpopular?
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- Trotsky's political ideas were highly original and this fact worked against him
- As he had created his own policies, he had to uphold them, no matter how unpopular they made him-one such policy was the idea of 'Permanent Revolution' - Many Party members were persuaded by their experiences in the Civil War that this policy had little chance of success - They ahd seen several Communist revolutions elsewhere in Europe come to nothing - Party members believed this policy might encourage capitalist countries to attack the Soviet Union-many wanted to stay out of foreign plots and concentrate on rebuilding their own country |
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How was Stalin able to change his policies in order to win support within the Party?
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- Stalin realised that any policy that met the people's wish for peace and a stable future would be popular
- He therefore announced Socialism in one country, the idea that the Soviet Union should isolate itself from its hostile capitalist neighbours so as not to provoke an attack - The fact that Stalin did not feel closely attached to any one policy worked in his favour as he could change his opinions when it was to his advantage to do so - He began by supporting the extension of the NEP, with the help of Bukharin, as this meant he could isolate his opponents on the left of the Party who were against the policy - Later he condemned the NEP in order to come closer to his goal of gaining power - Unlike Trotsky, he was willing to change his policies in order to win popularity and make allies within the Politburo |
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How did Stalin gain power in the Party by removing his rivals?
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- In the years from 1924-1928, Stalin removed almost all of the Old Bolsheviks from positions of power in the Soviet Union
- Lenin's former colleagues were isolated within the Party, then forced to resign - When they tried to resist they found that Stalin, as General Secretary, had filled the Party with his loyal supporters - Once he had destroyed Trotsky's power, Stalin set about attacking his other rivals like Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin - By 1929, Stalin had ensured that 5 of the 6 men with whom he had shared power in 1924 had been driven out of the Politburo - This pattern was repeated throughout Stalin's reign-senior figures were dismissed, tried or executed without warning, and replaced by younger men who owed their promotion to Stalin - He demanded complete loyalty and acceptance of his decisions in every respect |
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When did Stalin force Trotsky to give up his post as Commissar for War?
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1925
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When did Stalin have Trotsky expelled from the Party?
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1927
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When did Stalin have Trotsky thrown out of the country?
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1929
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What happened to Trotsky once he was exiled?
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- He went into exile in a number of countries
- He moved around constantly to avoid assassination by one of Stalin's agents - In 1940, he was murdered in Mexico |
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Who were the 6 men with whom Stalin shared power after Lenin's death?
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Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky.
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When did Stalin launch the beginning of the Five-Year Plans?
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1928
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Why did Stalin introduce the Five-Year Plans?
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- Believed Soviet industry and agriculture was 100 years behind the West and needed to catch up as quickly as possible as he distrusted the West
- Wanted to destroy the NEP - Attempt to increase his hold over the Soviet Union-by exaggerating the threat from the West he counld enforce regulations that would otherwise be unacceptable and by 1934 people had lost many basic rights - Believed that the Five-Year Plans were the only way to transform the Soviet Union into an industrial power in a short space of time - Believed the SU might be attacked at any moment and only a strong economy could produce the wealth and modern weapons needed to survive - Communism was supposed to appeal to industrial workers-the Soviet population was mainly peasants-Stalin wanted to increase the number of industrial workers, and therefore support for Communism, and decrease the power of peasants, whom he deeply distrusted - To increase wealth and provide luxury consumer goods to keep workers loyal to the Party - To impress workers and increase the appeal of Communism worldwide |
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Why did Stalin want to destroy the NEP?
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- The result of the NEP had been the creation of the kulaks (richer peasants who owned their own farms and emplyed labourers-the term 'kulak' meant 'tight-fisted')
- Stalin hated the kulaks and wanted to destroy them as a class, thinking they were parasites-he realised they had no allegiance to him and were out of control - He wanted to remove any supporters of Lenin, who had recommended his dismissal in his political testament - The NEP allowed a limited form of capitalism which was directly in conflict with Communist ideals |
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What was Komsomol?
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The youth wing of the Communist Party.
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What were the key features of the Five-Year Plans?
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- 3 Five-Year Plans
- Gosplan/command economy - Terror - Collectives/dekulakisation - Gulags/forced labour - Industrial cities - Propaganda/Stakhanovites - Discipline/punishment - Shock brigades - Manipulation of statistics |
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When was the first Five-Year Plan and what did it focus on?
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1928-1932
Heavy industry-coal, iron, steel and oil |
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When was the second Five-Year Plan and what did it focus on?
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1933-1937
Agricultural machinery (especially tractors) but as the threat from Nazi Germany grew, Stalin ordered big increases in military expenditure |
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When was the third Five-Year Plan and what did it focus on?
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1938-1941 (cut short by the German invasion)
Consumer goods such as camera and radios for Soviet workers |
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What was meant by a command economy and what effect did it have in the Soviet Union?
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- A command economy is an economic system in which the state or government controls the factors of production and makes all decisions about their use and the distribution of income
- This ultimately gave Stalin complete control as leader over every aspect of the economy-industry and agriculture - In such an economy, the planners decided what should be produced and direst enterprises to produce these goods-with no allowance for market forces |
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What was Gosplan?
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- Gosplan was the committee for economic planning in the Soviet Union
- One of its main duties was the creation of the Five-YEar Plans - It was based in Moscow and was responsible for setting all the production targets for the Five-Year Plans |
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Were the targets set by Gosplan realistic?
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- To begin with the targets were realistic and there was a real sense of purpose
- In the early 1930s, targets increased dramatically and became completely unattainable and many people became disillusioned - Gosplan made no allowance for local conditions and often it had no knowledge of the industries it was dealing with - Most planners were simply Party officials who came up with the numbers Stalin wanted - Furthermore, the first Five-Year Plan was cut short but the targets remained the same |
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How did Stalin use terror to enforce the Five-Year Plans?
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- No criticism of the Plans was accepted
- Failure to meet targets usually led to accusations of sabotage, disgrace and prison or even death - Most arrests were simply because workers knew the demands of the Plans were impossible - There were large numbers of breakdowns in machinery which led to accusations of wrecking - When an engineer was unable to repair a machine he could be accused of sabotage and given no chance to prove his innocence - In 1933, half the engineers in the Donbas area of Ukraine, were in prison on these charges - Thousands were arrested and put on trial - Stalin was able to use these trials as an excuse for the failure to meet the targets of the Plans |
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Why did machinery break down so often?
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- Gosplan wanted people who were prepared to attempt the impossible, so less experienced and poorly trained engineers were preferable
- Many new industrial workers were peasants, who flocked into the cities to find work and earn the higher wages available in industry - They were poorly educated and had no experience of handling machinery, which often broke down, as they didn't known how to operate it - This led to a disastrous fall in agricultural production and accusations of sabotage, usually aimed at engineers and technical experts |
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How was collectivisation and dekulakisation used in the Five-Year Plans?
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- Millions of peasants were forced into huge collective farms
- They had to give their livestock to the collectives but many chose to kill their livestock rather than hand it over to Stalin's regime - This enraged Stalin who declared that the kulaks had to be eliminated as a class-dekulakisation - Many were shot or deported ro remote regions of the USSR-terror ensued - Even Soviet children were expected to denounce grain hoarders-even their own parents - Millions of peasants starved or died of disease - Stalin even changed the existing Cheka into the NKVD-the fearsome secret police |
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When was Gulag set up and what was it?
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Gulag (chief administrator of camps) was set up in 1930-it was a special department set up by the secret police to run the labour camps or Gulags.
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How did Stalin use forced labour in the Gulags to further the aims of the Five-Year Plans?
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- Some of the tasks set by the Five-Year Plans were so big that there were not enough workers to do them
- Prisoners in labour camps called Gulags were made to do them instead - By 1935, some 5 million prisoners from these camps were working on building on building projects all over the Soviet Union - Stalin wanted the Navy to be able to reach the White Sea from the Baltic through inland waterways-between 1931 and 1933, 250,000 slave labourers built the Belomor Canal, by hand with picks and wheelbarrows |
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What were the industrial cities and what were they like?
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- Real effort went into vast engineering projects in the Urals and Western Siberia
- Stalin used workers to build industrial cities such as Magnitogorsk, a tiny village in the Ural Mountains that became an industrial city with a huge steel works - In Magnitogorsk there were more than 50,000 workers, about 1/3 of whom were kulaks who had been forced from their homes - They worked in teams, around the clock, in appalling conditions in tents and shared bunks - It was desperately cold in winter - Other well known projects were the tractor plant at Chelyabinsk and the Dneiper Dam which provided electrical power for expansion in the Ukraine |
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What role did propaganda play in the Five-Year Plans?
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- People were encouraged to work harder by propaganda
- Rewards were given to the best workers and groups of workers were encouraged to compete against each other - Many in the Communist Party thought workers would be able to be encouraged to work harder by encouragement alone - A widespread propaganda campaign was launched through newspapers, radio broadcasts, posters, films and factory visits by Party speakers - Workers were encouraged to to take pride in carrying out the Plans because it would make life better for everyone - It would also prove to the outside world that Communism really worked - They were continually told that the country was under threat from both foreign enemies and traitors inside the Soviet Union - Only by building up industry could they hope to save themselves from invasion |
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What were the shock brigades?
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- Millions of young workers took the propaganda very seriously
- They formed special teams known as 'shock brigades' whose aim was to compete with all other workers in increasing output - They were often determined Communists who refused lunch breaks and worked longer hours than everyone else - They were convinced that they were building a new and better Communist society and that the rest of the world would be forced to copy once it was proved successful - Specially trained workers in these shock brigades showed how new ideas could be put into practice - These included introducing the ideas of Frederick Taylor, who had been the basis of Henry Ford's mass-production methods in the USA |
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Who was Alexei Stakhanov?
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- He was the most famous worker in the Soviet Union
- In 1935, he set a record when he dug 102 tonnes of coal in a single shift-14 times the amount expected from one person - However Stakhanov was given the most modern power tools, a perfect seam to work in and a gang of workers to back him up and clear away all his coal |
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Who were the Stakhanovites?
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- Stakhanov was hailed as a national hero in the press and cinema and sent on a tour of the country to persuade other workers to work harder
- Many others followed his example and increased their efforts to set new production records in other area of industry - They were well rewarded for their efforts by being given extra wages, longer holidays and better housing and successful managers were paid more - To be rewarded for hard work meant you were a Stakhanovite - The Stakhanovites were supported by volunteers from Komsomol-around 250,000 volunteers went to work in industrial plants every summer |
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What was the cost of encouraging people to work harder?
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- In order to get workers to put in extra effort, Stalin had decided to give those who worked harder greater rewards than the rest
- Some foreign workers were paid very good wages to come to the Soviet Union - The cost was the sacrifice of Communist ideals-a key Communist belief is that everyone should be treated equally |
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Encouragement alone was not enough to make workers put in extra effort. How was punishment and discipline used?
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- From 1929, strict new laws were introduced to control the workers and factories started working 7 days a week with 1/5 of the workers having a given day off
- People could lose their jobs if they were off work for illness for a single day - Workers had to carry labour books which gave details of all jobs they had held, any offences they had committed in the workplace and whether they had worked hard-bad comments could lead to prison - If any worker or manager failed ot meet the targets set by GOSPLAN they could be treated as criminals and dealt with by the police - There was a constant fear of labour camps - Absenteeism from work was punishable by a fine or losing a ration book-by 1940 it carried a prison sentence - The internal passport was introduced which prevented free movement around the SU-it was not possible to find work or change job without one - The death penalty was introduced for the theft of state property from August 1932 - In 1928, 55 engineers working in the Shakhty coal mines in the Donbass were accused of sabotaging equipment and put on trial-the son of one of them was among those who demanded the death penalty and 5 were shot |
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Why did managers manipulate or lie about statistics?
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- The targets set by the governmentwere unrealistic and this led managers to produce false statistics to avoid prison
- Factories took to inflating their production figures and the products produced were often so poor they could not be used-even if targets were met |
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How were the Five-Year Plans viewed by the rest of the world?
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- The SU announced to the world that it had performed a number of amazing feats-new ship canals, railways, oil fields and hydro-electric dams
- A spectacular underground railway was constructed in Moscow-no expense was spared-the underground stations were luxurious marble-lined halls that impressed visitors from all over the world - Western eyes turned to the Soviet Union in admiration - There were remarkable achievements such as the Dnieper dam to provide hydro-electricity and the new industrial centres in the Kuzbass and the Volga - It was hailed as a stunning success but it is hard to believe the official figures |
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How were people in the Soviet Union affected by the Five-Year Plans?
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- Many of the workers resented being told to work harder
- Some hated the Stakhanovites for continually setting higher targets for them to follow-some were beaten up by their fellow workers or even murdered - All the hard work and longer hours they put in had only resulted in poorer conditions and a lower standard of living - Few goods were being made for workers to buy, as the government was concentrating on building up heavy industry - No time or material to build houses due to the need to build factories, dams and mines - Shortage of accomodation in growing towns-by 1935 only 1 in 20 Moscow families had more than one room to themselves - In the new towns it was even worse-factories were always built before homes and workers sometimes had to live in tents for several years |
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How did workers try to explain their failure to meet targets?
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- Some workers tried to explain thier failure by accusing others of laziness or even by deliberately holding up production by wrecking machines
- Many innocent people were accused of being saboteurs in the pay of the country's enemies Khrushchev commented, in 1956, "In those days it was easy to get rid of someone you didn't like. All you had to do was submit a report denouncing him as an enemy of the people; the local party organisation would glance at your report, beat its breast in righteous indignation, and have the man taken care of." |
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What were the drawbacks to the Five-Year Plans?
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- Targets were unrealistic and led to false statistics
- The government laid great stress on producing vast quantities of goods which meant they were often of poor quality - The failure to set targets for all goods meant that only a small range of goods were produced - People were made to work harder and had to put up with terrible conditions - The workers became more and more unequal-going against Communist ideals of equality - As the government focused on expanding heavy industry, few consumer goods could be produced for the workers - New laws severely limited workers rights - Sometimes prisoners were used as workers on difficult or dangerous projects |
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What evidence was there of the success of the Five-Year Plans?
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- The output of heavy industry increased
- According to official figures, coal production increased from 35 million tonnes in 1928, to 76 in 1933 - The number of tractors produced increased from 0.1 million in 1928 to 7 in 1933 - Farming was boosted by tractors and fertiliser - The series of major projects impressed the world - The first two Five-Year Plans turned the Soviet Union into a major industrial economy - By 1937, total industrial production was probably around 4 times higher than in 1928 - Industrial production increased by around 400% in the 1930s - Industrialisation was difficult but never faced the opposition from the population as a whole that occurred in collectivisation |
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What evidence was there of the failure of the Five-Year Plans?
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- Many of the workers were peasants with little experience of working with machines
- Industry grew so quickly that the shortage of skilled workers became a problem-it was partly solved by bringing in foreign experts, and reforming education so that practical subjects needed by industrial workers could be taught - Few industries ever achieved the targets set by GOSPLAN-targets were simply much too high - Managers, under pressure to get results, would simply lie about their progress - The targets concentrated on a very narrow range of goods-many items not included in the Plans simply didn't get made - The goods produced were often poor-quantity not quality - Of the 170,000 tractors planned in the First Five-Year Plan, only 50,000 were made and 50% broke down - It is therefore difficult to beleive official Soviet figures |
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When did Stalin decide to introduce collectivisation?
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In 1929, Stalin decidede that the economic freedoms of the NEP should be abandoned.
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What was collectivisation?
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It meant that thousands of privately owned farms would be combined into a smaller number of large collective farms run directly by the state. It was part of the first Five-Year Plan and was an attempt to ger rid of the ownership of land by ordinary people and move peasants to large collective farms where machinery and skilled labour could be used more effectively.
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What were Stalin's economic motives for introducing collectivisation?
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- Stalin aimed to transform the Soviet Union into a modern machine of industrial power-however despite the NEPs success, industry remained limited and backward
- In order to safely expand industry, agriculture must first be improved - If industry expanded before enough food was being made, then peasants would leave the country to work in factories, leaving more workers to feed and less peasants to feed them - Stalin believed bigger farms would mean machinery could be used more effectively - Easier to manage and advance farming technology on large, state owned farms - Hard for any peasant on a collective farm to hide their produce from the state whilst being supervised by a Communist official who would estimate production levels, and take the maximum in surplus |
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What were Stalin's motives for introducing collectivisation in terms of consolidating his own power within the Soviet Union?
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- Stalin felt that failure to feed town populations had led to the fall of the Tsar and the Provisional Government-he was determined not to let this happen to him
- In 1928, agriculture was producing 2 million tonnes less food than was needed to feed city workers-he knew this had to change for him to hold on to power - Stalin did not trust the peasants and saw them as the natural enemies of Communism-he knew how close they had come to destroying Lenin during War Communism - He believed that if he removed any independence they had gained from owning their own land, he could remove any threat forever - Stalin could not go against all the peasants at once, so destroyed the kulaks first as a warning to others - To take grain from the kulaks and use it to feed the industrial workers - To consolidate his command economy so he had complete control over all aspects |
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What were the key features of collectivisation?
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- Two types of collective farm-Sovkhozy and Kolkhozy
- Seizure of food - Dekulakisation - Machine tractor stations |
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When and how did the policy of collectivisation get underway?
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- In the winter of 1929-1930 the policy of collectivisation began
- Stalin ordered that 25 million peasant farms should be combined to form 240,000 collective farms - This was a huge undertaking, involving 120 million people |
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How did the peasants react to collectivisation?
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- Many of the wealthier peasants resented becoming unpaid workers for the state, so when the policy of collectivisation began, they were determined to oppose it
- Peasants resisted by killing their own livestock-they would rather slaughter tehir animals, feast and burn down their homes than hand them over to Stalin's regime - In the first 2 months of 1930, 14 million cattle were slaughtered - Resistance was particularly strong in the Soviet Ukraine |
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How did Stalin respond to the resistance he faced?
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- Stalin responded with brutality
- Soldiers went into the countryside and shot anyone thought guilty of resisting collectivisation - Poorer peasants who were jealous of the wealthier ones, were encouraged to denounce them as kulaks - Stalin knew that the wealthier peasants had the most to lose and would fiercely resist - Therefore, he continued where Lenin left off before the NEP and launched an attack on the kulaks - He accused them of hoarding grain force up prices so thay could make a profit - Squads of armed town workers went into the countryside in 1928-9 setting up road blocks and breaking into peasant homes and grain stores to take away grain by force - They even took the sowing grain needed for next harvest - Kulaks suffered most-peasants had nothing to lose by collectivisation but the kulaks saw everything they had worked for taken away |
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Why did Stalin order the seizure of grain?
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- At first Stalin tried to persuade the peasants to join the collectives
- However, food shortages in 1928, when rationing was introduced, and again in 1929, led him to order the seizure of food to feed industrial workers - Stalin was expecting to go to war with Japan in the Far East-he wanted to build stocks of grain to feed the Red Army and so sent in squads from the Communist Party and the secret police, to seize even more food |
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What did Stalin say about the kulaks?
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"We must smash the kulaks, eliminate them as a class. We must strike at the kulaks so hard that they will never rise to their feet again."
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What did the term 'dekulakisation' mean?
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Communist Party officials began to use the term 'dekulakisation' to describe the attacks that took place throughout the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Stalin, not content with collectivisation alone, wanted to destroy the kulaks completely in order to show all other peasants that resistance would not be tolerated.
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What happened during dekulakisation?
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- Anyone accused of being a kulak could be imprisoned, shot, or transported to the most inhospitable parts of the country, where they would find it almost impossible to make a living
- The populations of whole villages were rounded up and taken by train to gulags in the north - The secret police who carried out these operations referred to them as 'white coal' - Resistance resulted in death-villagers who tried to defend their property were shot on the spot - 10 million peasants were transported to gulags in the Urals and Siberia where 3 million died - Many died of hunger, cold and disease - Most of the peasants who had resisted were killed or transported by 1932 |
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What were the 'sovkhozy'?
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- Sovkhozy were state farms
- All the produce went to the state and workers were paid wages - The wages were paid whether the workers worked well or badly - These farms proved expensive and few were set up |
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What were the 'kolkhozy'?
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- Kolkhozy were collective farms
- Workers kept plots of land for themselves and had to supply fixed amounts of food to the state at fixed prices - The workers kept what was left for themselves-if there was nothing left then they starved |
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What were the machine tractor stations?
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Machine tractor stations were set up in each area, one per 40 farms, and provided tractors, drivers and other farming equipment to help the collectives plough and harvest the land.
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When was there famine in the Soviet Union and how many people died?
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- Between 1931 and 1933 there was a terrible famine in the Soviet Union
- 5,000,000 died in the Ukraine alone - As much as a quarter of the population of Kazakhstan may have died - Altogether, 20 million people may have died |
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Why was there a famine?
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- There were poor harvests and a shortage of food in the countryside-but the famine did not have entirely natural causes-Stalin deliberately allowed it to happen
- He was expecting to go to war with Japan and so seized grain to build up stocks for the Red Army - Soon there was no more food to be found in the country - Soldiers guarded grain stores and let grain rot rather than feed the hungry - The Soviet Union even sold grain abroad to buy machinery and raw materials for industry, rather than feed the starving - They even took the sowing grain needed for next years harvest, worsening the famine |
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What was the famine like?
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- The famine was terrible and widespread
- Carts piled high with bodies went around villages picking up the dead for mass burials - People ate earthworms, the bark of trees, mice, ants and even their own children in order to survive |
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What were the positive effects of collectivisation?
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- In terms of Stalin's aims it could be said to be successful-the hated kulaks were destroyed and most peasants who resisted had been killed or transported by 1932
- Many machine tractor stations were set up to provide equipment for agriculture - By the end of 1934, 70% of farms had been collectivised - By 1937, when collectivisation was almost complete, wheat production was up a third on the 1928 figure-but the Soviet Union never solved it's problems with food shortages and feeding the ever-growing Soviet population - By 1940, a total of 400,000 farms had been set up |
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What were the negative effects of collectivisation?
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- Peasants destroyed their own grain and livestock rather than give to the state
- In the first 2 months of 1930, 14 million cattle were destroyed-in 3 years the animal population fell by half - This led to a massive slump in food production - In 1928, there were 73 million tonnes of grain and 29 million cattle, but by 1933 there were only 69 million tonnes of grain and 19 million cattle - Famine between 1931 and 1933-terrible and widespread starvation - Deportation of peasants to labor camps-however this did provide labour for industrialisation - People worked much harder on their own farms than on collective as on their own farms they could keep any surplus food but on collectives any extra food would be distributed equally, regardless of how hard you worked - In 1937, 71% of milk and meat was produced on these plots |
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When did Stalin's wife kill herself?
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On the 7th of November 1932, at the height of the famine and the terrible persecution of the kulaks, Stalin's wife left an official banquet celebrating the 15th anniversary of the revolution and shot herself with a gun smuggled into the Soviet Union by her brother.
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In what ways did life improve in the Soviet Union in the 1930s?
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- Industrial production rose by 400% in the 1930s
- Education/housing improved, the number of dotors increased and medical treatment improved - Industrial workers were given higher pay and rewarded with medals - Some social security benefits were provided |
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How did women's role in the Soviet Union change in the 1930s?
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- The Bolsheviks had declared equality for women in 1917 but only in theory
- Now women achieved some form of equality for the first time - Factories were provided with nurseries so women could go to work after childbirth - Facilities were provided for mothers to express their milk so that their babies could be bottle-fed in a creche while they worked - Women began to attend university and many trained as doctors - Some 80% of of new workers in the second Five-Year Plan were women - In 1927, 28% of industrial workers were women, by 1937 it was 40% |
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Why were women gaining more equality?
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- The modernisation programme needed all the wrokers it could get; it was like a war
- Th encouragement of women to work was not merely to do with equality-it was more sinister than that - Most of the Soviet citizens who disappeared in the purges were men so women were vital if the Five-Year Plans were going to succeed - The situation got even worse after the outbreak of the war with Germany, with the vast numbers dead or taken prisoner - By the 1950s, women outnumbered men 3:2 in European Russia |
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What were the negative effects of the industrialisation on the people of the Soviet Union?
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- As more industrial workers crowded into the cities, living standards fell
- Flats housed one family to a room with only basic sanitation - Violence, crime and alcoholism increased - Pay did not keep up with rising prices - The NKVD were used more and more to keep order - After 1932, Stalin claimed unemployment was non-existant in the SU-but many jobs were of little value and there was no incentive, except dear, to work harder - The command economy destroyed initiative and individuality - At the same time, the higher ranks of the Communist Party enjoyed priveleges such as foreign foods, luxury goods, private estates and holidays at exclusive resorts on the Black Sea |
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How did opposition to Stalin's economic policies begin to grow in 1932-3?
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- Stalin's second sife committed suicide in November 1932, in protest at the appalling cost to people's lives
- The following year, 800,000 Party members were expelled - In 1934, at the 17th Party Congress, Stalin nearly lost his position as General Secretary of the Party - There were signs of realy opposition to Stalin |
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Who criticised Stalin's economic policies in the summer of 1932?
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Ryutin
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What was the 'Ryutin Platform'?
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A document written by Ryutin and passed around Ryutin's friends and former opposition leaders. It described Stalin as:
"The evil genius of the Russian Revolution" |
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What happened to Ryutin?
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- Stalin had his friends and supporters arrested and put on trial
- Stalin wanted the death penalty - Other members of the Politburo, including his friend Kirov, outvoted Stalin - Instead they expelled Ryutin from the Party and exiled him |
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What happened at the 17th Party Congress in 1934?
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- It was known as the 'Congress of Victors'which proved to be very inaccurate-it marked the beginning of the purges
- Stalin decided to give his old enmies a chance to confess their mistakes and share their support for him-old rivals like Kamenev and Bukharin queued up to praise him - However, avote for the Politburo showed Kirov as the most popular member, Stalin as the least - Kirov was the Party leader in Leningrad and a popular figure in the country - Kirov was elected as Party Secretary and although he refused, his days were numbered |
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When was Kirov murdered and by whom?
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Kirov was murdered in December 1934-probably organised by Stalin although this has never been proved.
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How did Kirov's election as General Secretary and his subsequent murder allow Stalin to begin the purges?
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- Stalin used Kirov's death as an excuse to eliminate anyone whom he suspected of disloyalty
- An investigation reported that the killer had acted on orders of a 'Leningrad opposition centre' linked with Zinoviev and Kamenev who were immediately arrested - This was the signal for mass arrests-within a few months, the NKVD had arrested 40,000 people in Leningrad alone |
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Why did Stalin introduce the purges?
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- Believed people were beginning to become disloyal to him and criticise his policies
- Suspected disloyalty within the Party itself-Ryutin had criticised Stalin in 1932 - Those most powerful within the Party, including his friend Kirov, had outvoted Stalin over the Ryutin affair - At the 17th Party Congress in 1934, Kirov was elected into Stalin's job of General Secretary-a job with a great deal of power - Stalin used Kirov's murder as an excuse to eliminate anyone he suspected of disloyalty - In 1937, he claimed he had evidence the military was planning a coup - Felt he could better avoid opposition if the Soviet people were kept in a constant state of fear of being purged-tortured, shot or sent to the gulags - To destroy 'Old Bolsheviks'-people who might form an alternative government or reveal the secret of Lenin's political testament - To reinforce his economic policies by getting mass forced labour for industrial projects - Convient way of excusing setbacks-failure of the Five-Year Plans was blamed on sabotage rather than faults with the Plan |
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What was the extent of the purges?
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- Of the 1966 delegates of attended the 17th Party Congress, 1108 were executed
- Of teh 139 members of the Central Committee who were elected at the Congress, 98 were shot in the following years - In Leningrad, more than 40,000 people were arrested - The death penalty was extended so it could be used on boys as young as 12 - From 1934, anyone who was suspected in Stalin's eyes waspurged-at best this would mean 10 years or more in a labour camp, at worst it meant being tortured and shot by the NKVD |
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Who were the victims of the purges?
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- Stalin distrusted anyone he regarded as expert-those who appeared to known more than he did and put forward ideas different to his own
- Poets, writers, artists and musicians were targeted-might have ideas Stalin disapproved of - Managers of industry or collective farms who did not meet production targets - Scientists, engineers or experts of any kind - Army and Naval officers-90% of the Generals, all 8 Admirals of the Soviet fleet and more than half the officers of the Red Army-35,000 in total-were executed in 1937-8 - Senior Party leaders-the Ryutin group, Kirov, Zinoviev and Kamenev - Old Bolsheviks - People with foreign connections - The security services including two heads of the NKVD-Yagoda and Yezhov |
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What were the effects of the purges?
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- The Red Army lost nearly all its experienced officers-in 1941 it stood no chance against the German army
- Science and technology suffered-new inventions were stopped - Industry suffered-managers were unwilling to try anything new - Literature, art and music sufferred - In art, Stalin only approved of Socialist Realism-paintings that glorified the working people of the SU - In music, Stalin liked loud, brash pieces which portrayed events in the SU - By eliminating older figures, Stalin was able to promote younger men who owed their success to him e.g. Lavreni Beria, who became head of the NKVD and Georgi Malenkov, who was expected to be Stalin's successor |
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What was the 'climate of terror'? What was it like living in the Soviet Union during the purges?
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- To be expelled from the Party had cruel consequences-the victim's Party card would be taken away
- Without the Party card it was impossible to get a job-this punished the whole family - Women divorced their husbands just to survive and people avoided the expelled for fear the same would happen to them - Everyone lived in terror and feared informers known as 'stukachi' (knockers - Informers would receive the victim's possesions - Children would even inform on their parents - Millions disappeared and many were simply shot after interrogation and taken to be buried in waste ground outside Moscow - In just one day in December 1938, Stalin and his Prime Minister, Molotov, signed about 30 lists which condemned more than 3000 people to death - Hundreds of mass graves have since been discovered |
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When was the 'Great Purge' and what was it?
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The Great Purge was when the Purges really accelerated and lasted from 1936-8.
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What happened during the 'Great Purge'?
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- Stalin needed evidence to get rid of his rivals forever
- The NKVD went out at night in vans nicknamed 'black ravens' - Victims were woken by a knock at the door and taken to NKVD headquarters in Moscow-the Lubyanka - They were tortured into confessing crimes they did not commit - The 'conveyor belt method' was a method of torture which prevented victims from sleeping by continuous questioning by teams of interrogators-it kept up the flow of pressure - Beatings and threats about what the NKVD could do to their families often did the trick-especially once the death penalty could be used on boys as young as 12 - The mostly false evidence gathered was used for several famous show trials of Old Bolshevik leaders who had fallen out wiht Stalin |
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What happened to the victims of the 'knock at the door'?
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- In 1937-8 alone, nearly 700,000 people were shot by the secret police
- Many were sent to slave labour camps, called gulags - These camps were often in Siberia or Northern Russia, where the weather during winter was extremely cold - The victimes worked with little food for 10 years or more - Many died from exhaustion, others were taken by rail to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast and then taken by ship to Kolyma in north-eastern Siberia - They were left here to freeze to death-the bodies have only recently been discovered - The work of the NKVD was helped by thousands of informers who wanted their neighbours flat, had been passed over for promotion or just had a score to settle-some were simply afraid of being arrested themselves |
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What were the show trials?
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- Stalin used the purges as an oppurtunity to rid himself of the Old Bolsheviks who knew the truth about Lenin's political testament and Stalin's relationship with Lenin
- The show trials were publically broadcast trials - The defendents were accused of fabricated and absurd crimes-arson, destruction of railways, poisoning of workers, conspiracy with the Whites in the Civil War, sabotage, spying and treason-they could not have committed, and they were always linked with Trotsky - The results of the show trials were always the same - The defendents confessed and were found guilty - They were often threatened that their families would be arrested if they did not cooperate - The verdicts were broadcast to the world by Radio Moscow and the 'guilty' men were shot |
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When were the show trials of Zinoviev and Kamenev?
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August 1936 and these were repeated over the next 2 years to include all of Lenin's former colleagues-the Old Bolsheviks.
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When did Stalin begin to rewrite history?
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1930's
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Why did Stalin want to rewrite history?
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- To Stalin, simply removing his opponents was not enough; he wanted to obliterate them and any details of their lives and achievements in the triumph of Communism
- He had wanted to rewrite history since 1917, removing details of the part played by Trotsky and the other Old Bolsheviks, and exaggerating his own contribution - He wanted to destroy the reputations of the Old Bolshevik leaders-this is why he had them put on trial and executed - He picked on Trotsky in particular as Lenin had chosen him as his successor - Stalin accused Trotsky of treason and said he had done nothing to help the Soviet Union-he claimed he himself had been responsible for the successes in the Civil War |
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How did Stalin rewrite history in the Soviet Union?
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- Existing textbooks and encyclopedias were destroyed or altered
- Schoolchildren had to paste over pages in their books with the new version of events - References to the victims of the show trials were rewritten - Paintings and pictures were produced showing Lenin and Stalin close together - Photographs were edited to remove the faces of people who had been purged - Drawings were produced showing the young Stalin in positions of importance and surrounded by his closest supporters from the 1930s |
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How did Stalin create the impression that he was the one and only true heir to Lenin?
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- Stalin began to refer to the Party as the Lenin-Stalin Party and introduced the term Leninism-he claimed that only he knew the true meaning of the word
- He was also responsible for the building of Lenin's mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow and the permanent display of Lenin's body |
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Why did Stalin introduce the cult of personality?
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For Joseph Stalin, being simply obeyed was not enough; he wanted love and worhip, not just respect and obedience.
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How did Stalin create the cult of personality?
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- Huge rallies were held in his honour-he made sure everyone knew about his successes
- Phtographs were published showing him receiving gifts from children, being applauded by workers or meeting ordinary citizens - Paintings were produced showing Stalin meeting smiling people, opening factories and dams and always looking taller and fitter than he actually was - In fact Stalin rarely left the Kremlin and hardly ever met Soviet citizens-these paintings were part of his attempt to make people believe he was a superman, a genius as everything |
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How was Stalin described?
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"The wisest man of the 20th century" and the "genius of the age".
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The Soviet people were told Stalin was never wrong. What effect did this have?
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Stalin was protected against further challenges.
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When was the high point of the cult of personality and why?
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1945 until 1953, when Stalin began to plan further purges. He could then claim to have saved the Soviet Union from the attacks of Hitler and to be protecting it from the evils of the West.
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When did Stalin introduce a new constitution in the Soviet Union?
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1936
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How did Stalin describe this new constitution?
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Stalin described the new constitution as the most democratic in the world.
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What did the new constitution guarantee?
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Freedom of speech, assembly and religious observance and a free press.
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What did the constitution amount to in reality?
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- Although at first sight, what Stalin said about it seemed to be true, it also made clear that the Party came before everything else and that the NKVD was subject to the control of the Party
- Therefore, the constitution did not amount to much - It was merely another example of what Stalin wanted people to believe, not what actually happened |
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When was the Nazi-Soviet Pact signed?
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August 1939
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What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact also known as?
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The Molotov-Ribbentrop Agreement
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What was the Nazi-Soviet Pact?
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- A non-aggressive pact-neither Stalin nor Hitler would attack the other
- SECRET AGREEMENT-to divide Poland between Russia and Germany - Russia could occupy Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in return for supplying oil and other raw materials to Germany |
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What was the advantage of the Nazi-Soviet Pact to Hitler?
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- Hitler was about to invade Poland-if Britain and France declared war, he could fight them without fear of fighting Russia and war on two fronts again
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What were the advantages of the Nazi-Soviet Pact for Stalin?
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- It was an oppurtunity to get back the land lost and not returned when the allies won WWI
- It gave Stalin time to rebuild his army after the purges and to build up weapons - This would ensure victory against Japan in the Far East and time to prepare for war with the West - Stalin feared an attack from the anti-Communist West Whatsmore, both leaders were dictators who were anti-democracy. It was a marriage of convenience. |
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What was Operation Barbarossa?
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The German attack on the Soviet Union.
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When did the Germans invade the Soviet Union?
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22nd June 1941
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What were the 3 objectives of the German army?
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Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev.
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Why did the Germans make good progress at first?
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- Russia was taken completely by surprise-Stalin refused to believe a series of reports warning him of a German attack
- At first Stalin lost his nerve and couldn't make decisions-for 8 days he was in a state of shock - The Germans were aware of the numerical superiority of the Red Army so tried to defeat them as quickly as possible - The Germans used Blitzkrieg tactics (massive mobile tank and fighter attacks) to surround and destroy the Russian army - The Russian army was weakened by the purges - Stalin thought he would be attacked by Japan, not Germany, so most troops, equipment and arms factories were in the east and took a long time to mobilise - At first, peasants in the Ukraine welcomed the Germans as liberators from Communist dictatorship |
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Why did many people in the Soviet Union treat the Germans as liberators at first?
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- Many peoples in the Soviet Union had no love for Stalin or Russia
- In the Ukraine, the Germans were greeted with gifts of bread and salt, which were signs of welcome - Many Ukrainians had been shipped off to the Soviet camps in the past and they saw the Germans as liberators - Tartars in the Crimea volunteered to join defence battalions and hunt for members of the Red Army |
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How did Hitler view the peoples of the Soviet Union?
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- Fortunately for Stalin, Hitler regarded Ukrainians, Tartars and others as Untermenschen, sub-humans
- Many were killed and millions more were sent to labour camps in the West - Hitler made a similar mistake with Soviet prisoners of war-of the 5.7 million captured, 3.4 million died in German hands - It soon became obvious that Hitler was a worse prospect even than Stalin |
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How did Stalin appeal to the Patriotism of the people of the Soviet Union to defeat the Germans?
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- When Stalin finally returned to public life on the 3rd of July 1941, he appealed to the peoples of the Soviet Union to defend their motherland
- He did not mention Communism or himself, and referred to the 12 different peoples of the Soviet Union specifically by name - He realised he needed to call on the patriotism of the Russian people and their natural distrust of the West - At the anniversary parade of the Revolution in November 1941, Stalin reminded the people of the repeated invasions of Russia by the West throughout its history - The war became known as the Great Patriotic War-a name behind which all Russians and other peopls could unite - This name suggested fighting for your country, not Communism under which many had suffered |
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How did Stalin address the people of the Soviet Union in 1941?
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"Comrades! Citizens! Brothers and sisters! Men of our army and navy! I am addressing you, my friends!"
"The peoples of the Soviet Union must rise against the enemy and defend their rights and their land." |
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What was the 'scorched earth policy'?
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- This meant leaving absolutely nothing behind of value to the enemy e.g. crops, factories, fuels or livestock
- As people were forced to retreat they would burn everything, taking down buildings, bridges and factories so the Germans couldn't get a foothold in the country - Factories were taken to pieces and rebuilt out of range of the Germans far to the East - 1500 factories and businesses were moved East to Siberia and the Urals by the end of 1941, and 10 million people went with them |
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What was 'total resistance'?
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- The Communist Party organised total resistance
- As the state already had a command economy and complete control, they could easily organise the war effort - Factories were quickly directed to produce ammunition, flame-throwers and guns - Within a year there was no shortage of planes, tanks, guns or ammunition |
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How did the weather help the Soviet Union to defeat the Germans?
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- It began to pour with rain in October 1941
- This slowed the German advance as the roads turned into rivers of mud-most German vehicles had wheels instead of tracks - In November the temperature dropped and it began to snow-it was a record-breaking winter - Vehicle radiators froze in -35 degree temperatures - Siberian troops were moved from the eastern part of Russia to attack the Germans in winter 1941-they were tough soldiers who were used to harsh conditions - Meanwhile, many Germans were injured by frostbite, unable to use equipment and froze to death in the freezing temperatures |
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How did information from spies help the Soviet Union to win the War?
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A spy, Richard Sorge, told Stalin the Japanese would not attack Russia in the Far East which made it possible to transfer half the Red Army, backed by 1000 tanks and 1000 aircraft, to defend Moscow.
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How did the heroism of the people of the Soviet Union help to win the war?
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- The Red Army, and the Soviet people, fought bravely, making great sacrifices
- Partisans (resistance fighters) showed considerable courage-they ambushed and murdered Germans, acted as spies and blew up bridges and railways lines in occupied territory to disrupt German supplies |
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How did superior technology help the Russians win the war?
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- The Soviet KV and T34 tanks were superior to the German Mark III and IV
- They played an important part in the gratest tank battle of all time at Kursk on the 4th July 1943 - The defeat of the Germans was a turning point in the war |
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What mistakes did Hitler make?
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- Hitler's obsession with winning the Battle of Stalingrad resulted in a humiliating defeat for Germany
- It also provided as psychological boost for the Soviet Union |
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What help did the Soviet Union receive from the West in defeating Germany?
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- America sent massive quantities of aid to the Soviet Union as part of a deal with Britain called Lend-Lease
- Jeeps and lorries were sent which provided vital transport - They also sent army boots, field telephonees, tinned food and medecines - The Western Allies were against Communism but they were fighting a common enemy-Hitler - After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, the Americans became directly involved in the fighting - However, Stalin accused the West of not playing a large enough part in fighting the Germans |
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Why did the Soviet Union win the war?
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- Scorched earth policy
- Stalin gave stirring speeches and used propaganda to whip up support - The Soviet people fought bravely - The Russian's had sheer force of numbers - The Siberian troops which were moved east were used to freezing temperatures unlike the Germans - Weather - Aid from the Western Allies - Russia could concentrate all its force on Germany because Japan was at war with the USA and Britain - Russian industry was very advanced and the Five-Year Plans kept up supplies of tanks, planes and guns - Total resistance - Hitler made mistakes-lost Stalingrad-1942/3 - Superior technology |
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When was the Leningrad siege?
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- Leningrad successfully resisted the Nazis from September 1941-January 1944
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What happened in Leningrad?
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- There were terrible losses as Hitler wanted to destroy the city and its people totally-it represented Communism and had important industrial and transport links
- 1 million of the 3 million citizens died - Leningrad was supplied with a little food over the frozen lakes to the east of the city - Germans pounded the city with shellfire for 9 hours a day for 900 days-shellfire killed 200,000 |
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What were conditions like in Leningrad?
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- The city's power stations ran out of coal just as winter set in
- Water supplies froze - Without electricity the trams stopped - In mid-winter there were 18 hours of darkness in Leningrad - Temperatures dropped to as low as -40 degrees - People froze in unlit houses, burning books and furniture to stay warm - People started eating cats, dogs, mice , crows, vaseline, hair oil and even glue scraped from the wallpaper - People were dying in the streets |
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How did the Germans behave towards the people of Russia?
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- Russians were a Slavic people and considered inferior to the German 'master race'
- There were mass executions of the Soviet people and Russian Jews - Hitler wanted a brutal, racial war to exterminate the Russians - Hitler believed the Communist Party was the party of the Jews-his racial enemies - 3 million Russians were sent to Germany as slave labour - 34,000 Jews were murdered in 2 days in Kiev in 1941 |
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What was the impact of the war on the Soviet Union?
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- About 28 million died (1/7 of the pre-war population) from fighting, starvation, forced labour and in the sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad
- In parts of European Russia, 1 in 4 people were killed and tens of millions were made homeless - Som 1710 towns and 70,000 villages were destroyed as well as 100,000 collective farms - The war completed the work that Stalin had begun in the 1930s-whole ethnic groups, which Stalin distrusted, were transported to Siberia-some 3.3 million in all - Most of Russia was left in ruins due to the scorched earth policy |
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How did the war affect Stalin's view of the West?
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- Stalin was more convinced than ever of the need to be on guard against the West
- His demands for a second front, which had begun as early as 1941, had only been heeded in the summer of 1944 - He was confirmed in his belief, despite the enormous amount of aid received from the West, that they had wanted Nazism and Communism to destroy each other - When he met the Allies after the war, he wanted to make sure this could never happen again - He wanted a buffer zone between the Soviet Union and Germany - It was this that led to the creation of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War |
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When did Stalin meet the Allies in Tehran?
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1943
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When was the Yalta conference?
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February 1945
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When was the Potsdam conference?
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July 1945
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How did Stalin treat the countries of Eastern Europe after the war?
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- There was a new Five-Year Plan to restore the Soviet Union-Stalin pillaged East Germany, even dismantling factories and taking them back to the Soviet Union
- Eastern Europe was 'liberated' by the Soviet Union and these countries remained occupied by the Red Army and under Soviet control |
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Why did Stalin become a great war hero after Germany's defeat?
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- Stalin became a great war hero and very popular after the war
- As teh tide turned on the Germans in 1943, Stalin could claim to be the saviour of the Soviet Union and was able to demand even greater devotion and loyalty - He emerged from the war a much stronger figure than he had been before |
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What were the main impacts of the war on the Soviet Union?
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- 28 million died-9 million soldiers and 19 million civilians
- Eastern European Russia was devastated by 'scorched earth' - The peoples of the Soviet Union suffered immensely - Stalin was even more convinced of the need to be on guard against the nations of the West - Stalin became a great and popular war hero |
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How did Stalin's dictatorship change after the war?
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- From 1945-1953, Stalin was at the peak of his power
- Over and over again, Pravda (the newspaper of Soviet Communism) used the term 'Stalinist' to describe correct behaviour in the SU - Dissent and opposition were crushed even more ruthlessly than before - New purges were begun in the Soviet Union until it seemed no one was safe |
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Who was the leading figure in the new purges?
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Andrei Zhdanov, who attacked artists, poets, musicians and scientists. He also began a systematic attack on Jews in the Soviet Union.
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How did the new purges affect the Soviet Union?
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- Rumours of further purges spread in the early 1950s
- It seemed no one was safe, not even Georgi Malenkov, who seemed to have been groomed to be Stalin's successor - Stalin's paranoia was so great that eventually even Lavrenti Beria began to suspect he was about to be purged |
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When was the 'Doctors' Plot' and what was it?
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- In November 1952, the state press published details of the 'Doctors' Plot'
- This was an entirely imaginary attempt by Jewish doctors to murder Stalin - It was yet another example of Stalin's distrust of everyone |
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When did Stalin die?
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5th March 1953
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How did Stalin die?
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He suffered a brain haemorrage on the 2nd of March 1953
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Why was no medical help called for Stalin?
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- His personal doctor, Professor Vinogradov, was not on hand because the previous year he had been arrested for suggesting Stalin take things easy
- Since then he ahd been subjected to repeated beatings on Stalin's orders - Lavrenti Beria, the head of the NKVD, and the only man who could call a doctor to Stalin, was sent for - He was found in a government villa, plainly drunk, at 3 am - Stalin died 4 days later |
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What was the Soviet Union like after Stalin's death?
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- Stalin's successor was expected to be Georgi Malenkov; when Stalin died he became Party Secretary and Prime Minister, but he was persuaded to give up one post and chose to be Prime Minister
- The new Party Secretary was Nikita Khrushchev - The most feared man in Russia was Lavrenti Beria-he was arrested and shot in December 1953 - Copies of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia were changed by having an entry on the Bering Sea substituted for the entry on Beria - From 1953, the Soviet Union was governed by a committee-Malenkov, Molotov, Bulganin and Khrushchev - By 1956, Khrushchev was the clear leader |
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What were the main reasons Khrushchev emerged as leader of the Soviet Union?
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- Criticism of Malenkov's policies
- Malenkov did not gain the support of the generals whereas the army supported Khrushchev - Khrushchev held the powerful position as Party Secretary - He isolated his opponents in the Party |
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What were Malenkov's policies and why were they unpopular?
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- Malenkov's policy was called 'New Course' and it aimed to increase consumer goods-but his promises could not be fulfilled and he was eventually forced to resign
- Malenkov also wanted to reduce tensions with the West and reduce the amount of money he spent on the army-the army believed this could threaten security and did not want costs to be cut, so Malenkov could not gain the support of the Soviet Generals - Direct criticism of Malenkov's policies undermined his position for leadership |
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When was Malenkov forced to resign?
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1955
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How was Khrushchev able to win the support of the army?
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- Khrushchev's role in the defence of Stalingrad during WWII won him the support of the army
- The army respected his role in the defence of Stalingrad - Marshal Zhukov especially supported him |
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How did Khrushchev's position as Party Secretary help him to gain control?
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- The post of Party Secretary gave Khrushchev control of the Party machinery (Stalin had used exactly the same methods in the 1920s)
- Khrushchev was able to place his supporters in positions of authority - He was able to use Party members to block the Politburo when they attmpted to oust him in 1957 - He held the files of everyone in the Party and could promote anyone he wanted within the Party |
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How did Khrushchev isolate his opponents?
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- He isolated the other leaders by supporting one side and then the other, just as Stalin had done
- He got rid of his rivals by supporting one side, destroying another, and then destroying that one - In 1957 he labelled his opponents as 'the anti-party group' and within 12 months they were removed from power - By labelling people who opposed him 'the anti-party group' he made it seem like they were undermining Communism |
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How did Khrushchev's personality help him to gain control?
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- Khrushchev appeared to offer something new as he was lively and out-going
- He had a completely different character to Stalin - He also promised reforms, especially improvements in the standard of living |
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When did Khrushchev make his secret speech?
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February 1956 at the 20th Party Congress,
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Why was it called his 'secret speech'?
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No one knew he was going to make the speech so it came as a shock-Malenkov, Molotov, Bulganin and Kaganovich were horrified as they had not been told of it beforehand.
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What did Khrushchev say in his secret speech?
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- Khrushchev criticised Stalin and his methods
- His main criticisms were levelled at Stalin's cult of personality which he claimed had led him to abuse his power - He said that Stalin had been a dictator and an enemy of the people |
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How was Khrushchev's secret speech received?
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It led to immediate attacks on Khrushchev in the Presidium, the Cabinet of the Soviet Union.
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What policy did Khrushchev's secret speech begin?
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De-Stalinisation
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What was de-Stalinisation?
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De-Stalinisation was the process of denouncing Stalin, his cult of personality, extreme methods and mistakes.
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What did Khrushchev say about Stalin in his secret speech?
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"Stalin invented the idea of an 'enemy of the people'. He used to carry out the most cruel actions against anybody who he suspected.'
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Why did Khrushchev introduce the policy of de-Stalinisation?
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- The secret speech gave Khrushchev an advantage over his rivals in the Party as their role in the Stalinist regime was condemned
- It also served to distance himself from his quite significant role in the Ukraine purges and the fact that he had been a key figure in Stalin's regime - If his opponents continued to defend Stalin it would look like they were defending his methods - Khrushchev planned economic reforms which would require initiative which would not be possible under the shadow of Stalin - In order to introduce drastic reforms, Khrushchev needed to de-centralise power and allow factories and farms to make their own decisions - He wanted to improve living standards-more consumer goods - Khrushchev wanted better relations with the West-peaceful coexistence-in his speech he suggested that different political systems could develop without going to war |
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How was Stalin's reputation affected by de-Stalinisation and the secret speech?
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- Stalin's reputation was affected immediately
- In due course, his body was removed from the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square, where it had been placed after his death - Stalin grad was renamed Volgagrad - Other places and street names were changed |
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How did de-Stalinisation improve life in the Soviet Union?
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- The size and power of the secret police was reduced
- The death penalty was abolished - Millions of political prisoners were released and the stories they told of the labour camps reinforced Khrushchev's statement - Many Communist Party members who had been expelled under Stalin were reinstated - National minorities, who had been trasnported or condemned by Stalin, were allowed to return - Controls on poets, writers, artists and musicians were lessened - Freedom of expression was allowed-so long as it was directed at Stalin - Relations with the West began to improve - Succeeded in breaking away from the harsh dictator style of leadership HOWEVER, Khrushchev was only relaxing the system, he did not intend to change it. |
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How were Khrushchev's actions misunderstood in the Soviet Union?
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- Khrushchev was still a fanatical Communist and did not approve of criticism of the Soviet system, or of himself
- When Pasternak's novel, Dr Zhivago, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, he was attacked by the Soviet press and forced to refuse the prize and publicly apologise for his book - In Eastern Europe, Khrushchev's actions were misunderstood - In Poland and Hungary there was unrest, as they believed Khrushchev would allow them to become more independent, and Soviet forces were forced to intervene - Khrushchev was not prepared to sacrifice the security of the Soviet Union |
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Khrushchev had not realised that allwing some freedom would only lead to demands for more. How did he react?
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- The outburst of criticism which de-Stalinisation encouraged led to a clamp down in 1960-1
- The death penalty was reintroduced - 10,000 chruches were closed down |
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Who led a coup against Khrushchev and when? What happened?
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- Malenkov, Molotov, Bulganin and Kagonovich had attempted to remove Khrushchev from power in 1957
- They tried to force a vote in the Presidium, where they had a majority - Khrushchev, however, was able to refer the matter to the Central Committee of the Communist Party and won the day - All of his opponents were dismissed, except for Bulganin who was Prime Minister |
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What did Lazar Kaganovich say to Khrushchev and what happened as a result?
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Lazar Kaganovich telephoned Khrushchev and said:
"Comrade Khrushchev, I have known you for many years. I beg you not to allow them to deal with me as they dealt with people under Stalin." Khrushchev agreed and Kaganovich became the director of an industrial plant in the Urals-this more than anything, symbolised de-Stalinisation. |
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What statement did Khrushchev famously make about the Soviet economy in 1954?
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"What kind of Communism is it that cannot produce sausage?"
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How and why did Khrushchev try to change the Soviet economy?
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- Khrushchev realised that the Soviet Union had to produce more food and consumer goods so he set himself the task of modernising agriculture and industry in the Soviet Union
- Khrushchev understood that that the creation of Stalin's command economy had stifled local independence and initiative - He wanted to reduce central control and allow local leaders to decide agricultural and industrial policy - To allow this to happen he abolished all government ministries except those dealing with defence |
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What were Khrishchev's 3 agricultural policies?
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- The Virgin Lands Scheme
- Growing of maize - Merging of collectives and local control |
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When was the Virgin Lands Scheme introduced?
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1954
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What was the Virgin Lands Scheme?
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- Khrushchev decided that the best way to solve food shortages would be to bring large areas of Virgin Land, in North Kazakhstan, Siberia and the Urals, under cultivation
- Around 13 million hectares of land would be plughed to produce 20 million tonnes of grain - The government would also begin to invest more money in farm machinery and fertilisers - Hundreds of Komsomol members were summoned to Moscow and asked to volunteer to go to the new areas to begin the process - Khrushchev claimed the Virgin Lands Scheme would solve the food shortages within 2-3 years |
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What evidence was there for the success of the Virgin Lands Scheme?
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- The 1956 harvest was especially good-125 million tonnes of grain were produced compared with 104 million tonnes the year before
- Grain production rose from 83 million tonnes in 1956 to 121 million tonnes in 1965 |
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What evidence was there for the failure of the Virgin Lands Scheme?
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- By 1960, the Virgin Lands Scheme had failed
- Ecological disaster followed - In 1963, hurricanes tore away the topsoil in Kazakhstan and destroyed 6 million hectares forever - There were major problems transporting crops - Bad harvests in the early 1960s forced the government to raise food prices and this led to unrest in some towns - In 1963, the harvest was so poor that grain had to be bought from North America |
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Why did the Virgin Lands Scheme fail?
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- Too little research had gone into the Virgin Lands Scheme
- Not enough investment had been put into fertiliser due to Khrushchev's high expenditure on the space and arms races - Intensive farming, and failure to rotate crops or use fertilisers to feed the earth, caused soil erosion - In some areas there were inadequate crop-drying and storage facilities - Kazakhstan had completely the wrong climate for agriculture, with Arctic conditions and hurricanes - Transport of grain was bad and what grain did grow often rotted before it reached the cities as the rail network was inefficient and Kazakhstan was too remote - Crops were sometimes grown in unsuitable soils and local climate conditions were not taken into account |
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What was Khrushchev's policy on the growing of maize?
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- Khrushchev's other solution to the food shortages was to force peasants to produce maize to feed livestock
- He hoped this would free up grain for human consumption - He persuaded many collective farms to grow maize - He boasted that the SOviet Union would soon overtake America in producing meat, milk and butter |
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What evidence was there for the success of Khrushchev's policy of growing maize?
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By 1962, maize covered 37 million hectares.
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What evidence was there for the failure of Khrushchev's policy of growing maize?
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The climate only allowed 7 million hectares to be harvested in a ripe condition.
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Why did Khrushchev's policy of growing maize fail?
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- Maize was planted in areas of the Soviet Union where the climate was unsuitable so much of the crop failed
- Khrushchev felt he was an expert and did not listen to advice |
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What was Khrushchev's policy of the merging of collective farms and when did it take place?
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- Khrushchev's other agricultural policy was the amalgamation of collective farms
- In 1953, agricultural output in the Soviet Union was low and the livestock population was too small - Khrushchev blamed this on the high taxes that collective farm workers had to pay and the low prices they received for their produce - Khrushchev cancelled the debts that the collectives owed, cut taxes and a better price was paid for produce - Machine tractor stations were closed and their equipment was handed over to the collectives-it was believed this would make them more independent or efficient |
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What evidence was there for the success of Khrushchev's policy of the merging of collectives and greater central control?
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Between 1953 and 1958, the numbers fell from 90,000 to 70,000 and then further.
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What was the evidence for the failure of Khrushchev's policy of the merging of collectives and greater central control?
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- Even though the prices for produce were increased, Khrushchev would not allow profit to be used as an incentive
- Therefore, there was little motivation for peasants to work hard as everyone received equal wages and produce from the state no matter how hard they worked |
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Why did Khrushchev's policy of merging collective farms fail?
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Peasants still worked harder on their own plots of land.
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What were Khrushchev's 3 main policies for improving industry in the Soviet Union?
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- Sovnarkhozy
- 7 Year Plan - Increase consumer goods |
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What were sovnarkhozy? What was this policy?
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- Regional economic councils which controlled areas of the country and were encouraged to be independent and make decisions-they could decide what goods to produce
- Khrushchev set up more than 100 sovnarkhozy - Economic decisionmaking was to be handed to local councils, beginning to break down the command economy which had existed under Stalin and encouraging local initiative |
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What was the evidence for the success of the sovnarkhozy?
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- Many of the controls on workers were relaxed and a7 hour working day was introduced
- Workers were allowed to change their jobs - Workers experienced increases in real wages - The government spent more money on welfare services - About 60 of the large and inefficient ministries in Moscow were closed down and more than 100 sovnarkhozy were set up to run the economy at a local level - Khrushchev was able to seize power away from his opponents by these means |
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What was the evidence for the failure of the sovnarkhozy?
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- Managers did not believe they had any real authority
- Loss of power upset members of central government and Khrushchev made more enemies - The sovnarkhozy caused confusion - Khrushchev tried to improve the situation by reducing the number of sovnarkhozy by grouping the councils into regions, and by appointing committees of officials to supervise their work - The result was that no one knew who was in charge or what was expected of them |
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Why did the sovnarkhozy fail?
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- After experiencing Stalin's command economy for so long, managers still believed they had no real authority and were not used to making decisions
- They were used to the complete control they had experienced under Stalin |
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When was the 7-Year Plan introduced?
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- Khrushchev replaced the Five-Year Plans with a 7-Year Plan to last from 1958-1965
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What did the new 7-Year Plan aim to do?
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It aimed to increase:
- Chemical industry-fertiliser for farming - Oil and natural gas-power - Consumer goods-clothes and plastics - Housing - Hydrocarbons It also aimed to accelerate the space race. |
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What was the evidence for the success of the 7-Year Plan?
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- Coal, iron electricity and tractor production all rose
- The amount of oil produced grew from 170 million tonnes in 1955 to 507 million tonnes in 1965 - The amount of iron produced doubled in the same period - Russia put the first man in space-Yuri Gagarin in 1961 |
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What was the evidence for the failure of the 7-Year Plan?
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- By 1964, the rate of growth of the whole Soviet economy had fallen to the lowest since the war
- Production targets were too ambitious and were not met - The death penalty was reintroduced for economic crimes (sabotage and fraud) in 1961 |
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Why did the 7-Year Plan fail?
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- As under Stalin, production targets were too high and could not be met
- Khrushchev tried to introduce too much, too quickly, without any adequate training-people did not know how to do their jobs properly - The emphasis on quantity not quality under Stalin's regime, hindered industrial production, as equipment continued to break down |
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What evidence is there for the success of Khrushchev's attempts to increase consumer goods and improve living standards?
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- Housing was improved
- Between 1959 and 1965, some 50 million people were rehoused - Soviet citizens were pleased with the progress made in the 1950s and early 1960s-they could remember the hard times of the 1930s |
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What evidence was there for the failure of Khrushchev's attmpts to increase consumer goods and improve living standards?
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- Khrushchev planned 15 million new dwellings to solve housing shortages-factories were used to make prefabricated flats-but the scheme was not successful at meeting its targets
- The standard of living for the average Soviet citizen was much lower than that of the average person in the West and people saw this contrast |
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Why did Khrushchev's attempts to increase consumer goods and improve living standards fail?
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Too much government spending went on the space and arms races to allow real growth in living standards.
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How did Khrushchev's inability to allow any real independence from the Communist Party cause his reforms to fail?
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- Reforms did not go far enough-Khrushchev understood that Stalin had stifled initiative but was not prepared to allow any real independence from the Communist Party
e.g. Most chiarmen of collective farms were Communist Party officials who knew little about agriculture and he sent Communist Party officials to set up the Sovnarkhozy although they knew nothing about the area - Khrushchev recognised the need for greater incentives to encourage workers to produce more but he was not prepared to allow Regional Councils to use the profit motive as an incentive to increase productivity - This was because Khrushchev was still a fanatical Communist-everyone was equal and received a fixed wage - Khrushchev believed he was an expert, rarely listened to advice and interfered at all levels of decision making-while trying to promote initiative! - This left people unsure if he was really promoting independence, or if, like under Stalin, they would be punished |
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How did the expense of many of Khrushchev's policies prevent success in other areas?
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- The cost of the space race was immense but of great importance to the prestige of the Soviet Union-Yuri Gagarin was a national hero
- However, the huge cost of competing with the West meant that Khrishchev's domestic policies suffered - Khrushchev was obsessed with proving that Communism was better than capitalism - The Soviet economy suffered as a result, with a slump in consumer goods and a lack of money to allow Khrushchev's economic policies to succeed - By 1962 food prices increased and Khrushchev found himself facing a crisis at home |
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When was Khrushchev forced to resign?
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October 1964
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What were the key reasons why Khrushchev was forced to resign?
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- Khrushchev's style at meetings-showing off in an embarassing way
- Humiliation over Cuban missile crisis (October 1962) - Agricultural and industrial policies failed - Allowed some freedom of speech so people started to criticise him - He had threatened the power and wealth of many Communist officials by reforming central government and factory control - Khrushchev's handling of Eastern Europe |
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How was Khrushchev's style and manner embarassing to the other party leaders?
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- Khrushchev was often rude to other leaders and rarely listened to advice
- Khrushchev's aggressive and crude style often caused embarassment in Soviet foreign relations - Other Party leaders were embarassed by his personal behaviour, for instance when he took his shoe off and banged it on the table at the UN in protest at Western interference in Third World countries, and loudly interrupted speeches - This behaviour shocked Soviet viewers who did not think this was how a staesmen should behave - Inside the Kremlin he could be very uncouth-servants described how he would sweep food off his plate into his mouth with his hands |
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Why was the Cuban missile crisis humiliating for Khrushchev?
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- Cuba in particular was seen as a failure
- Khrushchev appeared to have given in to Kennedy when he agreed to remove the missiles from Cuba - The significance of Kennedy's promise to leave Cuba alone was not appreciated - The removal of US missiles from Turkey and Italy was not made public at the time and only took place 3 months later so Khrushchev was unable to claim credit - Therefore it looked like he had backed down to Kennedy's demands to dismantle and remove nuclear missiles in Cuba |
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How was Khrushchev forced to resign?
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- In 1964, Brezhnev plotted with Podgorny, Suslov and Kosygin to overthrow Khrushchev
- Among the methods they suggested were the use of poison, a plane crash or a car accident - Instead they made Khrushchev resign on health grounds - He was given a pension and a dacha (house in the country) and he retired to the suburbs of Moscow |
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What did Khrushchev say after his forced resignation?
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"...perhaps the most important thing I did was just this-that they were able to get rid of me simply by voting, whereas Stalin would have had them all arrested."
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Why were the Communist leaders 'frightened' by Khrushchev's attempts at reform?
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- They believed he had gone too far in criticising Stalin and in giving power to the regional councils
- They were frightened that the security of the Soviet Union had been threatened, as Hungary had attempted to break free of the Soviet Union - They believed Khrushchev being forced to build the Berlin Wall showed a loss of control over the Soviet Union - They wanted to stop this dissidence by reverting to the more brtual methods of Stalin - They saw the chaos and confusion that Khrushchev had created and decided not to take such risks ever again |
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Which leader succeeded Khrushchev in October 1964?
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Leonid Brezhnev
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How did Khrushchev's successor, Brezhnev, begin to reverse Khrushchev's reforms?
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- Khrushchev's successor, Brezhnev, began to reverse the process of reform that Khrushchev had started
- He gave up any idea of change and for the next 18 years the Soviet Union just stagnated - In 1965, Brezhnev ordered a crackdown on dissidents - Thousands of writers and other intellectuals were arrested and some were put on trial - When this failed, Brezhnev appointed Andropov as the new head of the KGB (Committee of State Security) - He began to lock dissidents away in mental hospitals in an attempt to break their spirit - In 1965, Brezhne |
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Which leader succeeded Brezhnev and when?
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Yuri Andropov succeeded Brezhnev as leader of the Soviet Union in 1982.
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When did Yuri Andropov die?
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February 1984
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Who succeeded Andropov and when?
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Konstantin Chernenko succeeded Andropov as the leader of the Soviet Union in February 1984.
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When did Chernenko die?
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March 1985
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What were the key reasons for the decline of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1985?
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- Geriatric Party Leaders
- Stagnant economy in both industry and agriculture - Expensive foreign policy - Immense black market - Communism was becoming increasingly unpopular with the people - Corruption within the Party caused disillusionment - Changes of leadership and the illness of the successive leaders |
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How did geriatric Party leaders mean that nothing changed in the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1985?
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- The Party leaders were getting old and had no new ideas about how to run the Soviet Union
- They grew up under Stalin's regime and did not want things to change - During the last 2 years of Brezhnev's life, crippling illnesses reduced him to a figurehead surrounded by other older men in poor health - It was said that the Soviet Union was run from the geriatric ward of the Kremlin! |
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Why was agriculture stagnant within the Soviet Union?
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- The Soviet economy was still dependent on agriculture
- However, Stalin's collectivisation of agriculture had destroyed the independent peasantry and agricultural production remained low, despite massive state investment - The Soviet Union did not have enough food to feed the growing urban population |
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Why was industry stagnant within the Soviet Union?
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- The Soviet industrial economy, built by Stalin in the 1930s, was incapable of modernisation, since it was governed by the state rather than responding to the market
- There were still no incentives for innovation or efficiency - The manufactured goods produced behind the Iron Curtain were regarded as a joke in the West - Only raw materials and grain could be sold as exports but the Soviet Union did not have enough grain for its own consumption and lacked the technology to exploit its vast reserves of raw materials |
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What made Soviet foreign policy so expensive?
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- The Soviet Union was a fourth-rate economy tring to be a superpower
- Since the 1950s, vast amounts of money had been spent trying to compete with the West - The space race and nuclear arms had absorbed limitless amounts of cash - The countries of Eastern Europe had been supported finacially as had other Communist regimes around the world, such as Cuba, through COMECON - Worst of all was the decision of December 1979, to intervene in Afghanistan, where an unpopular Communist regime was struggling to hold on to power - This decision was not made by the Politburo but by Brezhnev's inner circle at an informal meeting - It was the end of good relations with the West and led to a grain embargo by the USA, gravely exascerbating the Soviet Union's economic problems - The cost of the war in terms of cash, equipment and lives was immense, and turned many Soviet citizens against the government |
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How big a problem was the black market in the Soviet Union and how did it contribute to it's economic downfall?
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- By 1985, Isvestia believed there was a black market in the Soviet Union worth 7,000,000,000 roubles-the real figure was probably much higher
- The Soviet economy just couldn't produce what the citizens of the Soviet Union wanted - They had televisions, clothes and cheap flats and public transport but consumer goods and food were very scarce and queuing could take all day - A car cost the equivalent of 7 years wages and even then repairs might be impossible - Therefore, the Soviet people turned to the black market - Unfortunately this meant money being exchanged illegally, without being put back into the Soviet economy to fund policies, via taxes |
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Why was Communism becoming increasingly unpopular with the people of the Soviet Union?
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- The Soviet people had long been promised improvements in housing and consumer goods, as well as greater freedom
- However, Brezhnev turned back to the old ways of Stalin and nothing changed within the country - People were becoming increasingly fed up with Communism |
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How did corruption within the Party cause disillusionment with Communism?
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- Corruption within the Party was very obvious to the people
- They saw Brezhnev and other leading party members with nice cars and apartments, benefiting from the black market and taking bribes, while the majority of the population remained poor - As head of the KGB, Andropov tried to attack corruption in the Soviet Union - Andropov attempted to track down those guilty of taking bribes or acquring Party property and put an end to their crime - Unfortunately for Andropov, many of Brezhnev's family members were heavily involved-his daugher, her lover and his sons - Andropov was unable to do anything until Brezhnev died and he took over - This meant that for 18 years the Soviet Union drifted increasingly out of control |
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How did the changes of leadership and the illness of the successive leaders cause stagnation within the Soviet Union?
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- Brezhnev made no attempt to change the Soviet Union and his prolonged illness worsened this
- His successor, Yuri Andropov, wanted to crack down on corruption, but fell ill with kidney diease shortly after taking over - His disease was hidden from the people as long as possible and he died in Februay 1984 - Andropov was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, a 72-year-old, who was already seriously ill and died in March 1985 - For nearly 20 years, nothing of importance happened within the Soviet Union-the successive leadership changes meant no decisive action could be taken |
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When did Gorbachev come into power?
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March 1985
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How was Gorbachev different from the leaders that had gone before him?
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All three previous leaders ahd grown up and begun their careers under Stalin. Their immediate reaction to problems was to reinforce discipline. Gorbachev was the first leader to grow up in the post-Stalin period and he realised these methods could no longer work.
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Why was Communism already failing in the Soviet Union by the late 1970s?
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- Severe economic problems-the Soviet Union was bankrupt and Soviet industry had still not recovered from the disastrous effects of WWII
- The Virgin Lands Scheme had failed and Soviet agriculture was so bad that the Soviet Union was forced to buy grain from the USA (although there were bad relations between the two countries) - The huge cost of the Space Race and the Nuclear Arms Race had made the Soviet Union bankrupt - The Soviet Union had become involved in an expensive war with Afghanistan which they had lost by 1989 - They had propped up Communist regimes around the world, since the 1940s, through COMECON |
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What problems did Gorbachev face when he came into power in 1985?
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Problems under Stalin:
- Collectivisation - Quantity not quality - The impact of the Second World War Problems under Khrushchev: - Broken promises/negative effects on the economy - Spending on foreign policies Problems under Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko: - Stagnation - Corruption - Disillusionment with Communism |
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What were Gorbachev's two policies when he came into power?
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Perestroika and Glasnost
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Why did Gorbachev introduce Perestroika and Glasnost?
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- Gorbachev realised that the Soviet Union's survival depended on the West
- He needed investment and new technology, but most of all he needed arms agreements, that would allow him to reduce the Soviet Union's massive defence spending and balance the budget - In the 1980s, the Soviet Union was running a 35,000,000,000 rouble annual budget deficit - Although Gorbachev wanted to reform the existing system within the Soviet Union, he remained a Communist and was committed Communist and only banned the Communist Party after an attempted coup against him |
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What were the key features of Perestroika?
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- Perestroika referred to the 'economic restructuring' of the SU- Gorbachev believed the SU could only survive if the economy was rebuilt
- It ended the command economy, breaking down state monopolies, which controlled most industries, and allowed a limited form of capitalism - Gorbachev realised that for too long industry had been stifled by control and direction from the centre - Prices would no longer be subsidised by the state |
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Why did Perestroika not succeed?
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- Gorbachev had no clear plan of what was needed and was not aware of the scale of the task
- He soon found that 24,000 of the 46,000 state enterprises were running at a loss, that the 'black' economy was probably 30% of the total output of Soviet industry and that 10% of workers regularly arrived for work drunk - Although Gorbachev wanted to reform the existing system in the Soviet Union, he remained a Communist, committed to the preservation of the SU - Gorbachev's policy of Perestroika was intended to greatly improve the Soviet economy but it was too little, too late-the Soviet people had once again been promised change that didn't happen and they became even more disillusioned with Communism |
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PERESTROIKA
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Profit-making was allowed, prices no longer subsidised by the state
Economic restructuring Reforming industry Encouraging enterprise/competition State monopolies broken down Technology required from the USA Rebuilding the economy-the Soviet Union was bankrupt Organisation was no longer centralised-no command economy Industry had been stifled by control Khrushchev and other leaders had caused huge debts Allowed a limited form of capitalism |
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What were the key features of Gorbachev's policy of Glasnost?
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- Gorbachev wanted to give more freedom to the people so he introduced 'Glasnost' which meant 'openness' or freedom to express yourself
- This policy brought great change to the Soviet Union - It allowed freedom of speech, ended censorship of the media, freed political prisoners and a Parliament was set up - Western influence flooded into the Soviet Union, including the first McDonalds in Moscow - Real religious freedom was allowed for the first time-the Orthodox Church emerged from the restrictions imposed on it - The powers of the KGB were restriced and then it was abolished and its records were made public - Lubianka prison was closed - Free elections were held in 1990 - Gorbachev was often seen in the streets of Moscow arguing about the changes with Soviet citizens - It brought much better relations with the USA |
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GLASNOST
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Gorbachev met Soviet citizens and argued about the changes
Lubianka prison closed-KGB restricted and terror no longer used Allowed free elections in 1990 Soviet people could criticise the government New sense of freedom 'Openness' both within the Soviet Union and with the wider world Soviet Union was flooded with Western ideas, music and culture The restrictions and censorship of the press was destroyed |
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How did Gorbachev's reforms undermine the Old Communist State?
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- The Soviet economy continued to collapse and loans did not come from the West as hoped
- Perestroika raised people's hopes but change was too slow and the people became angry - Glasnost resulted in demands for even greater freedom-there were demonstrations by those who wanted to leave the Soviet Union or become independent - Eastern Europe took advantage of Gorbachev's promise not to interfere in their affairs and gave up Communism |
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Why did Gorbachev's reforms fail?
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- Too little too late-introduced reforms without allowing any time for change
- Gorbachev banked on getting financial help from the West - The people were tired of Communism - The policy of Glasnost backfired on Gorbachev - Glasnost and Perestroika revealed one of the fundamental weaknesses of the Soviet Union-it was made up of a lot of different peoples |
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Why were Gorbachev's reforms 'too little, too late'?
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- Gorbachev only wanted to alter the existing system, not change it, but by the late 1980s shortages were so severe that this would not work
- The problems he faced had been building up since the death of Stalin - The only serious attempt to solve them by Khrushchev had failed - Gorbachev realised that action needed to be taken quickly so he tried to introduce reforms without allowing any time for change to take place - The result was chaos |
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Why was Gorbachev wrong about the West giving him financial help?
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- Gorbachev had banked on financial help from the West, especially from the G7 countries which included the USA, Britain, West Germany, Japan and France
- He believed that if he made concessions on arms that they would provide cash-he was wrong - The West was not prepared to help Gorbachev out of a hole -It wanted to take advantage of his difficulties and push him further - The West wanted to see an end to the threat from the Warsaw Pact in Europe |
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Why were people in the Soviet Union tired of Communism?
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- As Gorbachev tried to maintain the power of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union, more and more people were tiring of Communism, of drab lives with little food
- When the countries of Eastern Europe threw off Communism in 1989, because they wanted to run their own affairs for the first time in 40 years, Soviet citizens in the republics wanted to do the same - In 1989, Gorbachev was compelled to withdraw his troops from the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and allow them to become independent |
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Why did the policy of Glasnost backfire on Gorbachev?
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- Gorbachev believed that by allowing greater freedom he could encourage the Soviet people to accept Communism and work together
- Instead, just like Khrushchev, he discovered that allowing some freedom only made people ask for more - As he walked around Moscow, he did not get the friendly welcome he had expected - He got abuse, criticism and further demands - The Soviet Union had never known democracy-the people were not used to being involved in the process of government; they were accustomed to being told what to do - They could not get used to the ideas of responsible argument and criticism overnight |
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Glasnost and Perestroika revealed one of the fundamental weaknesses of the Soviet Union-it was made up of a lot of different peoples. What effect did this have?
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- The Soviet Union was amde up of many different peoples, cultures and nationalities
- It was held together by the Red Army - Once the top was unscrewed, they all wanted to get out - In particular, they wanted to put an end to the domination by the Russians from Moscow, whcih had lasted since the October revolution - Only strict discipline applied from Moscow had kept the Soviet Union together - When Gorbachev loosened it, the Soviet Union simply disappeared |
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When was there an attempted coup against Gorbachev?
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August 1991
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What happened in the coup?
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- Hard-line Communists staged a coup d'etat against Gorbachev's Communist government by arresting him, while he was in Crimea, and putting him under house arrest
- Tanks rolled onto the streets of Moscow and it seemed that all reforms were about to be swept away-for 3 days the world held it's breath |
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Why did hard-line Communists stage the coup?
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- To try to win the support of the people, Gorbachev had ended the dictatorship by the Communist Party and allowed other parties to take part in elections
- This was more than the conservative Communist leaders could stand |
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How did the coup end?
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- Gorbachev was saved by the people of Moscow, led by Boris Yeltsin, the Chairman of the Russian Federation
- He appeared outside the White House in Moscow, the home of the Russian Parliament, and dared the military to attack him - Yeltsin rallied support for Gorbachev and thousands joined him there-many military leaders also announced their support for Yeltsin - In fact, the will of the army was already being undermined by many ordinary Russians, who surrounded the tanks and urged the soldiers to leave - After 3 days, they left-there was no fighting and very little bloodshed - The coup ended when it became clear that the military would not open fire |
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Who ran the Soviet Union after the coup?
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- Gorbachev returned to power as President, in a much diminished capacity
- It was clear that true power had passed to Boris Yeltsin - When Gorbachev tried to make a speech after his rescue, Yeltsin interrupted him and made it clear he had brought about Gorbachev's release - In return for his support, Yeltsin forced Gorbachev to outlaw the Communist Party and Yeltsin took over - It was a signal that Gorbachev had failed in his attempts to save the Soviet Union - His policies had only served to undermine the structure he had tried to protect - Criticism and restructuring had brought about the break-up of a state that was only held together by force |
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When did Gorbachev resign?
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25th December 1991
THE USSR (COMMUNIST RUSSIA) CEASED TO EXIST. |
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What were the key reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991?
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- The existing problems were too great to solve-the Soviet Union was bankrupt-and the reforms were too little, too late
- Gorbachev received no financial support from the West - Glasnost backfired on Gorbachev and led the people to demand even more freedom - Perestroika raised people's hopes for a better life, and when things didn't improve quickly, they became angry - The Soviet Union was made up of many different peoples, only held together by the Red Army-once it was clear Gorbachev was not going to use terror to hold the Soviet Union together, it ceased to exist - Some areas of the Soviet Union wanted to be independent and leave the Soviet Union e.g. Latvia-this resulted in the break-up of the Soviet Union COMMUNIST RUSSIA WAS DESTROYED DUE TO LONG-TERM ECONOMIC WEAKNESSES-IT'S COLLAPSE BETWEEN 1985 AND 1991 WAS VERY QUICK. |
