CH2 Stalin's Soviet Union

CH 2.0 Stalin’s Soviet Union Timeline: 1917 Feb Revolution: Tsar abdicated in March, Provisional Government set up Oct Revolution: Provisional Government overthrown, Bolsheviks established government. 1918 - Stalin became Commissar for Nationalities and a member of the Communist Party Central Committee (Politburo portion) - Russian Civil War started 1922 - End of Russian Civil War - Soviet Union formed through merger with Transcaucasian, Byelorussian and Ukrainian Soviet republics - Stalin became Secretary-General of the Communist Party 1924 - Death of Lenin - Power struggle within Communist Party ensued - Non-disclosure of testament 1925 - Trotsky removed from the Red Army 1927 - Trotsky expelled from the Communist Party 1928 - First Five-Year Plan started: Focus on expanding industry, transport and power supply a. Lasted until 1932 1929 - Trotsky exiled - Stalin became supreme leader of the Soviet Union 1933 - Second Five-Year Plan started: manufactured goods, farming machinery

1934 - Kirov Affair Start of the Great Terror purges 1938 - End of the Great Terror purges 1939 - Third Five Year Plans: First to allow luxuries such as bicycles and radios a. Disrupted by World War 2, whereby focus was shifted to arms production 1940 - Trotsky assassinated while living in exile in Mexico 2.1 Stalin’s rise to power Character or Circumstance? Character Circumstance Role as Secretary General and Leader of Cheka ● Exploitation to remove opponents’ supporters and appoint own supporters Secretary-General Role ● Chosen by Lenin Interception of Lenin’s Letter to Trotsky ● Realised Lenin’s dislike for self Manipulation of ideological divisions ● Troika: - Attacked Trotsky during party meetings, bringing up his past as a Menshevik and exploiting his opposition to Lenin’s New Economic Policy, criticised Trotsky, claiming that he was disloyal to Lenin and the party - Possible reason for the non-disclosure of Lenin’s Testament ● Breaking of Troika - Sided with rightists Rykov and Bukharin and claimed that Kamenev and Zinoviev were plotting with Trotsky to overthrow government - Isolated them from the CP and expelled them with show trials Non-disclosure of Lenin’s Testament ● ● Read out to the central committee yet no one took notes ● Made it clear that Stalin should be removed from position - Stalin often quarreled with Lenin and his wife and made an abusive phone call to her when Lenin wrote a letter to Trotsky for future collaboration ● Zinoviev who was chairing Lenin’s Funeral decided to suppress Lenin’s Testament - Felt that all it did was criticise party members and was thus brought more harm than good

● Switch to Leftists (Radicals) - Opposed Bukharin and Rykov, who wanted the NEP in contrast with Stalin’s plan for rapid industrialisation and central economic control - Rest of Politburo sided with Stalin and removed Bukharin form Politburo, and Rykov from the position of Premier Impression of Closeness to Lenin ● Cut off lenin’s access to outside world ● Chief mourner and First Pallbearer at Funeral - Suggestive of him being the future heir ● Had body embalmed ● Doctored photographs of Lenin and him ● Named streets and towns after Lenin Trotsky’s absence at Funeral ● Fell sick and did not want to take part in politicking ● Public sentiment that Trotsky was disloyal to Lenin Trotsky’s political failure ● Unpopularity in the Party - Was the head of the Red Army and was thus seen as a great threat - Believed in unpopular idea of a permanent revolution (world revolution) ● Arrogance - Disinterest in politicking - Did not put in effort to rally supporters - Challenged Lenin’s policies (e.g New Economic Policy) ● Result: Resigned as the head of the Red Army in 1925, expelled from party in 1927, assassinated in 1940 2.1: Stalin’s dictatorship Economic Impact Economic Name of Impact Description Result +/- Collectivisation Combination of the small individual farms in the Soviet Union into large, mechanised, collective farms. Negative: ● Rich peasants, Kulaks, burnt, killed and buried their produce, crops and animals ● Great Famine of 1932-1933: due to bad -

● Aims: Efficiency through unity in Farming - Promised secure food supply for workers - Raise funds through crop export ● Measures: High control by state - Land owned by state - Crops distributed by state - Quantities, working hours and wages fixed by state, with possibility of punishment - Shock workers harvest, loss of millions of lives ● Drop in grain harvest ● Loss of animal population Positive: ● Collected enough grain for feeding of industrial towns and purchase of industrial equipment ● Sufficient manpower for factories Rapid Industrialisation ● Produce equipment via factories for the mechanisation of farming (e.g tractors) ● Emphasis: Coal, iron, steel and electricity ● Economic slowdown in third five-year plans Positive: ● Fewer farmers necessary, allowed more to be industrial workers and more food ● Quotas set on workers (i.e. wages, working hours) and production ● 1st FYP - Construction of factories for capital goods (machinery, tools and tractors) - Construction of huge dam which increased energy supply by 6x ● 2nd FYP - Focus on defence and production of armaments Negative: ● Little growth in consumer industries: house-building, fertillisers and woollen textile ● Underproduction in some industries due to the lack of materials; parts needed to repair often delayed or unavailable ● Overproduction ins some sectors which resulted in wastage ● Goods were sub-standard and potentially hazardous Political Context (1933) ● Forced collectivisation, low wages and harsh treatment

● Growing opposition to Stalin amongst people and Politburo - Ryutin, former Moscow Party Secretary criticised Stalin, but could not be removed due to opposition from the politburo The Great Terror Trigger: The murder of Sergei Kirov - Suggested to take over Stalin as Secretary-General - Stalin claimed a conspiracy which targeted the lives of Communist Party members Aims: ● Eliminate all political opponents and the disloyal Measures: show trials, arrests and interrogation, police surveillance and executions ● Show Trials (1936-1938): Forced political rivals to admit to crimes they did not commit / being supporters of Trotsky in a conspiracy to overthrow the government - Victims tortured / had families threatened ● Purges: Mass shooting of the Red Army officials - Suspicious due to Trotsky’s past influence - Used younger and inexperienced leaders ● Arrests and Interrogation - Public informants and secret police rooted out opposition to Stalin - 39 million killed, 3 million imprisoned Negative: ● Loss of generals: weakened army - Lost more than half of experienced generals - No strong leadership - Preparation for WW2 affected ● Arrests and Interrogation: 39 million killed, 3 million imprisoned, fear-stricken society ● Loss of intellectuals, skilled workers and officers - Shrinking of workforce: Poor quality of factory output - Loss of administrators: inefficient management within the government

- Atmosphere of fear left Stalin unchallenged ● Loss of intellectuals, skilled workers and Propaganda: Cult of Perosnality Aims: Build up own profile Measures: ● Soviet Realism: Praise in films, books posters and musicals ● Airbrushed photographs to remove opposition - Trotsky with Lenin during Communist Revolution ● Re-writing of Short Course history book - Emphasised Stalin’s