2019 MH Russia and the Soviet Union 1917-1941 Notes PDF

Option F: Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941 Content Focus Students investigate key features of the history of Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941. The Historical concepts and skills content is to be integrated as appropriate. Key features ● Bolshevik ideology in theory and practice ● competing...

Option F: Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941 Content Focus Students investigate key features of the history of Russia and the Soviet Union 1917–1941. The Historical concepts and skills content is to be integrated as appropriate. Key features ● Bolshevik ideology in theory and practice ● competing visions for the Bolshevik Party and the USSR ● Bolshevik consolidation of power ● political and economic transformation ● social and cultural transformation ● nature and impact of Stalinism ● aims, nature and effectiveness of Soviet foreign policy Content Students investigate: Survey ● Bolshevik consolidation of power, including: – an overview of Bolshevik ideology, the October coup 1917 and early Soviet government (ACHMH136) – the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Civil War and the introduction of the New Economic Policy (ACHMH136, ACHMH138) NEP - Triggered by the Kronstadt rebellion after sailors rebelled outside of Petrograd, killed by the CHEKA in March 1921 - Was put in place after the civil war in 1921 replacing War communism to 1924 ● Grain requisitioning had ended, and peasants gave a portion of their grain and could sell the rest ● Famine ravaged areas were let off payment for the first 12 months ● Aimed to alleviate the famine by encouraging peasants to put out more grain The ban on private trade ended Private businesses like shops were reopened Money economy reappeared Inflation was gradually brought under control Workshops and small factories were allowed ❖ Government still controlled large groups like banks and oil and coal ❖ Strict military measures had been removed and factories run by trusts - Whilst many positives it allowed corruption (not the aim of socialists) including NEP men: Men buying surplus of goods and reselling them in other markets creating mass product and defying the system - Was not effective long term as it defied Bolshevik ideals causing many people to be against it like Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev Supporters include Bukharin - By 1926 it was progressing to pre-1913 level and saw emergence of products such as pig iron and steel Historian Martin McCauley says NEP was a leap out of socialism and could not be masked as capitalist by nature. Brest-Litovsk - In 3​rd​ March 1918 Lenin signed the treaty with the Germany (central power) to withdraw from the war as it was a big appeal for Bolshevik support plus Russia was being fucked - Lost 92 million people, 25% of industry, 90% of coal mines and 32% of agriculture - People were angry as it caused their economy to be worse, was a big trigger for the Civil war Civil war - 1918-1920 was Bolsheviks vs everyone else (red vs Whites) also greens who were mostly peasants but did not do much as were bad - Whites included counter revolutionaries like pro tsar, anti bolsh, Europeans like French and British helped them out - As so many sides on the whits it caused them to be so shit as they were split, not fighting for a common cause, didn’t like to cooperate - Trotsky was leader of the Bolshevik army during the civil war, travelled around on a train with his printing press conscripting men from 7,000 to 3 million, he was disciplined and violent and had a news paper called ‘en route’ which was used for propoganda - Triggered war communism War communism - 1918-1920 - Main aim was for the Bolsheviks to survive so only concern was winning the war Policies: ❖ All industry was nationalised and under state control- factory committees were ineffective, and specialist were put in to run things usually the previous bosses ❖ Workers could not leave their jobs unless they had permission and strict labour discipline was put in place ❖ Market economy was ended, government decided what was made and distributed with rations giving soldiers the most and former bourgeois the lease. This caused black market ❖ 1919 party caused hyperinflation making money useless causing a bartering system to emerge ❖ Land was socialised causing grain requisitioning. If peasants hid their grain CHEKA was sent to force them to give it and often used violence Impacts: - Army was fed and given supplies allowing them to win the war and War communism had many features of Bolshevik ideals - Many people died, and it caused food shortages and famine - CHEKA was violent - Peasant often refused to produce as much - Fuelled the Kronstadt rebellion March 1921 Sovnarkom - Formed after the October revolution 24-25 1917 Policies ❖ Land was given to the peasants ❖ November 1917 decree workers control allowed workers to supervise their managers ❖ National minorities were allowed self determination ❖ Legal courts were dismissed, and new judges chosen ❖ Marriage could take place without a priest and divorce was easier ❖ 27 October Press Law where most bourgeois papers and some socialist papers closed ❖ CHEKA was formed ❖ Constituent assembly was dissolved January 5, 1918 due to Bolsheviks not winning the election October/November 1917 - October 24/25, 1917 Bolsheviks stormed Petrograd taking over important buildings and arresting provisional government officers at winter palace where they ‘won’ - Battle ship Aurora 9:40pm fired blank at winter palace Bolsheviks ideals - Inspired by Marxism and the communist manifesto written by Marx 1840 - Dialectic was Bolsheviks interpretation specially dealt with modes of production - Lenin was the head, was in exile until Bolsheviks came into power and liked writing Focus of study ● The Bolsheviks and the power struggle following the death of Lenin, including: – the impact of the Bolshevik consolidation of power, including the creation of the USSR (ACHMH138) Lenin purged all party members who he believed opposed him (radishes) - CHEKA expelled ¼ of the party - New system of bureaucratic centralism developed which allowed Stalin to become entrenched in the party - 10​th​ party congress (March 16-18, 1921) was when Lenin decreed this as well as making Stalin General Secretary Formation of the USSR formed 1922 December - Lenin and Stalin hope nationalists would support communism and it would become a federation with things being dealt with in Moscow - Didn’t happen as people didn’t want their lands given to the servants so they captured land forcing communist ideology forming Soviet Union constitution in 1924 - Each republic had their own government but main things such as health and education were dealt with in Moscow and GPU was still there to control ppl Features of USSR Constitution - Outlined rights and election process for local republican and All-Union soviet reps - Adults given right to vote - Guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion for all Parliament - All union congress who only meets for a few days each year - Central executive committees who was elected, met more frequently and had the power- elected members of to become the cabinet of the USSR (SOVNARKOM) - The politburo was a small group of members of the party that made the policies – power struggle between Stalin, Trotsky and other leading Bolshevik figures in the 1920s (ACHMH137) The Bolshevik leaders and their ideas on the future of USSR (1922-1927) Leon Trotsky Nikolai Bukharin On society - Willing to use violence to suppress opposition - Criticized authoritarianism and bureaucratization because he believed that it would be harmful in developing a socialist society - Wanted the party to be able to express their own views and ideas freely - Led delegations discussing peace with Germany - - Wanted to teach the peasants why socialism is a good thing ‘’a road to socialism that would be peaceful and bloodless without the changing of metal weapons Socialism could not be built with the same tools as capitalism On economy - Wanted to prioritize industrialization in order to overcome Russia’s backwards economy - To industrialize required a buildup of capital investment, which he planned to get through high taxes, high industrial prices, and low wages. - Believed it was important to overcome Russia’s fundamental issues including poor working habits - Opposed economic arguments of Trotsky and left - Agreed industrialization was necessary and resources would have to come from the largest part of the free economy (peasant economy) Lev Kamenev - - Gregory Zinoviev - - Joseph Stalin - - – Advocated conditional support of the Provisional Government Had dissident/ protesting views Led opposition to Lenin’s call for government overthrow Was part of the conspiracy to kill Stalin and other Soviet Leaders, including the party leader, Sergey Kirov Sided with Bolsheviks in 1903 Opposed Lenin’s decision to seize power in October - He sided with Lenin but opposed the revolution He joined the anti-Trotsky ‘troika’ For a long time, they supported Trotsky’s view that the revolution had to spread to other countries for the soviet system in other countries to survive Made a speech in November - Stalin was viewed as a good organizational man Member of the government as the commissioner of nationalities. A powerful Secretariat was created to handle all paperwork for both the politburo and Orgburo Stalin supported the moderate Rightists - - - In London, he explained policies of new Soviet Government Sided with Trotsky and Zinoviev regarding the New Economic Policy In 1924, Kamenev formed a troika along with Zinoviev and Stalin, to block Trotsky He defended Petrograd in the civil war Initially he was pro-NEP Stalin abandoned Bukharin’s economic policy, arguing that Industrialization should take precedence over agriculture reasons for the emergence of Stalin as leader of the USSR by the late 1920s (ACHMH137) Stalin was cunning and was underestimated as people thought he was not smart and chromatic and everyone like Trotsky. “he was a grey blur which flickered obscurely and left no trace” Historians L. kuchen and A. Abraham say Stalin used divide and rule on others to defeat them and because Stalin was not a theoretician and ppl thought Lenin’s successor would be one so people just ignored Stalin, so he went un noticed 1. Stalin controlled the party as he was the Commissioner of Nationalities(could build up contact in further away groups and count them as an ally) Commissar of Workers and peasants ( was to remove inefficacy and corruption within the party and allowed him to see the workings of the party and General Secretary (responsible for promotions and demotions and appointments allowing him to manipulate also made him the hidden ruler) 2. Lenin died in 1942 and Lenin was going to demote him and hated Stalin so good time when Lenin died 3. May 1924 Stalin convinced the party to have a private reading of Lenin’s will as he commented on people within the party including Stalin and they should “find a way to remove Stalin” But Zinoviev was able to fight for him arguing that they should ignore Lenin as people could work with Stalin, so he was saved 4. Leninism allowed Stalin to justify himself saying he was a prophet of Lenin and and quoted him The Soviet State under Stalin, including: – the nature of the USSR under Stalin, including dictatorship and totalitarianism (ACHMH138) Totalitarianism - Totalitarianism was defined during the cold war to target the Soviet as an enemy. Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinksi defined it having 5 characteristics: 1. A single party lead by a charismatic dictator 2. A party ideology 3. State control over economy 4. State use of terror and repression 5. Party control over the armed forces - The Soviet had these characteristics in the following ways: 1. Only one party was legal in the Soviet with all effective opposition coming to an end after the civil war and Stalin banned any opposition within the party by 1929. Stalin also created a personality cult around himself saying he was the nation’s strong in troubled times 2. Stalin used ideology to justify his actions and to motivate citizens. They also wanted ideology to replace religion 3. Stalin controlled the economy with his five-year plans influencing and deciding where one worked, lived and studied. Collectivisation and industrialisation showed further control of economy as well as the kulaks. 4. Collectivisation was a key example of the use of terror forcing peasants to give over grain. The purges of the late 1930s and use of gulags were further example of the use of terror to control the country. Education and media were also controlled promoting cult of personality and only socialist realism art style was allowed 5. By 1930s the state had control over all institutions including the army, sports, arts and the young communist league with all organisations having party officials in them - However, there is some evidence saying that the soviet was totally totalitarianism, this is due to: 1. Vast size of the soviet and unreliable transport links meaning that what is said in Moscow is hard to enforce everywhere 2. Stalin blamed the excessiveness of collectivisation on the difficulty of controlling the GPU, suggesting he was not always in control 3. James Harris suggests that the more Stalin used his power the harder it was to enforce it 4. Jochen Hellbeck suggested that some citizens just like Stalin and were acting on free will 5. Sheila Fitzpatrick like Hellbeck suggests that many citizens backed the regime and conformed outwardly. – economic transformation under Stalin and its impact on Soviet society, including collectivisation and the five-year plans (ACHMH138) 1928-1931 Collectivisation: - The process of forcefully acquiring grain from peasants1927-1937. This was both for economic benefits to gain capital and to demolish any chance of a peasant uprising. - Started in 1927 when grain was given to the state, but as not enough grain was given it was forcefully taken and from 1929-1937 collectivised farms (Kolhoz) were made to prevent this - This caused peasants to sow less and kill live stock as rebellion or refuse to hand over grain. This caused Stalin in 1930 to start rapid collectivisation where kulaks (rich peasants) were evicted and the class destroyed Impacts: - Growth of grain export from .23 million tonnes in 1921 to 5.05 million tonnes in 1931 - Ukrainian famine 1932-1933 many said forced killed 3.3 mill – 7.5 mill - Many killed or sick in labour camps in Siberia (5-10mill) - Livestock lost, 40% of cattle lost, 55% horses, 66% sheep, %55 pigs - Size of grain harvest fell from 1930-1934 - Economic success allowing for capital of industrialisation. Five-year plans: First (October 1928- December1932) - 80% of investment on heavy industries like coal, iron, steel, electricity - Steel, electricity, iron production doubled and steel by a third - Industrial companies were built, and agriculture mechanised - Little growth in consumer industries (house building, food, wooden textiles) - Small workshops squeezed out due to high material demands - Workers constantly changing jobs created instability and chemical goals not met and others - Great depression made it harder to succeed from exports Second (January1933- December1937) - Heavy industries still featured strongly benefiting from last 5 years but emphasis on communications and transport - 1937 USSR self sufficient in machine making and metal work - Tin, zinc and copper mined for the first time - Consumer industries were lagging behind and so not enough stuff for need - Oil production did not make the expected advances - Goals were not as high meaning not as much pressure, food rationing ended, and families had more disposable income Third (January 1938 – June 1941) - Only went for 3 years due to Germany - Heavy industry especially engineering and military prioritised due to military needs - Defence and armaments grew rapidly as they were a main focus - Fuel prices rose due to oil production not meeting goals - Consumer goods suffered again - Difficulties in 1938 due to hard winter and division of military - Purges created shortages of qualified managers and officials. Evidence of success and achievements Evidence of failures and weaknesses -Electric out put when from 1.9 kWh in - things like cotton wool and vodka didn’t 1913 to 48.3 kWh in 1940-- coal, steel and grow e.g. woolen output went from 105 in iron improved 1913 to 120 million linear meters in 1940 - Generators, electric motors, tractors and - rapid growth of cities meant that they were lorries were produced for the first time in over crowded and poor conditions inducing 1928 diseases and were not fed - 1937 USSR was self-sufficiency in machine making and metal work - Communications and transport rapidly grew – needed as USSR so big - machinery and armaments grew - Magnitogorsk - Not meeting targets meant they were too high or failing--- political system does not encourage honesty - by 1938 steel output was not growing as much (only grew by 0.4 million tons from 1937-1940) - people lying about targets meant things were all over the place Impacts: - Improved the economy from agrarian to industrial 2​nd​ to only the US - Urbanisation was achieved with 200,000 cities/ towns emerging per month but bad living conditions with rats, illness, crammed - Transport was overcrowded - Lack of consumer goods - Population grew in urban areas and working habits changed to be more strict - Projects like the Volga canal (Moscow) and Moscow metro were forced labour with awful conditions and canal not deep enough (lol) - Military improved - Goals sometimes forged and sometimes quantity not quality – political transformation under Stalin: growth of the Party, use of terror, show trials, gulags, propaganda and censorship (ACHMH138, ACHMH139) Stalin had a bad temper, and this caused Lenin to say bad things in his will Propaganda​: - blamed kulaks for food shortages meaning he seems alright for sending them to gulaks Terror​: - could be shot for hoarding 5 grains of corn - workers were sent to either shoot, deport or send peasants to gulaks - people were shot if he thought they were against him, ppl in the 17​th​ party congress who voted for Kirov were shot Purges - when communist party removes inefficient, corrupt or undesirable members and the ideology was to remove those who were in the party for the wrong reason - also kicked off by 17​th​ party congress where members were saying Stalin was to extreme and were favouring Kirov - began when Kirov was mysteriously murdered 1934 which kicked off mass amount of arrests of party officials, old party members and ordinary citizens Stages: 1. Chitska 1932-35: 20% of party members were removed non-violently 2. Show trials: prominent old Bolsheviks were publicly executed 3. Yezhovschina 1937-38: period of mass terror, thousands of party members, state officials, members of the armed forces, professionals etc were either executed or sent to camps Reasons 1. Stalin’s personality- vengeful and paranoid 2. Stalin’s self-image- hero of the revolution 3. Stalin’s tactics- comfortable with the use of terror as a means of control 4. Stalin wishes to remove anyone who could oppose him 5. Economic factors 6. Reaction to the threat of war 7. Problems between central party Moscow and parties in the regions 8. Terror sustained the importance of the NKVD 9. Terror achieved momentum of its own The 3 significant factors are his tactics allowing him wo use terror and violence, him wanting to stay in power and so kicking out those who he thinks will betray him and terror just gaining momentum on its own. Impact of the purges Positive for Stalin: - Assisted him to have control over the party, old party members were purged, only 8% of party members left where members before the 1920s and only 25% who were in the party between 1921-1928. This meant that most members were only a part when Stalin was head and they only knew the obedience and organisation that Stalin used. - The secret police controlled the party with Stalin controlling them allowing him to have ultimate control - He eliminated all possibilities of an uprising so if Hitler invaded everyone would assist Stalin Negative for Soviet Union: - Millions of people died and in 1937 the population was 16million under what was expected - Millions of people in the armed forces were killed - Whilst the purge main target was political members civilians were targeted too as they needed to fill quotas of people killed - Government change caused unrest Party: - Bukharin and other rights opposed this - Kirov tried to threaten Stalin inn 1934 until he was shot - Trotsky died in Mexico with an ice-pick in his head Gulag - Concentration and labour camps - Pretty sucky - Bad conditions many people died from disease Constitution - Changed to display to the outside world the victory of socialism - It got rid of the congress and replaced it with the Supreme Soviet and the Soviet of Union - However, the Soviet of union had very little power and elections been pointless as only one party was in the election and potential candidates had to be approved - Minorities could live freely s long as they lived for the party - Military, budget and foreign affairs were dealt with by Moscow – social and cultural change in the USSR under Stalin (ACHMH138) - social classes were pretty much dissolved with workers revieving better treatment then bourgeoisie - Churches were ddestroyed and burned due to them not wanitng people to follow the church - Minorities were allowed to function but had to support the party, racism was still common including anti semitism ● Soviet foreign policy, including: – the nature of Soviet foreign policy 1917–1941 USE ESSAY WROTE FOR SIR – the role of ideology in Soviet foreign policy 1917–1941 Other countries views - Did not attend Paris peace conference - Did not join league of nations - Murdered the Romanovs so people did not like them It was a state and needed to establish relations with neighbouring countries - Establishment of the Communist Internations - To coordinate the activities of communist parties throughout the world - Assis communist revolutionaries November 1917-1921 - Lenin and Trotsky called for revolution and they believed revolution would spark in Western countries - Comintern was established to promote and assist revolutions - Outbreaks of revolution in Germany and Hungary were well received. - Treaty of Brest Litovsk with Germany showed national interest and they were negotiating with non-socialist - Civil war meant they were not interested in starting a revolutionary war 1921-1933 - Defeat of left persons within the party ensured economic development was a priority over ideology. This was seen in treaty’s such the Treaty of Rapallo, the involvement in the Genoa Conference and the promotion of German relations. Not good as they were non communist - Communist attempt within Germany 1923 is welcomed not supported - - Zinoviev letter and comintern’s support for British miner’s general strike 1926 displayed wishful thinking Stalin promoted idea of ‘socialism in one country’ impacting Cominterm to avoid cooperation with political powers with hopes of great depression causing revolution instead The Comintern welcomes Fascist revolution within Germany as it is believed that it is the final stage before the worker’s revolution defying previous Bolshevik ideology. 1933-1938 - Collectivisation saw the trade of goods with capitalist countries ignoring ideology for economic gain - Comintern was instructed to promote nation interests of Soviet instead of starting revolution - Soviet joined league of nations with other capitalist countries for military alliance as they feared Japan and Germany - Involved in Spanish civil war so not Fascist like Germany and Italy and to purge Trotskyites 1938-1941 - Third five-year plan was about militarisation - Non-aggression pact with Germany for defence and security - All propaganda for ideology and revolution ceases to focus on nation interest