Soviet & Post-Soviet Russia

New Soviet Man

(1) basic values towards country/political system (2) set of beliefs consistent w/ official view (3) contributing to the system, i.e. working hard;

Leon Trotsky

A Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army. represented the left opposition in favor of industrialization and democracy. One of the first Politburo members, Trotsky was removed from power, expelled from the Communist Party, and finally exiled from the Soviet Union. Assassinated in Mexico on the orders of Stalin in 1940. Opposed the rise of Stalin.

Kerensky

A Russian lawyer and politician who was the second Minister of the Provisional Government. As a leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, he was a key figure in the Russian Revolution. his government was overthrown by the Vladimir Lenin-led Bolsheviks in the October Revolution. He spent the remainder of his life in exile.

Boris Yeltsin

A Russian politician and the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. During the late 1980s, Yeltsin had been a member of the Politburo, and in late 1987 tendered a letter of resignation in protest. No one had resigned from the Politburo before. This act branded Yeltsin as a rebel and led to his rise in popularity as an anti-establishment figure.

Yuri Andropov

A Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1982 until his death fifteen months later. Attempted to improve the economy by raising management effectiveness without changing the principles of socialist economy. He began to fight violations of party, state and labour discipline, which led to significant personnel changes during an anti-corruption campaign against many of Brezhnev's cronies

Konstantin Cherenko

A Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the CPSU. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985. Did not have a lasting impact in office

Great Purge

A campaign of political repression in the Soviet Union which occurred from 1936 to 1938. It involved a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and government officials, repression of peasants and the Red Army leadership, and widespread police surveillance, suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment, and arbitrary executions.

nomenklatura

A category of people within the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions in all spheres of those countries' activity whose positions were granted only with approval by the communist party of each country or region. Was basically a list of important positions within party.

October Manifesto

A document that served as a precursor to the Russian Empire's first constitution. Issued by Tsar Nicholas II as a response to the Russian Revolution of 1905. It created the state assembly and the duma. However, the landowner nobles were the main beneficiaries.

Mikhail Gorbachev

A former Soviet statesman. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having served as General Secretary of the CPSU from 1985 until 1991 when the party was dissolved. Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of the Cold War. He removed the constitutional role of the Communist Party in governing the state, and inadvertently led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union

Anti-Party Group

A group within the leadership of the CPSU that unsuccessfully attempted to depose Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Party in June 1957. The group rejected both Khrushchev's liberalization of Soviet society and his denunciation of Joseph. Stalin. conservative group

stagnation

A period of little of no growth in the economy. A period of economic, political, and social stagnation in the Soviet Union, which began during the rule of Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982) and continued under Yuri Andropov (1982-1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985).

perestroika

A political movement for reformation within the CPSU during the 1980s (1986), widely associated with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his glasnost policy reform

totalitarianism

A political system in which the state holds total control over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever possible.

Komsomol

A political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the CPSU, although it was formally independent and referred to as "the helper and the reserve of the CPSU". During 1922, with the unification of the USSR, it was reformed into an all-union agency, the youth division of the All-Union Communist Party.

cult of personality

A prominent part of Soviet culture in December 1929, after a lavish celebration for Stalin's 50th birthday. For the rest of Stalin's rule, the Soviet press presented Stalin as an all-powerful, all-knowing leader, and Stalin's name and image became omnipresent. From 1936 the Soviet journalism started to refer to Joseph Stalin as the Father of Nations

Commonwealth of Independent States

A regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union. The CIS is a loose association of states. Although the CIS has few supranational powers, it is aimed at being more than a purely symbolic organization, nominally possessing coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security.

"war of laws"

A series of conflicts between the central government of the Soviet Union, and the governments of the Russian Federation and other constituent republics during the last years of the USSR, which eventually led to the dissolution of the union. When Gorbachev and the CPSU decided to formally release their control of the non-Russian Soviet Socialist Republics, the individual governments began to reassert their own sovereignty and dominance in their respective areas. This included making their own laws separate from the USSR and refusing to pay taxes to the Moscow government. This worsened the Soviet Union's economic disintegration, and was a major factor in its 1991 collapse.

April Theses

A series of directives issued by the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin upon his return to Petrograd. He called for soviets to take power, denounced liberals and social democrats in the Provisional Government, called for Bolsheviks not to cooperate with the government, and called for new communist policies. (1) All power to soviets (2) all land to peasants (3) end to war at any price

Five Year Plan

A series of nationwide centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union. The plans were developed by a state planning committee based on the theory of productive forces that was part of the general guidelines of the Communist Party for economic development. Introduced during the period of Stalinism for the allocation of resources. throughout soviet history, there existed many 5 year plans

intelligentsia

A social class of people tasked with a leadership role in shaping a society's culture and politics. The term originated during the Tsar's rule. They were educated people who felt the need for reform. Eventually, they led to the populist movement. However the group was originally split into pro-westerners and pro-russians.

autocracy

A system of government by one person with absolute power. This term is associated with Tsarism and Tsar Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia.

Proletariat

A term used to describe the class of wage-earners (especially industrial workers), in a capitalist society, whose only possession of significant material value is their ability to work; a member of such a class is a proletarian

New Economic Policy

An economic policy of Soviet Russia proposed by Vladimir Lenin, who called it "state capitalism". The NEP represented a more capitalism-oriented economic policy to foster the economy of the country, which was almost ruined. The complete nationalization of industry, established during the period of War Communism, was partially revoked and a system of mixed economy was introduced, which allowed private individuals to own small enterprises, while the state continued to control banks, foreign trade, and large industries.Peasants could sell grain in the markets.

state capitalism

An economic system in which commercial economic activity is undertaken by the state, where the means of production are organized and managed as business enterprises, including the processes of capital accumulation, wage labor, and centralized management. State capitalism is characterized by the dominance of state-owned business enterprises, corporatized government agencies, and states that own controlling shares of publicly listed corporations

Provisional Government

An emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government. Set in place in Russia after the execution of Tsar Nicholas II. Russia's provisional government was replaced by the Soviet Union. It is important to note that they were a self-appointed cabinet of leftover tsar-supporters.

Petrograd Soviet

City council of Petrograd, capital of the Russian Empire. During the revolutionary days, it tried to extend its jurisdiction as a rival power center of the provisional government. Created the dual power. They were elected in factories and represented an ad hoc ruling.

Dualism/ Dual personality

Essentially, this is when people said/believed one thing, but did another. This term is associated heavily with the socialization of soviet people. It positively showed the stability/unity of beliefs of the soviet people to outsiders. However, we now know that dualism actually masked the instability of the soviet system and the popular discontent. It is also associated with the common involvement in political party activities by the soviet people.

terror

Extreme fear employed by Stalin during his reign, especially during the Great Purge. Included police surveillance, imprisonment of suspected dissidents in the Gulag, and executions. however, terror was used after Stalin's rule; more in the form of persuasion

dissidents

Groups of opposition to Soviet Regime; fairly diverse groups with diverse opinions and objectives. Some wanted reform within the framework of a Leninist system, some wanted a western parliamentary system, some wanted national-religious authoritarianism. Dissidents were harassed by KGB and forced into labor or exile.

rapid industrialization

In order to reverse the backward economy, Stalin advocated and executed rapid industrialization of the soviet union. This included advances in heavy industry and military to catch up with the west.

Duma

It is a form of Russian governmental assembly that was formed during the reign of the last Czar, Nicholas II as part of the October manifesto. Led to the creation of the Provisional government. However, it faded during communist rule.

hare-brained schemes

Khrushchev retired as a private citizen after his successors denounced him for his "hare-brained schemes"; for example, after visiting the united states, Khrushchev had this grand idea to bring corn to russia. however, it was unfit to grow corn, and he failed. bad ideas.

Tsar Nicholas II

Last Tsar of Russia. He and his family were executed in the middle of the night. His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremost great powers of the world to economic and military collapse. It is also important to note that he was the divine ruler under the church.

Nikita Krushchev

Leader after Stalin. Called for the return to Leninism, and denounced the continuity between Leninism and Stalinism. Criticized Stalin heavily. "hair-brained" schemes, unconsistent reformer; but instituted socialist legality. optimism of 1950s

Nikolai Bukharin

Led the right opposition advocating expanding agriculture and gradual economic growth. Originally allied with Stalin, but Stalin's decision to proceed with collectivization drove the two men apart, and Bukharin was expelled from the Politburo and eventually executed.

glasnot

Meaning openness. In 1986 the term was revived by Mikhail Gorbachev as a generalized appeal for increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union. In the six years when the USSR attempted to reform itself glasnost was often linked with the similarly vague slogans of perestroika and democratization. Glasnost was frequently invoked by Gorbachev in connection with policies aimed at reducing corruption at the top of the Communist Party and the Soviet government and moderating the abuse of administrative power in the Central Committee

Virgin Lands campaign

Nikita Khrushchev's 1953 plan to dramatically boost the Soviet Union's agricultural production in order to alleviate the food shortages plaguing the Soviet populace. Khrushchev's plan proposed that 13 million hectares of previously uncultivated land be plowed and cultivated by 1956. This land was located on the right bank of the Volga, the northern Caucasus, Western Siberia, and Northern Kazakhstan.

Bolsheviks

Revolutionary communist group founded on the principles of Marxism. Ultimately became the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Came to power during the October Revolution of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Led by Lenin.

Vladimir Illyich Lenin

Russian Communist revolutionary who was head of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union. Played a leading role in the October Revolution and is a founding father of the Soviet Union. General Secretary of the Soviet Union until his death.

Mensheviks

Social-Democratic Labour Party split. Led by Julius Martov. They were the minority on a crucial vote about Party membership. Martov called for a mass party. Many mensheviks went into exile after the October Revolution.

Leonid Brezhnez

The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. During his rule, the global influence of the Soviet Union grew dramatically, due to the expansion of the Soviet military during this time. His tenure as leader was marked by the beginning of an era of economic and social stagnation in the Soviet Union. Marked by conservatism, reactionary and limited reforms

War Communism

The economic and political system that existed in Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War, from 1918 to 1921. This policy was adopted by the Bolsheviks with the goal of keeping towns and the Red Army stocked with weapons and with food. This included the squeezing of peasants and state-owned farms.

gap between words and deeds

The example set by leading party members on the kinds of matters with which the resolutions on ideology have typically been concerned. This problem was most acute during the Brezhnev era.

Communist Party

The founding and ruling political party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The CPSU was the sole governing party of the Soviet Union until 1990.

Duma (1990s)

The State Duma in Russia is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia (parliament), the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. Under Russia's 1993 constitution, there are 450 deputies of the State Duma, each elected to a term of four years; this was changed to a five-year term in late 2008. In previous elections of 1993, 1995, 1999 and 2003 one half of the deputies were elected by a system of proportional representation and one half were elected by plurality in single member districts

Politburo

The highest policy-making government authority under the CPSU. It was founded in October 1917, and re-founded in March 1919, at the 8th Congress of the Bolshevik Party. It was known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966. The existence of the Politburo ended in 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Stalin

The leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Holding the post of the General secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Dictator; great purge; revolution from above (planned economy, mass terror, rapid industrialization).

Marxism

The political and economic theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, later developed by their followers to form the basis for the theory and practice of communism. Emphasized a socialist order and classless society. Philosophy of history. Was originally predicted for England, not Russia.

nationalization

The process of taking a private industry or private assets into public ownership by a national government or state. Nationalization was one of the major means advocated by reformist socialists for transitioning from capitalism to socialism. Socialist ideologies that favor nationalization are typically called state socialism.

command economy

The same thing as a planned economy, in which the central government sets the targets for each industry. The state controls all resources and levels of output. This was originally instituted by Stalin under his "revolution from above".

General Secretary

The title given to the leader of the CPSU. With some exceptions, from 1929 onwards the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin elevated the office to overall command of the Communist Party and by extension the whole Soviet Union.

"squeezing the peasantry"

This term is associated with Stalin's rule. To fund the new economic plans, Stalin believed that resources had to be extracted from the peasants. This included taxing the peasants.

ban on factions

This was the ban on organized groups within the party based on platform. This was originally introduced by Lenin early in the Soviet Regime to encourage party unity, and restrict debate. It eventually helped Stalin's rise to power because nobody had similar power.

collectivization

Type of agricultural production in which several farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise. This type of collective is essentially an agricultural production cooperative in which member-owners engage jointly in farming activities. Under Stalin, collectivization became widespread, with the goal of increasing food supply for urban population.

socialist legality

associated with krushchev. removed w/ killing. involved in krush legacy.

stability of cadres (personnel)

during the brehznev period, he gave officials more power and stability. it was almost equivalent to tenure. a clear opposition to krushchevs high rate of official turnover. this lead to a stagnate party with a serious lack of innovation.

Secret Speech

speech given by Khrushchev aimed at restoring confidence in the party and denouncing stalin. following stalins death. criticized stalin for (1) cult of personality (2) harmed war effort (3) killed innocent people (4) stalin elevated himself above the party

kulaks

known as the rich peasants. basically any peasant that owned land. they were targeted; they were hostile to soviet power initially after the bolshevik revolution. they were targeted during the collectivization period in stalins rule