20th Century Russia Exam 2
Vasilii Shukshin
1929-1974 Of peasant origin; worked on kolkhoz -1963: first collection of stories -1965: film "There Lives Such a Fellow" wins Golden Lion at Venice -1974: dies on location of film shoot "Village prose" writer: heroes are misfits and dreamers
Samizdat
A clandestine publishing system within the Soviet Union, by which forbidden or unpublishable literature was reproduced and circulated privately. Samizdat was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the documents from reader to reader. The practice of manual reproduction was widespread, because most typewriters and printing devices required official registration and permission to access. This was a grassroots practice used to evade official Soviet censorship.
Aleksei Stakhanov
Famed coal miner who mined 102 tons of coal supposedly all by himself. Inspired the Stakhanovite movement, was a campaign that called for over-achievement of expectations to show the superiority of the socialist economy. Became a part of the larger Soviet propaganda state that pounded in to the citizen's head the ideals of the party. This, interestingly, could also be considered as a demonstration of individual existence and prominence in the Soviet society, which was rarely endorsed by the state since the October Revolution.
Sputnik
First artificial Earth satellite, it was launched by Moscow in 1957 and sparked U.S. fears of Soviet dominance in technology and outer space. It led to the creation of NASA and the space race. It also meant the Soviet Union had a missile powerful enough to reach the US.
People's Commissariat (narkomat)
The central organ of specialized state administration in the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1946. First version included people's commissars heading the committee on military and naval affairs and 12 commissions: trade and industry, justice, posts and telegraphs, labor, foreign affairs, food, finance, public education, railroads, internal affairs, agriculture, and nationalities.Was primarily comprised of non-Bolshevik, tsarist civil servants with the education and experience needed to govern. The minority Bolshevik party oversaw their work to ensure implementation of Bolshevik policy.
Petrodollars
US dollars earned through the sale of petroleum/Russian financial benefit from the sale of American products
"Zhdanovshchina"
USSR cultural policy during Cold War, calling for stricter government control of art and promoting extreme anti-Western bias. Formulated by Andrey Zhdanov.
Boris Yeltsin
Was the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history—a period marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. In June 1991 Yeltsin came to power on a wave of high expectations. On June 12 Yeltsin was democratically elected president of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president in Russian history. But Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after endorsing radical economic reforms in early 1992 which were widely blamed for devastating the living standards of most of the Russian population. By the time he left office, Yeltsin was a deeply unpopular figure in Russia, with an approval rating as low as two percent by some estimates. From Prof: Yeltsin resented Gorbachev's "high culture" and doubtless saw him as part of the privileged party elite. While that was good for mobilizing crowds against the CPSU, it left him totally unprepared for the 1990s—for the enormous tasks of economic restructuring, building durable relationships with the West, and so forth.
Ural-Siberian Method
When Stalin instructed local officials in Siberia to increase state grain procurements by seizing grain, closing markets and arresting resistance. (Jan 1928) In '27-'28, they came up with the idea that we need acquire more grain. We need them to produce more so we can feed the cities and export. The peasants say "no thanks," and in '28 the Urals go back to requisition - civil war requsition methods and the intensification of the class struggle. If you caught someone storing lots of grain, they are obviously speculators and must be expropriated - Stalin on Kulaks as class enemies. They are trying to starve us and we know how to deal with them. In '29 they re-criminalize free trade. The truce of NEP is over.
"Ezhovshchina"
"Time of Ezhov", refers to the height of the Great Terror when Ezhov headed NKVD. Example: '37-38 targeting of specific nationalities. Polish operation, nearly 150k arrests over 110k executions. At least 85k were ethnic poles and the remainder were suspected of being Polish. Poles comprised 12.5% of those killed in the Great Terror but only .4% of the population.
"Publicity" (glasnost')
"openness" Gorbachev's attempt to "tell it like it is" and lift some of the censorship laws and heavy propaganda. It was prompted at least to some degree by the problems at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in 1986 which exposed the old Soviet practices of restricting information and official denials to be counter to the needs of the Russian people and the international community. Significance - The arts, literature, and culture saw a major revolution as the USSR moved toward free speech and expression. Works that had previously been repressed in the USSR were published and discussed.
Anti-Party Group (1957)
*FIX* A group within the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union that unsuccessfully attempted to depose Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Party. June 1957. The group, given that epithet by Khrushchev, was led by former Premiers Georgy Malenkov and Vyacheslav Molotov. (other close advisors and members of stalins politiburo) -Stalinist group led by Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovich -Resent Khrushchev's attempt to blame stalin in his secret speech -Khrushcev steals Malenkov's ideas on how to fix things -June 1957, vote to depose Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Party (fails 7 to 4)
"Cult of the Personality"
- Every book, newspaper and film, no matter the theme, carried a reference to Stalin's greatness - Became a religious icon - Stalin's cult so dominated every aspect of life in the USSR that he became the embodiment of the nation
Central Committee
340 members that meet together annually for a week; carry on the business of the National Party Congress between sessions, although their policymaking powers are limited; meetings are called plenums. Supposedly the most important body in a communist party; its influence declined as it grew in size and the party needed daily leadership.
"Perestroika"
A policy initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev that involved restructuring of the social and economic status quo in communist Russia towards a market based economy and society. This reform allowed businesses/factories to make more decisions. Introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Its literal meaning is "restructuring", referring to the restructuring of the Soviet political and economic system.
Leningrad Affair (1949-51)
A purge of over 1000 leading party officials and administrators from Leningrad were arrested in July of 1949 and many were executed. This was done partly because Tito (communist ruler of Yugoslavia who had just fallen out with Stalin) had visited Leningrad and partly because they had been trying to act independently of direction from Moscow.
Politburo
A seven-member committee that became the leading policy-making body of the Communist Party in Russia. The seven Politburo members included Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin.First created in October 1917 by the Bolshevik Party Central Committee to provide continuous and flexible leadership in that year's uprising. Because the party secretariat planned the agenda, provided all documentation for debate, and transmitted Politburo decisions to the lower echelons, the general secretary of the Communist Party (Stalin) became the Politburo's most influential member. Following tLenin's death in 1924, Stalin exercised complete dominance over it and the party in general.
Shakhty Trial
A show trial in the Donbass coal mining region in 1928. When the mines fell behind on their target, 53 engineers were accused of conspiracy to wreck the coal mining industry. 5 of them were executed and the rest imprisoned. This was the first of many show trials directed at "wreckers and saboteurs" when enterprise failed to meet their targets under the five year plans. Shakhty Case: 53 mining workers/engineers put on trial, 5 sentenced to death. A representative attack on specialists under the belief that bourgeois specialists could not be trusted.
Sovkhoz
A type of collective farm in which the land was owned and run by the state. The farm was run by a state-appointed manager and the peasants worked as employees for fixed wages. Originally the government wanted most of the peasants on this type of farm, but the peasants preferred the kolkhoz. Workers were paid wages but might also cultivate personal garden plots. Its form developed from the few private estates taken over in their entirety by the state in the original Soviet expropriations. The number of sovkhozy increased during the period of collectivization beginning in 1929 and spurted again during the 1950s when a number of kolkhozy, or collective farms, the more prevalent form of agricultural enterprise, were converted to sovkhozy.
"Shock therapy"
Abrupt move by Boris Yeltsin to a free market economy in Russia and the CIS. Radical economic reforms aimed at rapid economic stabilization, liberalization, privatization and the opening of the economy to international trade. Shock therapy was pioneered in Bolivia and was then carried over to Poland and Russia with varying degrees of success. The policies of shock therapy provoked much debate that centered on whether or not the final achievements justified the pain that accompanied such radical restructuring.
Anti-cosmopolitanism
Associated with increased anti-semitism, many Soviet Jews lost posts in Party, Doctor's Plot, campaign to eliminate contact with outside world The anti-cosmopolitan campaign was a thinly disguised antisemitic campaign in the Soviet Union which began in late 1948. Jews were characterized as rootless cosmopolitans and were targeted for persecution.
Yeltsin constitution (1993-) [Constitution of the Russian Federation]
Change the structure and tenure of the presidency, ban same sex marriages. Shift toward defined human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Council on the Affairs of Religions (Sovet po delam religii), 1965-1991
Combination of the former two so they can keep tabs on what's happening - prevent the religion from going underground.
Stalin constitution (1936)
Declares that socialism has succeeded and, therefore, we can change from a class struggle principle in the constitution to recognize all classes, including inteligencia. In '36, legalizes the inteligencia - it is now Soviet! Also sets forth all the human rights - freedom of religion. It looks like a highly democratic society. It had unintended consequences because people took it serious. Massive movements resulting that churches be re-opened. In '37, the churches are trying to have members run in party elections.
XX Party Congress (1956)
Defined by Krush. secret speech. The first stage of First Secretary Nikita S. Khrushchev's program to repudiate Stalinism in the Soviet Union. The congress newly elected 40 percent of the full and candidate members of the Central Committee, and five new candidate members were added to the Presidium. Thus, by the end of the congress, Khrushchev had successfully launched his drive to wrest control of the party from the Stalinist old guard and to discredit the excesses of Stalin's rule.
Left Opposition
Faction within the Bolshevik Party from 1923 to 1927, headed de facto by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin's illness and intensified with his death in January 1924. Argued that it was necessary to focus on the spread of revolution to the industrialized nations of western Europe. Believed that Communism couldn't survive unless it spread. Whereas Stalin would eventually seek to keep Russia as the primary source of communism to support the model. "to build up the proletariat against the peasant masses at home, the hostile capitalists abroad" - Prof
Trofim Lysenko
He was a soviet biologist and agronomist who was very influential. He believed that if humans acquired the right characteristics they could be passed on to the next generation. Led Soviet agriculture by this belief After Khrushchev's political demise, in 1964, Lysenko's doctrines were discredited, and intensive efforts made toward the reestablishment of orthodox genetics in the U.S.S.R.
Genrikh Yagoda
Head of NKVD, 1934-36 who most likely orchestrated the Kirov Murder sparking the Show Trials and the Great Purge. He later was demoted from NKVD Director and replaced with Yezhov in 1936. He was arrested in 1937 and put on trial for "wrecking", espionage, Trotskyism, and conspiracy in the last show trial of the 1930s (Trial of 21). He was shot.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Head of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. His liberalization effort improved relations with the West, but he lost power after his reforms led to the collapse of Communist governments in Eastern Europe.
"Passportization"
In '52 Stalin implements a passport system, which had been missing. Identify who you are, where you're from, and your ethnicity. Also, to inhabit urbanization. Everyone could get them at first, except peasants. 12 million people are living in the cities in the first 5 years of the plan, so we've got those kulaks amongst us! We've got to track or limit their movement. Establishing urban control and limiting movement.
"Massive Collectivization" (sploshniaia kollektivizatsiia)
In 1929 you go from experimental to massive. You haven't built enough tractors, put people in the countryside. It's time to forcible, en masse, collectivize the countryside.
Doctor's plot
In 1951-1953, a group of predominantly Jewish doctors from Moscow were accused of a conspiracy to assassinate Soviet leaders. This was later accompanied by publications of antisemitic character in the media, which talked about the threats of Zionism and condemned people with Jewish surnames. Following this, many doctors, both Jews and non-Jews, were dismissed from their jobs, arrested, and tortured to produce admissions. A few weeks after the death of Stalin in 1953, the new Soviet leadership said there was a lack of evidence regarding the Doctors' plot and the case was dropped. Soon after, it was declared that the case had been a fabrication.
Levada Center
Independent, nongovernmental Russian survey and data center. Initially established during the thaw by Yuri Levada, a prof. of sociology. Closed during the Brezhenev-era purge of sociologists from research institutes and universities. Reinstated Gorby during glasnot. Established the All-Union Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM). Breakdown during 2003 Chechen war. Data shows both that Stalin is remembered as a tyrant and fondly.
Abortion decrees (1920; 1936; 1955)
In October 1920 the Bolsheviks made abortion legal within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic with their "Decree on Women's Healthcare". Following the takeover of Russia by the Bolsheviks, in 1920 the Russian Soviet Republic under Lenin became the first country in the world in the modern era to allow abortion in all circumstances, but over the course of the 20th century, the legality of abortion changed more than once, with a ban on unconditional abortions being enacted again from 1936 to 1955, which from then on it was legalised again. Due to this, the country gained a termed "abortion culture". After Stalin's death in 1953, the Soviet government revoked the 1936 laws and issued a new law on abortion. The decree, issued in 1955, stated that "measures carried out by the Soviet state to encourage motherhood and protect infancy, as well as the uninterrupted growth of the consciousness and culturedness of women," allowed for the change in policy. The language of the decree implied that most women would choose motherhood over abortion and that preventing abortion remained a goal of the government, as it was still encouraging population growth.
Leonid Brezhnev
In World War II he was a political commissar in the Red Army and rose to major general (1943). In the 1950s he supported Nikita Khrushchev and became a member of the Politburo, though in 1964 he was the leader of a coalition that ousted Khrushchev, and soon he emerged as general secretary of the party (1966-82). He developed the Brezhnev Doctrine, which asserted the right of Soviet intervention in such Warsaw Pact countries as Czechoslovakia (1968). In the 1970s he attempted to normalize relations with the West and to promote détente with the U.S. He was made marshal of the Soviet Union in 1976 and chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977, becoming the first to hold the leadership of both the party and the state. He greatly expanded the Soviet Union's military-industrial complex, but in so doing he deprived the rest of the Soviet economy. Despite frail health, he retained his hold on power to the end. Most known internationally for actions such as his hard-line stance against the pro-democracy Prague Spring protesters in 1968 and well as overseeing Russia's long, costly, and futile war in Afghanistan.
Kolkhoz
In the Soviet Union, a small farm worked by farmers who shared in the farm's production and profits, a collective farm. Operated on state owned land and the collected members were paid as salaried employees on the basis of quality and quantity of labor contributed.
NKVD Order No. 00447 (30 July 1937)
Instructions to yezhov to sweep former Kulaks, anti soviet elements and criminals. Former Kulaks had likely finished their sentences and Stalin fears a fifth column in case of war. It was social cleansing on a massive scale with its roots in delulakanisation, forced collectivisation and the red terror. Quota: 35,000 arrested at least 5,000 to be shot. Massive over fulfilled their targets and people like kruschev constantly asked for more (to plesse Stalin) ~800k victims estimated.
Nikolai Bukharin
Joined the Bolsheviks in 1906 and, at first, was on the left of the party. However, from 1924, he moved to the right and was the main defender of the NEP until 1928, when he was defeated by Stalin. He was allowed back into the party in the 1930s but was executed in 1938.
GPU (OGPU)
Joint State Political Directorate, the intelligence and state security service/secret police of the Soviet Union from '23 to '34. The agency operated inside and outside the Soviet Union, persecuting political criminals and opponents of the Bolsheviks such as White émigrés, Soviet dissidents, and anti-communists.
Andrei Andropov
KGB head from '67 to '82. Became the Central Committee sec - a central move to become party leader. Beame the president of USSR - following the footsteps of Brezhnev. Caustious reformer believing there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the socialist system. He believed that more discipline, energy, and initiative would turn things around. Corruption, absenteeism, and alcoholism were rife and were his special concerns. His industrial and agricultural policy was quite sensible but ineffective, since the economy was already in terminal decline. Group of cautious reformers rose to prominence under him, including Gorby - who he wanted to succeed him.
Georgii Malenkov
Malenkov briefly succeeded Stalin as leader of the Soviet Union after Stalin's death. After a political struggle with Khrushchev he was demoted, and eventually removed from the Party. Significantly, he was not allowed to retire and this represents how political change was handled in nonviolent ways after the death of Stalin.
Agrogorod (agrocity)
Krush. main idea: we need to enjoy economies of size. Less management overhead, more resources. Have ag cities in the countryside. Turn peasants into rural workers. In '51 he posts an article?
Konstantin Chernenko
Leader of Russia in 1984 for one year, 1984 - 1985, 1984; Replaced Adropov; Died in 1985; Predecessor to Gorbachev. Relatively no change, became ill, succeeded by Gorby.
Party Congress
Made up of representatives of local power approaches, discussed the general program of the party, men vote 1917-1926 and elected using FPTP system to give them the most power. Approved laws were to be reviewed by the Soviet national commissars.
Magnizdat
Magnitizdat was the process of copying and distributing audio tape recordings that were not commercially available in the Soviet Union. It is analogous to samizdat, the method of disseminating written works that could not be officially published under Soviet political censorship. It is technically similar to bootleg recordings, except it has a political dimension not usually present in the latter term.
The Great Turn (velikii perelom)
The move from NEP to the Five Year Plans and collectivisation of agriculture entailed a move to central planning and 'a command economy'
VKP(b) [All-Russian Communist Party of Bolsheviks]
New name to dissociate themselves from the social democrats, Russian Social Labor Party - change the name in 1918 and adopt this new name until 1952. CPSU name after 1952 until '91 when it's abolished. Then it becomes the CPRF, Communist Party of the Russian Federation.
General Secretary
Office created by Stalin in the Communist Party. Came to dominate the entire structure of the party. Power and authority flowed from the top down. Had authority over appointments and assignments at all levels.Before the revolution, the head of the Bolshevik faction, Lenin, appointed the general secretary. In 1919, 3 people shared the position, and in 1922, with recognition of the expanding party organization and the complexity of the newly formed USSR, Stalin became general secretary.Shortly before his death Lenin realized Stalin had become too powerful and issued a warning in his Last Testament that Stalin be removed, but Lenin circumvented the attempt.
"Democratization" (demokratizatsiia)
Party conservatives reacted bitterly to Gorbachev's "New Thinking," most famously in Nina Andreeva's article in 1988, but her sentiments reflected the view of many in the party. In response Gorbachev veered even more strongly toward "democratization"—withdrawing the party's monopoly on political power and admitting more political pluralism. This took the form of permitting "neformaly" (informal organizations, i.e., unregistered), which were essentially proto-party organizations representing different, non (or anti-) party perspectives. In effect, as Gorbachev faced growing opposition in the party, he opted to shift his base to the "people."
Uranilovka (leveling)
People are getting rich - eating oysters in nice rest. - meanwhile there are grain shortages. What happened to the socialism? We want a more egalitarian principle. In 1931, Stalin puts a halt - he denounces leveling as a primitive idea. We need to incentivize and reward those who work. Increasing inequality. This is a perjorative of egal. principle. Krush. will reverse this. Part of why people will look back at the "good ole days."
NKVD
People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs Stalin's secret police who were authorized to arrest, execute, or relegate political opponents to gulag camps. The People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs; the secret police in the USSR from 1934-43. The functions of the OGPU were transferred to the NKVD around the year 1930, giving it a monopoly over law enforcement activities that lasted until the end of World War II. During this period, included both ordinary public order activities, and secret police activities. The NKVD is known for its role in political repression and for carrying out the Great Purge under Joseph Stalin.
Congress of People's Deputies (1989-1991)
Presided over by Gorby, superseding the Supreme Soviet as the highest organ of power. The Congress elected a new Supreme Soviet, and Gorby, became the Soviet president, with broad powers. This meant that all the republics, including first and foremost Russia, could have a similar type of presidency. For the first time, elections to these bodies presented voters with a choice of candidates, including noncommunists, though the Communist Party continued to dominate the system. Modeled after a U.S. and French approach.
Brezhnev constitution (1977)
Recognizes the party by creating, formally, a one-party state - the communist party. Feed the nationalist right to succeed.
"Specialist-eating" (spetseedstvo)
Proletarian and young party members attacked specialists and professionals (generally non-Marxist senior colleagues), causing them to be politically purged from the workplace, and allowing young inexperienced and uneducated workers to take these work positions. False belief that Communist workers were equipped enough to take these positions. Shakhty Case: 53 mining workers/engineers put on trial, 5 sentenced to death. A representative attack on specialists under the belief that bourgeois specialists could not be trusted.
"Plotomania"
Refers to how peasants killed themselves working on these plots. Productive nihilism. Russian low-key vs German-style intensive (4% producing the majority of ag. output).
Virgin Lands Campaign
Reform attempt launched by Khrushchev under which millions of hectares of land in Kazakhstan and eastern Russia were to be plowed and planted for the first time. Turned into a disaster within a decade because the fragile topsoil was blown away by the fierce winds. Alt: the failed Khrushchev initiative to increase Soviet agricultural production by sending settlers to grow staple crops in remote regions of the Soviet Union.
CPSU [Communist Party of the Soviet Union]
Ruling party in russia over a number of decades until 1991 failed coup detante led by hardline authoritarian leaders. it was the largest communist organization in the world.
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Russian and German non aggression agreement, not to attack each other, also, divide up Poland. Hitler wanted a nonaggression pact with the Soviet Union so that his armies could invade Poland virtually unopposed by a major power, after which Germany could deal with the forces of France and Britain in the west without having to simultaneously fight the Soviet Union on a second front in the east. The end result of the German-Soviet negotiations was the Nonaggression Pact, which was dated August 23 and was signed by Ribbentrop and Molotov in the presence of Stalin, in Moscow.
Evsei Liberman
Russian economist who was responsible for the introduction of profitability and sales as the two key indicators of enterprise success. Some of an enterprise's profits would go to three funds, used to reward workers and expand operations; most would go to the central budget (1965). Liberman advanced the idea that the social interest could be advanced through careful setting of microeconomic parameters: "What is profitable for society should be profitable for every enterprise." These proposals were controversial, and criticized especially as regressions towards a capitalist economic system. Critics also argued that reliance on profitability would skew the proportions in which different goods were produced.
Sergei Eisenstein
Russian film maker who pioneered the use of montage and is considered among the most influential film makers in the history of motion pictures (1898-1948)
Nikolai Yezhov
September 1936-December 1938 he was the head of the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) (The Communist Secret Police); responsible for the Great Purge under Stalin] Yezhov was apparently arrested and shot on Stalin's orders, and Beria became head of the secret police (1938-53).
Law on Religious Organizations (April 8, 1929)
Severely prohibited religious activities and called for an education process on religion in order to further disseminate atheism and materialist philosophy. Main target was the Orthodox church. Most of its clergy, and many believers, were shot or sent to labor camps. Theological schools were closed and church publications prohibited.
Destalinization
Social process of neutralizing the influence of Joseph Stalin by revising his policies and removing monuments dedicated to him and renaming places named in his honor. Reforms included loosening government censorship of the press, decentralization of economic decision-making, and restructuring of the collective farms. This was initiated by Khrushchev.
Kirov decree (1 December 1934)
Sovient Union normalizing, tampening of secret police. All of this came to a sudden halt on December 1 when Sergei Kirov, a member of the Politburo who was responsible for heavy industry, was assassinated in Leningrad. Stalin made use of the event to crack down on all forms of dissent. Before he left Moscow for Leningrad, he issued a decree that: - Ordered all those investigating potential terror attacks to expedite their investigations - Courts should not delay the execution of those convicted of terror acts - The Internal Affairs Ministry should carry out the death sentences immediately,
Yuri Gagarin
Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 was the first person to travel in space (1934-1968)
KGB
Soviet secret police agency charged with domestic and foreign intelligence
Khrushchev's "secret speech" (1956)
Speech made to a closed session of the Congress of the Communist Party. Aimed to de-Stalinize, destroy his image as infallible leader and revert policy to an idealized Leninist model. Denounced his inadequate defense preparation before the German invasions. Khrushchev confined his indictment of Stalin to abuses of power against the Communist Party and glossed over Stalin's campaigns of mass terror against the general population. The speech caused shock and disillusionment in the Soviet Union, harming Stalin's rep. and the perception of the political system and party that enabled him. - Promised an end to hard-line communism throughout the Soviet sphere of influence - Proposed peaceful coexistence with the west - Promised to be less strict than Stalin States that there will be a better form of communism that is not as repressive (destalinisation)
"Dizziness from success"
Stalin idea following massive collectivization. "The policy was right, the (local) implementation was wrong. You local bolsheviks screwed it up." - Stalin
"Socialism in one country"
Stalin's concept of Russian communism based solely upon internal Soviet development; the resulting isolation helped the Soviet Union to avoid some of the consequences of the Great depression. Adopted by Stalin in the autumn of 1924, in which the notion of a worldwide socialist revolution was abandoned in favor of making the Soviet Union a successful socialist state. "Our primary task is to save and ensure socialism works here. The world revolution is not eminent, but that does not mean I give up on world revolution. This is the base upon which we must build." Trotsky wants to do it all over and its screwing things up.
"Cadres decide everything"
Stalin, 1935. If you wanted to, you could do it. If you don't have enough ball bearings, you should've found them. Material vulnerability is not an excuse for a real Bolskeviks. "There are no fortresses a Bolshevik cannot storm. Maybe you're making up stories." Will power - not material reality!
First Five-Year Plan (1927/8-1932)
Stalin, concentrated on developing heavy industry and collectivizing agriculture, at the cost of a drastic fall in consumer goods. To ensure that the nation's food supply could support a newly emerging population of workers, collectivization was introduced across the country. Under this scheme, privately-owned farms were often forcibly consolidated by the government into collective, state-owned farms. In its protest, many farm owners—known as kulaks—destroyed their fields and slaughtered millions of livestock, leading to the first instances of food shortage. Quotas put in place were so high that virtually all output would be surrendered to the government, which ironically ironically led to extreme food shortages in agricultural regions.
Council on the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church (Sovet po delam RPTs) 1943-65
Stalin: I need the church. It makes people patriotic. There were tank divisions sponsored by the church. Secondly, this looks good to our allies if we look like we're not violently atheist. Also, those orthodox in the Baltics known to look to us! He allows the re-development of orthodox churches. The council now becomes the tracker.
"Intensification of the class struggle"
Stalinst theory in 1929 - in the village class relations have become so hostile that everyody wants to nail the kulaks, and the middle peasant has gone over into collectivization. Intensify the class struggle to turn them against the kulaks. And then tensions are increasing. Elaborates this idea in the village to the city - we are becoming a threat to capitalism. In England and Germany, they will realize they are missing out, and they will have to try and intervene. If you don't locate them, you might be one of them.
Constitution of the USSR (1924, 1936, 1977)
Start with 4, end with 15 in the union. Establishes a uniform system - more about political structure and not about rights.
Machine Tractor Stations (MTS)
State-owned institution that rented heavy agricultural machinery (e.g., tractors and combines) to a group of neighbouring kolkhozy (collective farms) and supplied skilled personnel to operate and repair the equipment. 2500 of these were set up to support collective farms to maintain and hire out machinery. Peasants had to hand over 20% of their produce for this service. These were also used to control the collective farms politically, to root out anti-soviet elements, establish party cells in the area and ensure that each collective farm handed over its quota of grain.
Novocherkassk massacre (1962)
Strike in response to the sharp price increases on butter and meat at the Novocherkassk Electric-Locomotive Works, which employed 13,000 workers. Spread to neighboring industrial enterprises. Local authorities proved fruitless, central govt. (Khrushchev) sent 6 party leaders. Thoursands of troops with tank units were deployed. Workers marched to present demands, confrontation broke out resulting in 24 deaths and many serious injuries. Regime covered up what had happened and it wasn't until Gorby era that they were published. Contributed to the demise of the USSR. Never daring to raise food prices again, the leadership was compelled to subsidize agriculture even more heavily, thus severely unbalancing the economy. Moreover, as information about the massacre of strikers became known, the legitimacy of what has long been proclaimed "the workers' state" was decidedly undermined.
Lavrentii Beria
Supervised a purge of the police bureaucracy itself and administered the vast network of labour camps set up throughout the country. In February 1941 he became a deputy prime minister of the U.S.S.R., and during World War II, as a member of the State Defense Committee, he not only controlled the Soviet Union's internal-security system but also played a major role in raw-materials production using the slave labour in the camps. Soon after Stalin's death in March 1953, Beria became one of four deputy prime ministers as well as head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an organization which at that time combined both the secret political and regular police functions. During the ensuing struggle for power, Beria apparently attempted to use his position as chief of the secret police to succeed Stalin as sole dictator. He was arrested, deprived of his government and party posts, and publicly accused of being an "imperialist agent" and of conducting "criminal antiparty and antistate activities." Convicted of these charges at his trial in December 1953, Beria was immediately executed.
"Near Abroad"
The 14 former Soviet republics that, in combination with the dominant Russian Republic, constituted the USSR. Since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has asserted a sphere of influence in these now-independent countries, based on its proclaimed right to protect the interests of ethnic Russians who were settled there in substantial numbers during Soviet times. These 14 countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
Soviet Census (1937)
The 1937 Soviet census was the most controversial of the censuses taken within the Soviet Union. It was held on January 6, 1937, and was the first census to be held since the 1926 census. The results of the census were suppressed by the Soviet government, and the census was never officially published. The census was controversial for a number of reasons. First, it was the first census to be held during the Great Purge, a period of political repression in the Soviet Union. Second, the census asked questions about religion and ethnicity, which were sensitive topics in the Soviet Union. Third, the census results showed that the Soviet population was growing more slowly than expected, which was a source of concern for the Soviet government. The suppression of the 1937 Soviet census has had a lasting impact on the study of Soviet history. The census results are a valuable source of information about the Soviet population, and their suppression has made it difficult to study the social and economic changes that took place in the Soviet Union during the 1930s.
Kosygin economic reforms (1965-69)
The 1965 Soviet economic reform, sometimes called the Kosygin reform or Liberman reform, were a set of planned changes in the economy of the USSR. A centerpiece of these changes was the introduction of profitability and sales as the two key indicators of enterprise success.
T-34
The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank that was produced from 1940 to 1958. It was the most-produced tank of World War II. It was a revolutionary design for its time, and it had a profound impact on the conflict on the Eastern Front. The T-34 was characterized by its sloped armor, which provided good protection against anti-tank weapons. It also had a powerful 76.2 mm gun, and it was relatively fast and maneuverable. These factors made the T-34 a formidable opponent on the battlefield, and it played a key role in the Soviet victory in World War II.
"Cotton affair"
The Uzbek cotton scandal, also known simply as the cotton scandal or the Uzbek scandal, was a widespread corruption scandal in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic beginning during the later years of the rule of Leonid Brezhnev and continuing until 1989. The criminal trials regarding involvement in the cotton scandal were widely-publicised, in an effort to increase public faith in the government following the increased socio-economic imbalances caused by the Era of Stagnation. A total of 800 criminal cases were initiated, and more than 4,000 individuals were found guilty of various charges relating to the scandal. Exposed during Gorby era. Resulted in millions of Rubles paid out for non-existent cotton production.
Crimea: Transfer from RSFSR to UkrSSR (1954)
The fact is that water resources in Crimea are among the poorest in Europe. According to the statistical data, in 1864, fresh water was not suitable for drinking in half the settlements of the peninsula. Naturally, crop farming would be next to impossible there without additional irrigation. The destiny of Crimea in 1954 was determined by a pragmatic and seemingly simple economic decision to build a canal between the two Union republics that were at that time friends.
GRU
The foreign military intelligence agency of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom)
The highest executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Soviet Union, and the Soviet republics from 1917 to 1946. Founded in the Russian Republic soon after the October Revolution and its role was formalized in the 1918 Constitution to be responsible for the "general administration of the affairs of the state". Unlike its predecessor, the Russian Provisional Government, which had representatives of various political parties, the Sovnarkom was a government of a single party, the Bolsheviks. The Sovnarkom was dissolved and transformed into the Council of Ministers in 1946.
Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986)
The nuclear meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was a significant turning point for Gorbachev's leadership because it showed that glasnost could never happen. The Soviet authorities reaction was to impose a news blackout after the 26th of April in classic Soviet authoritarian styleThis is a prime example of the USSRs deep-rooted will to cover up truths and misinform its citizens20 years after the disaster Gorby stated that Chernobyl "was perhaps the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet union five years later."
"Gigantomania"
The social engineering and modernization efforts in agriculture and industry of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin have been described as gigantomaniac. The creation of extremely large industrial complexes, farms, engineering efforts, buildings and statues was to prove the superiority of the socialist system over capitalism. These projects also aimed for a mass transformation of the Russian peasant society into a proletarian one: massive construction sites, such as Magnitogorsk, also functioned as ideological education centers for the workers or Gulag inmates.
Dekulakization (raskulachivanie)
This term refers to the campaign to eradicate the class of better-off peasants as part of the drive to collectivize Russia. This often involved shooting the adult males. Others were sentenced to prison camps. In most cases, whole families were deported to Siberia. About 10 million people were deported to Siberia as a result of this campaign. Ideological belief that kulaks are class enemies and pro-capitalist, and it is easier to extract grain from a collectivized farm (see: collectivization)
Council on the Affairs of Religious Cults (Sovet po delam religioznykh kul'tov), 1944-65
To oversee the non-Orthdox churchs and collecting info about the believers - Baptists, Jehovahs. Legalizing is the way of keeping tracking of what's going on.
Right Opposition
Trotsky's major opponent, Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, and Mikhail Tomsky led this group (the right) arguing that continuing NEP and building communism within the Soviet state was the way to proceed. Asserted that they represented the influence of the peasantry and the danger of capitalist restoration and policies encouraging kulaks and NEPmen to "get rich" were seen by Right Oppositionists as encouraging kulaks and NEPmen to "grow into" socialism. Plummeting grain prices cause Stalin to launch the great turn, abandon NEP for rapid industrialization and mass collectivization.
Rehabilitation of repressed
Two stages. 1: '52 through '56. No prayers for Stalin recovery! Begin releasing people from the camps - a lot of Krush. Relatives - they are restored to the party and to their property. It's only a few thousand, but they begin to investigate the show trials. When Krush. makes his secret speech in '56, he is drawing on the results of the investigation. He has these primarily elitist characters who he knows who had been purged and is shocked. Then it tapers off. 2: With Gorby in the late '80s, there is huge rehabilitation. You can get the file on your relative and also reclaim the property. It comes with political and economic value. Only those who fought for the germans were not rehab'd.
XVII Party Congress (1934)
Where Stalin faces open opposition. From old Bolsheviks in particular - most of them would be purged.
Council of Ministers
With the leading role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) fixed by law in the 1936 Soviet Constitution, the governments were little more than the executive bodies of the Central Committee of the CPSU. The CPSU's leading role was also stated in the 1977 Soviet Constitution, and was not abolished until 1990. After the fall of the Soviet Union the Russian Council of Ministers became the chief body of administration for the President of the Russian Federation. At times it consisted of as many as 60 ministries and state committees and up to 12 Vice-Premiers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of Russia and confirmed by the State Duma. The Chairman is second in line to succeed to the Presidency of Russia if the current President dies, is incapacitated or resigns.
"Defitsitizm" (deficit-ism)
Word appears in '50s. Everywhere in the '80s. Allotting more rubles for the same of fewer goods. Before you had Petrodollars.
Georgii Zhukov
Zhukov was a Soviet general during the Second World War. He is associated with making the Soviet Union's victory in the Second World War possible through his coordination of Soviet Armies in particularly important battles. Rose through the ranks and became head of the Soviet forces on the Manchurian border Directed a successful counter offensive against Japanese forces in 1939 a Russian career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the Axis Powers' occupation and conquer Germany's capital, Berlin. He is the most decorated general in the history of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.
Ryutin Platform (1932)
a.k.a. 'Stalin and the Crisis of the Proletarian Dictatorship' A document by Ryutin( former Moscow party secretary), demanding Stalin's removal that got passed around the Central Committee in 1932. Stalin wanted the death penalty for Ryutin, but other Politburo member opposed. Many of his alleged supporters were expelled in the party purges 1933-35.
"Acceleration" (uskorenie)
an economic initiative designed to end economic stagnation and get the soviet economy moving again. It meant a huge increase in investment which was designed to modernise the soviet economy and make it more efficient Acceleration was the idea that the Soviet system was not broken just inefficient By streamlining processes and removing obstacles, problems could be solved and stagnation left behind
Confederation of Independent States
multi-national organization of 15 former Soviet republics; holds little formal power, but binds the nations together through trade agreements It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Nikita Khrushchev
ruled the USSR from 1958-1964; lessened government control of soviet citizens; seeked peaceful coexistence with the West instead of confrontation A Soviet leader during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Also famous for denouncing Stalin and allowed criticism of Stalin within Russia.
