Government

• Lenin - Disunity of the opposition to the Bolsheviks

  
  

  • fighting for different reasons, Whites wanted Tsarism and others wanted democracy.
  • Yudenich's army was 14,000 men, Denikin's army had 100,000 and Red Army had 3,500,000
  • Anti-Bolshevik forces wasted resources fighting each other
• Lenin - The organisation of the Bolsheviks

  
  

  • War communism set up to coordinate industrial production increase
  • United vision which helped them remain organised throughout years of chaos
  • conscripted people to work in factories for more weapons
• Lenin - The leadership of Leon Trotsky

  
  

  • ensured soldier's loyalty by taking their families hostage and having their actions observed by political officers
  • made sure Bolsheviks controlled railways, prevented ops from gaining supplies or collecting troops
  • Travelled 70,000 miles of the country in an armoured train to inspect troops, give speeches and boost morale
  • created the Red Army, 5 million men by 1921
• Lenin - Bolshevik control of Russia's infrastructure

  
  

  • Controlled Heartland of Russia, like Moscow and Petrograd
  • Controlled railway system, could move troops quickly and could keep forces well supplied
  • Could produce more munitions than their opponents, they stayed stocked while their ops were suffering from shortages
  • War Communism in June 1918 meant they could ensure their forces had food and equipment by taking control of agriculture and industry
• Lenin - terror

  
  

  • Cheka hunted political ops, burned down villages who were hiding them
  • Arrested church leaders opposing them and impaled them on spikes
  • Froze enemies and displayed them as ice statues
  • Responded to 118 peasant uprisings in Feb 1921 alone
  • Executed up to 200,000 people
  • 1/3 of the party purged
• Public approval limiting Stalin's total control

  
  

  • Russian citizens voted for local soviets which built the national government.
• Brezhnev allowed his enemies in the government

  
  

  • Podgory, Shelepin and Kogsgyin had powerful roles in the government.
• Stalin's use of terror

  
  

  • Ordered 10 million dead, 10% of the adult male population.
  • Purged Red Army and anyone who worked under Trotsky.
• Khrushchev's change of the role of the Politburo

  
  

  • Resumed regular weekly meetings.
  • Genuine debate permitted, can be seen when they forced him to resign in October 1964.
• Khrushchev's change in decision making

  
  

  • Reversed the process of centralization.
  • Believed that decisions should be made collectively.
  • Gave power to regional governments.
• Andropov's health

  
  

  • 68 when he came to power.
  • Reliant on kidney dialysis.
  • Died over a year after taking power.
• Khrushchev's continuity of the leaders power

  
  

  • Held important positions like 'First Secretary of the Party' and 'Prime Minister'.
  • Could still be dismissed by Central Committee, seen in 1956 when he was made to step down.
• Khrushchev's change in use of terror

  
  

  • 2 million political prisoners set free.
  • However heavy punishment remained for corruption and extreme criticism.
• Brezhnev - eliminating subjectivism

  
  

  • Saw himself as 'first among equals' so decisions were no longer made by one man.
• Stalin - limited in total control

  
  

  • Article 120 granted pensions to all citizens.
  • Article 125 granted freedom of speech.
• Stalin - role as general secretary

  
  

  • Gave him access to 26 thousand files of personal information.
  • Commanded the secret police and could remove and add whoever he wanted to the party.
• Andropov - wanting younger generations in the government

  
  

  • Replaced 25% of senior officials.
  • Meetings were limited to 40 minutes because of their age.
• Khrushchev - continuity of personnel that made up the government

  
  

  • replaced all of Stalin's supporters with his own, like Kaganovich, Molotov and Sherilov.
  • Replaces 1/2 of the Regional Party Secretaries and 44% of the Central Committee.
• Stalin - allies in the Politburo

  
  

  • Molotov, Kalinin and Kaganovich introduced so they could accept Stalin's decisions without debate.
• Stalin's complete control through personal power

  
  

  • Made himself Chair of the Sunarkom so he could control the Nazis
  • Politburo member since 1917 and the only remaining original member in 1930, gave him immense influence as a senior member
  • High Stalinism made him look like he had enormous power and influence
• Lenin - the apparatus of his government

  • Gov administration was in chaos after 1917 rev
  • Lenin needed to put a gov in place that benefitted hi and gave him authority
  • Soviets, trade unions and factory committees were all brought back
• Lenin - tenth party congress

  • CW increased members (300k in 1917 - 730k in 1921)
  • This threatened stability
  • Led to ban of factions, 'one party vanity'
  • Expulsion from party was penalty
• Lenin - growing centralisation of power

  • He was Chair of the Sovarkom and Politburo member
  • Could bring the party into line by threating to resign
  • 1919 - dismissed suggestions of personal dictatorship as 'utter nonsense'
  • Complete power was limited by illness, series of strokes lost him his voice
  • Power had been centralised in the party structure rather than in Lenin's personal power
• Lenin - the growth of party bureaucracy

  • To stop it, developed the Nomenklatra system, involved drawing up a list of approved Party employees suitable for certain jobs
  • Encouraged loyalty to leaders, to not be loyal was to loose your place on the list
  • Effective tool, party reached 1 million members by 1924
• Lenin - the Soviet constitution of 1924


  • By 1922, Bolsh were strong enough to extend control over outlying regions of old Russian Empire
  • Constitution confirmed the power of the party in the state, but still gave representation to party members from each republics
  • Bolsh had 90% of the land and 72% of the population
• Stalin - role of General Secretary


  • Got it in 1922, others turned it down as they thought it was boring or that it wouldn't further their careers
  • Gave him access to 26,000 personal files on party members
  • Increased membership of industrial workers by 500,000, they were uneducated and politically naïve but he kept them happy
• Stalin Vs Trotsky


  • Lenin's obvious successor
  • Arrogant, not a team player
  • Made few attempts to organise himself or his supporters
  • Was only left wing, Stalin played both sides
  • Stuck to LW, was criticised at 15th party congress
  • Expelled from party and Soviet Union
• Stalin's terror - the Chistka of 1932 - 35

  • The speed at which 1FYP and collectivisation were implemented caused concern among local party officials
  • Chistka designed to remove these officials in order to speed up the implementation of the policies
  • Removed 22% of the party from their posts
• Stalin - the murder of Kirov, 1934


  • Assassinated by Nikolagev, who felt the party hadn't appreciated his talents and had heard rumours of an affair with his wife and Kirov
  • Suggested that Stalin ordered the murder
  • Zinoviev and Kamenev blamed, arrested and tried, sentenced to long terms of imprisonment
  • Kirov was the catalyst for the purging large sections of the party
• Stalin's terror - the show trials

  • Arrests and denunciations of left wing opposition
  • Shows were staged with great care to ensure that other party members were intimidated by the state
  • Included confessions of the accused for their crimes, largely produced under torture
  • After a guilty verdict was delivered, they got the death penalty
• Stalin's terror - purges

  • 356 marshals purged
  • 14/16 army commanders purged
  • 35,000 officers shot or imprisoned
  • Navy lost all their admirals
  • To insure the NKVD posed no threat, Yagoda was replaced with Yezhov
  • Yezhov purged 3000 of his own men in his first 6 months
  • He himself was arrested in 1939 as Stalin needed a scapegoat
• Stalin - limited control

  • Politburo refused to agree on the execution of Ryutin
  • Politburo made him redraft his 2FYP
  • Party members pushed for strong socialist policies, Stalin can be seen as just following their wishes
  • Purges were controlled by him at the top, but had little power over local levels
• Khrushchev - ending Stalin's terror

  • June 1956 - 51,439 prisoners released
  • 26,155 were political
  • By 1961, 1/2 of those accused by Stalin had been rehabilitated
• Khrushchev - destalinisation problems

  • In Hungary, students saw this as an opportunity and initiated a revolution, electing a new Prime Minister
  • Leaked info about Stalin's crimes lead to questioning of the legitimacy of Soviet rule
• Khrushchev - democratisation and decentralisation

  • Designed to increase the participation of workers in the gov
  • 6.9M members in 1954 - 19M members in 1964
  • Fixed terms for senior communists to ensure that they were replaced regularly
  • Meant that officials were demoted, lost their jobs and forced to move
• Khrushchev - the antiparty group

  • Reforms led to an attempt to overthrow K
  • 1957 - majority of presidium voted to replace him
  • K said only Central Committee could make that vote
  • Showed lack of terror used
  • Also showed leaders power was dependant
• Khrushchev - finals reforms

  • Focus on economics and restarting de-Stalinisation
  • Wanted to remove Stalin from public display
  • Fixed 16 year term for central committee members
  • Party halved in 2, one side economic one side agricultural
• Khrushchev - his fall

  • Reforms created discontent
  • Failed to boost economic growth
  • 1964 - plot to overthrow
  • K criticised for economics, foreign policy and cult of personality
  • Party blames his stepping down on ill health to the public
  • K given pension and lived under guard
• Khrushchev - extent of destalinisation

  • Ended terror
  • Ended personal leadership, dependent on CC
  • K never publicly denounced him or admitted to his crimes, damaged his rep
  • B revived Stalin's cult
  • B authorised articles celebrating Stalin
• Brezhnev - gerontocracy

  • 1964-71 - 2 people promoted to Politburo
  • Average age of senior officials kept rising, went from 58 to 75
  • Created a generational gap and meant they didn't know what public wanted
  • Members were ill