Summary of IB HL History of Europe - Topic 16. Notes are made according to the syllabus for Paper 3.
NOTE - ONLY STALIN'S RUSSIA IS COVERED IN THESE NOTES.
POST-STALIN RUSSIA (ie. Khruschev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev and Post-Soviet Russia are NOT COVERED)
Topic 16: The Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia (1924-2000)
- Soviet union (1924-1941,Stalin)
Sub-topic Statistics/events/historiography/arguments/impact
Stalin and the Existing positions
- Orgburo and Party’s General secretary. Could control party
struggle for membership and appoint supporters to key positions, like the
power (1924-29) central committee and congress. Decided topics of discussion in
Politburo
- Lenin enrollment scheme - 500,000 new members. Got rid of
people likely to support Trotsky (eg. army) and replaced with
likely supporters (Uneducated peasants). Avoided conflict and
filled Politburo with ‘Stalinists’ in 1924
- Could use party rules to weaken opponents - eg. Used the ban
on factionalism to expel the united opposition leaders from
the party (Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky).
G.Hosking (1985) ‘they [party members] were content to leave him...not
yet realising what power was accumulating’
Cunning personality
- Stalin aligned himself with Zinoviev and Kamenev and let them
attack Trotsky whilst he filled the Politburo with Stalinists - 1924.
Then turned on the left and allied with Bukharin right to take down
the United opposition in 1927.
- Following Defeated United opposition, turned against Bukharin
and the right in 1928, great turn, his hitherto allies against the
left. Bukharin said “Stalin changes his theories according to
whom he needs to get rid of next”.
- Advocated for different policies at different times. Used
Realpolitik (whatever was popular) to win support of the party
Isaac Deutscher (1966) - “Invariably voted with the majority, unless he
had assured his majority beforehand”.
Luck
- Dzerzhinsky’s death in 1926 allowed Stalin to infiltrate the cheka
(secret police) and use it against his political opponents.
- Lenin died at the right time, Zinoviev and Kamenev urged for
testament calling for Stalin to be removed as General Secretary
not read out At the 13th party congress
- His opponents underestimated him and saw Trotsky as more of
a threat.
Historian Martin McCauley (1997) - “Stalin had luck on his side”.
G.Hosking (1985) ‘he [Stalin] was known, rather condescending as
‘Comrade Card-Index’.
, Defeat of Seen as a threat by the party
- Commissar for military and naval affairs, seen as likely to split the
Trotsky (Overlap party.
with power - Members feared that Trotsky could establish a dictatorship. Aroused
struggle) suspicion.
Errors -
- Missed Lenin’s funeral,damaging political prestige and reputation
- Underestimated Stalin. Initially, Zinoviev and Kamenev did not
see Stalin as a threat as well. According to Isaac Deutscher,
Stalin was seen by Trotsky as “shabby and inarticulate”
- Formed United Opposition faction with Zinoviev and Kamenev in
1926, accused of factionalism which had been banned since
1921. All 3 were expelled in 1927 as a result.
- Trotsky released the Lessons of October which attacked the
majority of the party and made him very unpopular in Oct 1924.
Collectivisation Economic
- Grain procurement increased from 10.8 m tons in 1928 to 22.8
m tons in 1933. State had more grain to export, more money for
industry - grain export peaked in 1931 at 5.06 m tons.
- Grain harvest decreased from 73.3 m tons in 1928 to 68.4 m
tons in 1933. State procured more grain despite decreases in
production.
- Overall economic failure, however the state achieved its
main goal - provide resources for industrialisation.
Social
- Famine of 1932-34, holodomor in Ukraine, Conquest estimates
5 million deaths in European part of USSR, others suggest
lower but still acknowledge millions died.
- Purge of Kulaks meant that the USSR lost some of its most
knowledgeable and successful farmers. Peasants forced into
collective farms resisted - 25-30 % of livestock killed by Feb
1930
- Peasants rioted, burned crops, tools and houses rather than
hand over to the state, causing decrease in crop production.
Peasants terrorised by armed forces and armed twenty five
thousanders. - Overall social failure.
Political
- Dekulakization - Stalin could be seen as a hero for weeding out
enemies of the state , increased party presence in
countryside and rural areas. Machine and tractor stations
(MTS’s) on collective farms had political departments, staffed by
local party members.
- 90% of peasant households collectivised by 1936, up from 50% in
1931 and 70% in 1934
- Shows just how efficiently collectivisation was carried out -
Overall political success.
Historiography
- Service - Agricultural production levels plummeted, but situation
was favourable for Stalin - Grain procurement increased
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