AQA A Level History Russia Revolution and Dictatorship Notes Chapter 1-24
AQA summary timeline of Stalin's purges in the 1920's
AQA summary timeline of Stalin's rise to power in the Bolshevik party and government
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AQA
History
2N: Revolution and Dictatorship, Russia, 1917-1953
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The Early Purges Dictatorship and Stalinism Kirov’s Murder Who’s Who
Threats to Stalin’s position 1934: Nadezhda Alliluyeva = Stalin’s
Terror under Lenin – emerged in 1928 to keep the Oxford AQA History - 17th Party Congress; split between Stalin & others second wife. After an argument
Soviet people under strict surveillance by party who wanted to slow down pace of ind. with Stalin she shot herself.
activists/informers & the General Secretariat kept Chapter 17
records on population. Used the Chekha (1917) then - The title of General Secretary abolished so Stalin Sergei Kirov = he was chosen by
the OGPU (1922-34). Supervised labour camps too. & Kirov were given the title of Secretary of Equal Stalin in 1926 to replace Zin as
Rank. Proves that Stalin was no more important Party boss in Leningrad. Became
Tensions during/as a result of the First Five-Year Plan – than other secretaries. v. popular. Assassinated on
by 1932, there were signs of opposition 2 Stalin, Stalin’s secret orders.
especially after forced coll. had culminated in 1923-3 The reaction to Kirov’s murder:
famine. Weakened his position -> purges. Nikolayev was not linked to the Left Opposition &
Leonid Nikolayev = the assassin
when questioned he said the NKVD ‘knew’ all
of Sergei Kirov. Had poor health
Stalin’s reaction to the ‘Ryutin Platform’ – Stalin called about the murder. Kirov’s bodyguard & some
and was a very nervous man.
for the execution of ‘traitors’ & although he was over- NKVD men were mysteriously killed in a car
ruled, Ryutin was imprisoned for 10 years. accident. Some leading NKVD men were sentenced
Martemyan Ryutin = he
for failure to protect Kirov, their terms were short
released documents blaming
1934 reorganisation of internal security – Internal & their treatment lenient. In 1938, Yagoda pleaded
Stalin for the USSR’s economic
security passed 2 NKVD. Same year, ordinary police guilty to allowing Nikolayev to reach Kirov.
problems.
were put under control of NKVD. Labour camps = Gulag
Andrey Vishinsky = a Soviet
Glossary politician, jurist and diplomat.
The Show Trials The Stalin Constitution, 1936
OGPU = department of political Known as a state prosecutor of
What did it declare? - That Socialism had been
Purpose of the show trials? - To ‘prove’ that the USSR & police. Stalin's Moscow trials & in the
achieved.
Stalin were facing opposition from ‘enemies of the Nuremberg trials.
NKVD = People’s Commissariat of
State’. How did Stalin describe it? - ‘The most democratic in Internal Affairs.
Genrikh Yagoda = head of NKVD
the world’.
Why victims confessed so readily – in the months Former People = the old noble in 1934. Responsible for 1st
preceding the trial, the NKVD had to get signed bourgeois elites who lost their social major show trial in 1936.
Rights in theory – Each republic had Supreme status after 1917.
confessions. Every conceivable form of interrogation
Soviet. Promised local autonomy 2 ethnic groups &
used – torture, starvation etc. Metro-Vickers Trial = engineers Nikolai Yezhov = replaced
support for national cultures/lang. Promised 4-year
working at the Metro-Vickers on trial. Yagoda as head of NKVD. He
Main events + results of the first show trial – Kam/Zin. elections 4 everyone inc. former ppl. Freedom from
was responsible for
No material evidence, they confessed their guilt. arbitrary arrest, freedom of press/speech. Purge = the cleaning out of impurities
(chistka) Yezhovshchina. Stalin called him
Sentenced to death.
‘my blackberry’.
Rights in practice – promised rights were ignored.
Shakhty Trial = British specialists
The fall of Yagoda – replaced by Yezhov . it alleged Little regional differences. The Supreme Soviet only found guilty of ‘wrecking’ activities.
publically that Yagoda had not been active enough in met a few days twice a years – so members could
uncovering the ‘conspiracy’. He also failed to secure continue regular employment, but it meant that Yezhovshchina = when Yezhov led
the confessions of Rykov & Bukharin. NKVD & lots of purges took place.
they weren’t really involved in policy making.
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