Khrushche
- Khrushchev was a hard-line communist, yet would relax repression to
Alexander
Stalin some degree under his policies of de-Stalinisation. v
- Khrushchev worked to reform the secret service. He refined the secret
II
- Opposition to Alexander II was quite large, despite his extensive
reforms, leading him to strengthen repression in some areas.
police. The MVD and was responsible for criminal acts and civil disorder. - Initially, The Third Section acted as Alexander II’s secret police, used
The other, the KGB, was important for the external and internal security of to exile opponents. This would be changed to the less radical
the USSR. They were administered by the party rather than an individual. Okhrana in 1880.
Number of political arrests plummeted, use of Gulags gone, torture
- Alexander II would crack down on oppression after the attempt on
disappeared.
- Gulags were shut down under Khrushchev.
his life in 1866. He stuck closely to the ideas of autocracy, nationality
- The army was less involved in repression and more concerned with and orthodoxy.
international conflicts. - In 1865, Alexander II would relax censorship, however his
- During Khrushchev, censorship was eased. Books and libraries did well, government still retained the right to withdraw any publication it
by the late 1950s, nearly 65,000 books were being published a year. There wished to. Government newspapers still operated.
was a tenfold increase in library amounts from 1913 by 1959. Newspapers - The Tsars, including Alexander II, used the Russian Orthodox Church
flourished, with a total readership of nearly 60 million by the 1960s.
- Alexander III, following the a
- Stalin was definitely the harshest and most violent ruler when it came as a strong means of propaganda. would enforce a stronger form
to repression. - Khrushchev also discredited religion, establishing a - The Okhrana was given great
- The NKVD, Stalin’s secret police, were by far the most ruthless of them new ‘moral code’ in 1961 with the 22nd Congress. It was stop Alexander II’s assassinatio
all. It was formed in 1934 as a permanent form of terror. It had a crucial largely meant to replace the Bible.
tool to spy, arrest, imprison an
role in Stalin’s purges and was notable in gathering evidence against high-
more stable in the 1890s, they
ranking communists so Stalin could purge them. They helped to
- The army was mostly used a
administer the Gulags, where 40 million people were sent. The secret
and mob behaviour, including
service itself also had purges and Beria became its head replacing Yezhov.
- The army could be called in a
- Show trials would be used in Stalin’s reign.
deemed necessary to quell po
- When the first major purge took place, ¼ of party members were
- Under Alexander III’s Russific
expelled. This was to rid the party of any critics of Stalin. In 1937, the
role as a peacekeeping force a
Great Purge began to eliminate those who supported Trotsky. 2/3 of
senior officials were shot or arrested. The Army and NKVD were given
targets for how many to arrest. In 1938 alone, 329,000 were killed.
Repression in - Censorship was increased. M
government officials would ce
- Censorship was increased under Stalin. By 1932, all literary groups were
closed down and anyone who wanted to write had to join the Union of
Russia (except published.
- Alexander III would continue
Soviet Writers. All members had to produce material under the banner of
socialist realism. Any work had to be approved by the party. Those who
P.G.) Church as a method of propag
- There was an increase in secr
- Voting rights were reduced fr
rebelled were sent to labour camps or executed.
mere 7,000.
- Stalin would make use of the Stakhanovite Movement (referring to
- Serfdom was not restored, ho
Stakhanov, a worker, mining much more coal than his quota dictated) to
reduced.
push the development of his Five Year Plans, along with films depicting
- University education was res
him as a strong and caring leader. They would use slogans also to
eroded, all to push forward Ale
communicate messages to the people.
Russification.
- There was an attack on religion, which failed. Under the 1937 census,
- In 1883, a law banned Old Be
57% of Russians were still religious.
their beliefs. There was a huge
- Under the 1936 constitution, abortion was made illegal, divorce was - Lenin’s rule saw an intense era of repression begin. sponsored pogroms.
harder and homosexuality was banned. - In December 1917, the Cheka was established to deal with - Nicholas II, though a more liberal leader than his father, was still incredibly
those who opposed the Bolshevik seizure of power. It was repressive throughout his rule.
integral to implementing policies of war communism and the - From 1905-17, Nicholas II would consistently use the army to control workers’
Red Terror during the Civil War. Initially, they focused especially strikes, riots and protests. Workers protests therefore achieved very little until
on SRs. Terror was used to victimise people based on who they 1914. Strikes were put down with strong force. 200 protestors were killed during
were rather than their actions. This involved enforcing war the Lena Goldfield Strikes in 1912. Another example was Bloody Sunday.
communism during the Civil War, eliminating Kulaks, - The Okhrana would continue to be used in similar ways. In some cases, such as
administrating labour camps and militarising labour. They killed Bloody Sunday, they would be used as executioners. The Okhrana would kill
far more and used torture in their methods commonly. The 24,000 throughout all three Tsars’ rules.
- In 1917, press freedom was abolished. All bourgeois parties Cheka was the harshest secret police Russia had seen. - Censorship would relax to some degree. Publication increased by 90% as the
were banned, all to stop counter revolutionaries. In 1921, the - When the Bolsheviks took control, the military was used to urban population began to read newspapers. However, the Okhrana could still
Agitation and Propaganda Department was founded. It consolidate power. Troops dealt with flash strikes by civil shut down any newspaper against the Tsar, and this control would worsen as
ensured all areas of society were under surveillance for servants. The Red Army was essential in winning the Bolsheviks opposition grew more substantial.
counter revolutionary material. the Civil War. By the end, it had 5 million conscripts. It was used - The Russian Orthodox Church would continue to be used as a method of
- The Bolsheviks used socialist realism artwork to depict Lenin to impose war communism. Trotsky did have issues with rebels, propaganda.
and worked towards creating a cult of personality around him. however, and deserters.
Slogans were used.
Leni Nicholas
n II
