Stalin

=Stalin=

__Original Politburo 1924 :__ - They were the people who actually made the decisions in the government. - The Politburo was established by Lenin. - Original Members:
 * 1) Nikolai Bukharin: minister of press and propaganda
 * 2) Alexei Rykov: minister of council of comensar (political representative of all military units)
 * 3) Mikhail Tomsky: minister of the trade unions
 * 4) **Leon Trotsky: minister of war**
 * 5) Lev Kamenev: Lenin's deputy/"vice-lenin" (2nd in command)
 * 6) Grigory Zinoviev: minister of comintern (comintern = communism international)
 * 7) **Joseph Stalin: general secretary**

__Rise to Power:__ - Lenin died in January 1924. - His position as General Secretary in the Politburo allowed Stalin to set the agenda and appoint positions to people under him - Trotsky seemed like the obvious leader because he was the best intellect, a better speaker, a leader, ECT. - However, Trotsky wasn't a "people-person." - The 1921 NEP (New Economic Plan) was proposed by Bukharin. - Lenin's funeral. Trotsky missed it because Stalin lied about the date and time. - Stalin was dismissed in Lenin's testament. --> Lenin DID NOT want Stalin in power. Stalin came into power on ___(date?)__.
 * not politically minded
 * had no use for people - wasn't willing to make connections with people
 * he was Jewish
 * he had been a menchovic
 * The NEP was meant to increase agriculture output by 1/2 food to government and 1/2 food to sell
 * It was capitalistic and against the revolution
 * It split the Politburo into the Pro-NEP: Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky and the Anti-NEP: Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev. Stalin played both sides.
 * On December 24, 1922, Lenin wrote his testament to power, stating that Trotsky should be the next leader and not Stalin, On December 25, 1922 , Lenin added a P.S. reiterating his point to not let Stalin have power.
 * The Politburo chooses to ignore Lenin's advice and put Stalin in power.
 * Many did this because they didn't like Trotsky as a person, and preferred Stalin

Consolidation of Power:__ - By the end of 1925, Stalin got rid of Trotsky. - By the end of 1928, Stalin abolished the NEP. - By 1929, Stalin had forced the resignation of all original Politburo members - Gosplan (State Planning Committee) 1929 : responsible for economic planning in the Soviet Union. One of its main duties was the creation of Five-Year Plans. - Living Standards plummeted. - USSR had a war communist economy, so soldiers were stealing food, which is why the NEP was created. - Collectivisation 1929 : ended independent farms in Russia - Abolished Kulak class in 1929 - working for the government became an obligation --> nationalism - used minorities as a scapegoat - Increase in zecs
 * Trotsky was exiled
 * He became the absolute ruler of Russia
 * Ruled with Terror
 * Industrialized quickly for national security at the cost of many lives. There was lots of propaganda towards industrialization.
 * heavy use of slave labor to industrialize
 * Belomor Canal: 20 months to build, no machinery, dug a canal, zecs promised release (zecs = prisoners in gulag (gulag = jail))
 * //Stakhonovite Movement:// workers wanted to work because they felt like they were a part of something bigger. Set targets/quotas for industries, trade, ECT.
 * In the 5-yr Plan, they punished people who didn't work or meet their quotas, but in this nationalistic Movement, they didn't punish people.
 * "We suffer for the good of the county"
 * During NEP times, because saved their extra food instead of selling it because they were scared of falling back into war communism and starving.
 * Stalin wanted more food in the cities to feed the industrial workers and the NEP wasn't creating enough food for them
 * 1) Pulled farms together = Kolkhoz - peasants all worked together because it's more efficient
 * 2) Kolknoz were 50-100 families
 * 3) Sold feed to government and got fixed low prices (government takes all the food)
 * 1) most hostile --> Siberian prison camps
 * 2) richest --> took away power to be a new person --> new kulak
 * 3) less threatening --> could stay but with worst land
 * 1/4 of Kulaks died from starvation
 * missing work was considered a crime and you could loose your job and house
 * 1928 : 30,000 1932 : 2 mil 1937 : 6 mil 1938 : 8 mil
 * fed according to quota

__Purges:__ - Troika System for legal system for criminal cases. - //Conquest// (historian) estimated 30 mil killed by Stalin - Reasons for Purges: - Decree in April 1935 allowing the death penalty to be lowered to age 12 - Dec 12, 1937 : Stalin approved 3167 deaths sentences then went to the movies. - Most of the trials held were ridiculous trials -- they were only for show - Stalin was entertained by watching re-inactments of the tortures and deaths - //Conquest// "Show trials were the tip of the ice berg" - The "Great Terror" began in 1938 - 1937 purged most of commanded military: 3/5 Marshalls, 14/16 army commanders, all navy, 1/2 officers - Treaty of Rapallo 1922: Germany offers to train the Russian Army --> keeps German military sharp, getting around the Treaty of Versailles. - 1936-1938 : purged secret police (NKVD) - Show Trials - series of public and broadcasted purges - Heads of NKVD: - too many people were being killed and it hurt the economy - they killed all of their military leaders from '36-'38, around the beginning of WW2 - Stalin was NOT an ideological leader -- he only wanted power - Stalin's categories for death lists: - some of the people he executed were his own followers and many were killed without a trial - Despite al of this, people still didn't believe Stalin was involved
 * 1) Personality
 * 2) Rise of Hitler and Mussolini - very anti-communist governments
 * 3) Criticisms in Party - Ryutin criticized Stalin as leader and suggested Kirov as leader
 * puts political pressure on rivals with children
 * message to Z __and__ _
 * overseen by Yezhov "the bloody dwarf"
 * 1) 1936 - Trial of the 16: included Zinoviev and Kamenen
 * 2) "Trotskies" to overthrow government
 * 3) 1937 - Trial of the 17: army and NKVD
 * 4) Claimed they had too many ties to foreign governments
 * 5) 1938 - Trial of the 21: included Bukharin and Rykov
 * 1) Yezhov ('30-'38): blamed for excessive purges and arrested in 1938 and killed in 1939.
 * 2) Yagoda ( '38 )
 * 3) Beria ( '38-'53 ): good manipulator (kissed up to Stalin), so he stayed in power, and he came in at the end of the Great Terror.
 * general people
 * military
 * wives

__Kirov Mystery:__ - Sergei Kirov was Russian (Not Georgian, like Stalin) - Kirov had many advantages over Stalin, making him Stalin's enemy because Stalin was jealous of him - Kirov said he didn't want to be the leader and refused the General Secretary position - 1930 : Byutin jailed and eventually killed (Stalin couldn't have high ranked people immediately killed) - December 1, 1934 : Kirov is murdered by Leonid Nikolayev - Stalin claimed that it was a plot to kill him and others and USSR had become dangerous because of Trotsky and his followers - Used Kirov's death to start purges --> after kirov's death he could have anyone killed - Anyone who knew Nikolayev was killed or went to gulag - before Kirov's murder, hundreds of people in secret trials - Kirov's murder allowed complete autocracy
 * Day before Nikolayev arrested in front of Kirov's office with map and gun -- was then freed and stuff returned
 * Kirov's body guard was missing day of murder
 * Dec 2 :
 * body guard killed in car crash
 * Stalin passed law saying terrorists speedily found and executed
 * Dec 29 : Nikolayev killed, as well as all interrogating police officers

__Personality:__ - Stalin was cronically paranoid - Misogynist (hated women) - Racist - Anti - Semitic - **Cult of Personality** - Restricted information and monitored publications and media (EX: 2 Newspapers: Pravda and Izvestia) - strict censorship, especially in art - all art had to be social realism
 * He always thought people were spying on him
 * he always thought someone was plotting a coup on him
 * Pictures of Stalin EVERYWHERE -- were in all households
 * 2 Newspapers had to talk about Stalin everyday
 * Referred to as "Iron Soldier" or "Universal Genius"
 * Speeches
 * social realism: promotes state ideals, everyone had to be happy, had to be realistic, ECT

__Other Facts about Stalin:__ - Twice as many people killed by Stalin than Hitler - Most people were sad when Stalin died in 1953 - Stalin means "man of steel" - Church was to be replaced with State - Stalin killed his wife and all of her students - School became very strict - Public service was very stressed --> civic pride - VERY high literacy rate: 94% in cities and 86% in country - happy façade caused alcoholism because people couldn't express their opinions without fear of being killed
 * all religious things were destroyed and churches and mosques became atheist or community centers.
 * the exchange of icons (religious vs state) was part of his cult of personality
 * Education Law 1935 - allowed teachers to whip students, everyone had to wear a uniform, and girls had to wear pigtails

__Practice Test Essay Questions:__ 1. TWE did Stalin's cult of personality help him consolidate power? 2. In what ways and with what results didi Stalin rise to power? 4. TWE did Kirov's murder consolidate Stalin's Power? 5. How did Stalin's use of the NKVD to expand Russia?
 * 3. What conditions led Stalin to rise to power?**
 * 6. TWE was the 5-year plan successful?**

3. What conditions led Stalin to rise to power? - Trotsky's Mistakes - General Secretary - Lenin's Testament - Lenin's Funeral - "Divide and Conquer" NEP - Split in Politburo (NEP)

6. TWE was the 5-year plan successful? __was wasn't__ industrialized agriculture (didn't stop famine) infrastructure millions died raised nationalism included purges Stakhanovite movement liquidation of Kulaks national security didn't meet quotas slave labor