1When was Sergei Kirov assassinated?
1934
2Who assassinated Kirov?
Nikolayev - recently expelled party member
3Political reasons for the purges (2)
Kirov got more votes at the 17th party congress, blamed murder on a plot led by old Bolsheviks to overthrow the government
4Total control as a reason for the purges (4)
instructions sent out from Moscow to local Communist Party organisations often ignored, people angry over collectivisation, lawless new towns, obedient nation as tension with Germany rose
5Reasons for the purges: Stalin's paranoia was worsened by...
wife's suicide after argument with him - 'she went away as an enemy'
6Reasons for the purges: Terror economics (2)
slaves, scapegoat - blamed 'wreckers' for 5 year plan problems
7Gulag population by the end of the 1930s
8 million
8Reasons for the purges: Lenin's legacy
seized power violently in revolution, 'cheka' secret police, authorised 'red terror' in civil war
9Yezhov
NKVD leader 1936-38, 'poison dwarf'
10Trial of the 16
1936, Zinoviev and Kamenev
11What did the Cheif Prosecutor order at the trial of the 16?
'shoot the mad dogs'
12Trial of the 17
1937, Trotsky allies
13Trial of the 21
1938, Bukharin
14What were Kinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky's allies and Bukharin all charged with?
attempting to murder Kirov and overthrow the government
15What was only Bukharin charged with?
attempting to assassinate Lenin
16Percentage of 1934 Central Committee purged
70%
17Party members purged
1 million
18Armed forces shot (3)
1/2 junior officers, all admirals, 3/5 marshals
19Operation Order 00447
Yezhov list of 250,000 'enemies of the state' to be purged by the end of the year
20What were 'ravens'?
black vehicles driven by NKVD officials at night
21Type of torture used in purges
conveyor belt
22What did the politburo decide about purged individuals?
after confession, 28% would be simply shot
23Butovo
village with mass grave of over 20,000 people
24Food rations in the gulag
prisoners who failed to meet work quotas had rations cut and slowly starved - 'goners'
25Kolyma
Tough work camps in Siberia, temperatures could fall to -45*
26How many arrests during the purges?
7-8 million
27How many executions during the purges?
1-1.5 million
28How many deaths in the gulag?
2 million
29How many people sent to the gulag?
7-8 million
30What percentage of people arrested in the purges were women?
5%
31Impact of purges on society (1)
normal human relationships broke down
32Weakening of USSR during purges: What happened at Donbass?
more than 1/4 of managers purged - production increase levelled off
33Weakening of USSR during purges: military
1939-40 'winter war' with finland - 200,000 Russian casualties
34Political impact of purges
Stalin unchallenged leader of Soviet Union
35What was Stalin referred to as?
the Vozhd - big hero
36How was Stalin portrayed in relation to Lenin?
right-hand man and natural successor - 'Stalin is the Lenin of today'
37How was Stalin portrayed as a great economic planner? (3)
shown overlooking factories, responsible for successes of 5 year plans, failures left out/ blamed on wreckers
38How was Stalin portrayed as a generalissimo? (2)
shown as responsible for WWII victory, striking white military uniform
39How was Stalin portrayed as a man of the people? (3)
plain clothed and smoking a pipe, with workers and children, Gori hometown turned into place of worship
40Socialist realism checklist (4)
easily understood, everyday situations, no family/home, communism
41Socialist realist art example
'The Teenagers. The Laugh' 1930 - teenagers working
42Socialist realist music (3)
major key, folk/ classical, jazz was immoral
43Socialist realist dance
traditional ballet
44Socialist realist literature example
'cement' 1925 - communist hero brings cement factory back into use
45Socialist realist statue example
'Worker and Kolkhoz Woman' 24m high
46Socialist realist cinema example
'Chapaev' 1934 - protagonist rises from peasant background to civil war hero
47New Constitution
1936, list of rights, right to vote at 18 - but only Communist Part candidates could enter elections
48Reasons for Constitution of 1936 (2)
appeal to ordinary people, improve Soviet image abroad
49'Kremlin Mountaineer'
1933, poet performed poem for some friends and was purged
50Censorship numbers of films and plays
1936 - 30 films and 10 plays
51Example of mandatory history textbook
'The Short Biography of Stalin'
52Example of history being changed
Trotsky and Kamenev erased form 1920 photograph of Lenin addressing troops
53Youth organisations
Komsomol, age 14-28, 10 million members by 1940
54Pavlik Morozov
14 year old boy who denounced his father for helping Kulaks - portrayed as a hero