- Emergence of Authoritarian state
- Conditions which lead to the rise of the authoritarian state: social, economic, impact of war.
- Social - uneducated masses, mostly peasants, highly agrarian, small working class (but growing) in industry, highly structured hierarchical society, rising calls for economic, social, political reform being unmet by the tsar.
- Economic - well behind the West in industrial capacity, shortages of bread, famines, etc. demonstrate poor state directives in areas of economic growth and distribution of resources.
- War - Loss 1905 Russo-Japanese war (tsar loses face). Loss WWI - mutinies, troops leaving front, widespread shortages in bread and goods as they are sent to the front.
- Methods used to establish authoritarian states: persuasion coercion, role of leaders (Lenin and Stalin), ideology, use of force, propaganda.
- Persuasion/Coercion - convincing of individuals like Trotsky to join up with the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks allowing Bolsheviks to aid in defense against supposed coup, etc.
- Role of leaders: Lenin is a natural leader, people are inspired by his promises and his aims for society. Stalin...follows much of what Lenin places into society as the norm.
- Ideology: Marxism-Leninism (coined by Stalin to describe Lenin's policies) - banning opposition parties, democratic centralism (debate within Communist party, once decision is made, no more debate), banning of trade unions, idea that working classes could not have struggle themselves, vanguard of proletariat.
- Use of Force: Cheka --> NKVD. Civil War. Purges under Stalin.
- Propaganda: Simple messages, widespread, taking over of printing presses/radio to distribute messages to the broadest of audiences, speeches in public, etc.
- Conditions which lead to the rise of the authoritarian state: social, economic, impact of war.
- Consolidation and maintenance of power
- Legal methods, force, charismatic leadership, propaganda
- Stalin uses the legal norms established by Lenin to accuse opponents of factionalism. Establishes new legal norms surrounding the consolidation of roles of high officials within party under 1 person - Stalin.
- Force: NKVD, gulags, assassinations, disappearances.
- Charismatic leadership: Stalin much less charismatic than Lenin. Uses force and legality to estabilsh rule more than natural charisma. Some historians argue Stalin's Charisma is, in fact, manufactured using the state apparatus in propaganda.
- Propaganda: radio, posters, speeches, elimination of opponents from history (pictures and text), mass censorship and pre-release editing ensure party message is the message. Focus on the devotion to one another, working hard to benefit the whole, etc.
- Stalin uses the legal norms established by Lenin to accuse opponents of factionalism. Establishes new legal norms surrounding the consolidation of roles of high officials within party under 1 person - Stalin.
- Nature, extent, and treatment of opposition
- Left Opposition: Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev initial move by Stalin to remove these individuals from power because of ideological differences - worldwide revolution vs socialism in one state and continuation of NEP. Right Opposition: Bukharin later moved against by Stalin because of, once again, ideological differences. This time NEP is the largest factor.
- Impact of the success/failures of foreign policy on maintenance of power
- Foreign policy goals: secure socialism in one state, secure Soviet Russia from outside attack (see history Napoleon, Germany WWI). This means Soviets must first focus on domestic issues before securing global aims (Trotsky vs Stalin). Foreign communists, then, should be subservient to USSR's own aims.
- Successes:
- Treaty of Berlin (reaffirms Treaty of Rapallo) maintaining neutrality in case of attack by a foreign power (remember WWI begins becuase of defensive alliances). German military and economic relations improve - training from German military for Red Army, Stalin sees German communists as potential next step for expanding worldwide communism.
- Collective security: Rising threats of fascism (Spanish Civil War, German appeasements) 1934 USSR joins League of Nations - Litvinov (Commissar of Foreign Affairs describes them as "robbers den." League is seen as an extension of imperialism and capitalism by many.
- Spanish Civil War: Soviets major supporter of Republicans in Spain vs. Nationalists and Franco (fascist). This goes back to collective security, mostly directed towards securing selves AGAINST fascism. Stalin, though, was not 100% committed because of Socialism in one State.
- Failures:
- Sino-Soviet relations: Soviet support of the Guomindang (GMD aka KMD) or Chinese nationalists party under Sun Yat Sen stems from Lenin's support and backing of the comintern. Support was justified because Soviets at time felt GMD the strongest unit to overthrow imperialism and establish a new states. Chinese Communist Party (CPC or CCP) was to be a wing of the GMD. Chiang Kai-shek (Jiang Jieshi) massacres members of CPC at Shanghai 1927, two years after Chiang takes over following death of Sun Yat Sen. Mao begins to lead CPC and takes a stance of independece from USSR and Comintern.
- Continued non-aggression against Germany. Rhineland 1936, Anschluss with Austria 1938, Czechoslovakian invasion 1938) and concessions made by West at Munich Conference (Soviets not invovled) show Stalin that West is favoring fascism over communism. 1939 August Nazi-Soviet Pact (non-aggression pact) signed continuing Treaty Of Berlin neutrality in face of foreign attack AND agree to future spheres of influence - E. Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Romania to Soviets. Sept. 1, 1939 Germany invades Poland, Sept. 17 Soviets invade Poland. Sept. 28, 2nd pact signed ceding portions of Poland to Germany in exchange for Lithuania to Soviets. Hitler betrays Stalin in 1941 and invades Soviet Union.
- Legal methods, force, charismatic leadership, propaganda
- Aims and results of policies
- Domestic economic, political, cultural, social policies
- Economic: 5 year plans, catch up to the West economically, especially in industry and military (preparing for war). Were these successful in their aims? Did they improve the status of Soviet people?
- Political: secure power with limited variations in ideological aims. Were these successful? How does this relate back to treatment of opposition?
- Cultural: Russification of minority groups. Despite calls for internationalism within the Soviet/Communist ideology, Stalin was, at heart, a believer in Nationalism as a unifying force.
- Social: expansion of education at all levels, improvements in literacy, working conditions, work weeks, holidays, etc. The move to treat all people as equal contributors to the Soviet state. See minority section for where this does not come to fruition.
- Impact of policies on women and minorities
- Women: expansion of rights, especially when considering previous living conditions. See Family Codes (1918, 1926, Family Edict 1944, Family Laws 1936) and their impact, legalization of divorce, abortion, the creation of propaganda of the "new soviet woman," 1926 Marriage Law, etc. from Utopian Life article.
- Minorities: forced deportations or movements of minorities to underdeveloped regions of Soviet control (especially to Central Asia). Suppression of nationalities under a process of Russification - Russia taught in all schools across Soviet empire. Policies were aimed at eliminating chance of ethnic nationalism through establishing border for Soviet republics that would put groups with disparate languages together in the same realm.
- Authoritarian control and the extent to which it was achieved
- A good debate based on the evidence provided above. How much control did Stalin achieve through his efforts?
- Domestic economic, political, cultural, social policies
Using our IB Paper 2 guide we should be able to create a summation of what we have learned regarding the Soviets. If you are one who needs a good study guide to go over broad areas of information, use the IB guide as the starting point. Use class reading, journal you have read, in class assignments, videos, etc. as the basis to expand upon these points for greater detail.
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