Lenin - Yeltsin 1917-1991: Theme 1 Communist Government

Description

AS - Level History Mind Map on Lenin - Yeltsin 1917-1991: Theme 1 Communist Government, created by Orphee Hollis on 30/03/2016.
Orphee Hollis
Mind Map by Orphee Hollis, updated more than 1 year ago
Orphee Hollis
Created by Orphee Hollis about 8 years ago
262
3

Resource summary

Lenin - Yeltsin 1917-1991: Theme 1 Communist Government
  1. LENIN
    1. TREATY OF BREST LITOVSK1918 - end to Russian involvement in WWI, lost control of a large amount of land, resulting in national humiliation. This spurred on Bolshevik opposition, leading to the civil war.
      1. THE CIVIL WAR - the Whites (opposition to the Bolsheviks) received help from the allies who we're against Russia leaving the war, however, due to poor organisation, by late 1920 Bolshevik rule was extended across the country. Much of the commendation for this was to be awarded to Trotsky who was War Commissar from 1918. During civil war government control over the economy was extended and large scale nationalisation of industry was implemented. The war encouraged the Bolsheviks to adopt a highly authoritarian and centrally controlled system.
        1. Party growth from civil war: 1917-300,000 to 1921-730,000. At the 1921 PARTY CONGRESS Lenin put forward the ban on factions to ensure party unity was maintained. This came at a time of increased Bolshevik anxiety over their hold (Tambov Rising and Kronstadt Mutiny)
      2. APPARATUS OF GOVERNMENT
        1. THE SOVNARKOM took the role of a cabinet of top gov ministers, responsible for decision making and giving gov orders. Its officials were CP members.
          1. Apparatus of state was now in the hands of the party, meaning party leadership was the highest power in decision making. Power was centralised in the hands of the Politburo. This was mainly to aid decision making during the civil war, but it became entrenched afterwards.
          2. APPARATUS OF THEPARTY
            1. POLITBURO - key decision making body made up of Party leaders . Decisions implemented by the Sovnarkom.
              1. THE NOMENKLATURA SYSTEM - a list of spproved party members who were eligble for promotion - controlled by the general secretary.
              2. LENINS PERSONAL CONTROL - although he denied any form of personal dictatorship, he wielded significant influence and could bring party into line through threatening to resign (example: Treaty of Brest Litovsk signing.
                1. The USSR was in theory unitary however Party base in Moscow was firmly in control of the various republics.
                2. CREATING ONE PARTY STATE- Bolshevik opposition included other left wing groups(SRs and Mensheviks), groups on the right (Tsarists and the middle class), and nationalist groups within the empire
                  1. The Bolsheviks attempted to deal with other Communist groups through cooperation however their place in the government did not last long. THE CONTITUENT ASSEMBLY was called in 1918, the SRs emerged on top as the largest party so after only one meeting Lenin dissolved it.
                    1. Destruction of other political parties - removal of right to vote from bourgeoisie stripped parties of a reservoir of support, restrictions on publishing for SRs and Mensheviks, by 1921 all other parties were effectively banned, during 1st 3 months of 1921 5,000 Mensheviks arrested + further waves of arrests until the Mensheviks and SRs ceased to exist as organised parties.
                    2. STALIN
                      1. POST LENIN POWER STUGGLE
                        1. ROLE OF GENERAL SCRETARY - He took on the role in 1922. The GS had access to over 26,000 personal files of Party members, would set the agenda for party meetings, responsible for the Lenin Employment - meaning he was in control of employment for industrial workers within the party - they owed their loyalty to him, the GS also responsible for promoting people within the party
                          1. THE LEFT of the party leadership were dealt with in 1926 - expelled from the party after being accused of forming factions. He then outmanoeuvred THE RIGHT after their expressed opposition to his launch of the 5 year plans. They were removed from the Moscow party branch on Stalins orders. The collective style of leadership under Lenin was no more,
                        2. THE PURGES OF THE 1930S -
                          1. INSTRUMENTS OF TERROR: the Party Secretariat -collected info on Party members,, the secret police - originally The Cheka under Lenin but evolved into the NKVD in 1934
                            1. THE CHISTKA 1932-1935: designed to remove officials to speed up the implementation of economic policy. By 1935 22% of the party had been removed from posts
                              1. WHY? There was increasing criticism of Stalin's policies by 1932 e.g. Ryutin's critical publication of Stalin, criticisms from party officials of Five Year Plan targets, and Kirov receiving a wave of support following his criticisms at the Seventh Party Congress of 1934.
                                1. THE SHOW TRIALS - 1935-36 there was a wave of arrests of member of the Left Opposition which led to a series of show trials: The Trial of the Sixteen, The Trial of the Seventeen, and The Trial of the Twenty-one. The proceedings were relayed to the Soviet population via radio and film footage
                                  1. PURGES IN THE RED ARMY 1937-38: 3/5 marshals were purged. PURGE OF THE SECRET POLICE - Yezhov oversaw the purging of over 3,000 secret police personnel. Both of these organisations were growing in influence and becoming a threat to Stalin.
                                2. THE MURDER OF KIROV 1934 - the official explanation was that it was led by Zinoviev and Kamenev who were sentenced to imprisonment
                                3. POWER OVER PARTY AND STATE
                                  1. To ensure personal power, the original politburo members of 1924 had been replaced by Stalin's cronies. GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS such as the Politburo met less frequently - by mid 1930s the Politburo met only 9time a year. During meetings Stalin would intimidate members into agreement with him.
                                    1. TRENDS UNDER LENIN THAT CONTRIBUTED TO STALIN'S POWER - the growth of the party bureaucracy, the failure of political institutions to develop, and the use of terror.
                                    2. The Soviet Constitution of 1936 - all Soviet Citizens given the right to vote, only Communist Party candidates could stand for elections. Aim of the constitution was to convince countries such as France and Britain of the democratic nature of the new Communist USSR.
                                      1. LIMITS TO STALINS POWER - Stalin literally wouldn't be able to survey all the material necessary to keep on top of all events in the USSR. LIMIST FROM WITHIN LEADERSHIP politburo refused the execution of Ryutin, Stalin was forced to redraft the Second Five-Year Plan after Politburo members criticised its targets for being too high, growing popularity of Kirov who received more votes than Stalin in elections to Central Committee in 1934, growing exressed concern for Stalins use of terror e.g. Ordzhonikidze the Commissar for Heavy Industry who raised objections during Politburo meeting.
                                        1. LIMITS FROM BELOW - party members lower down were becoming overzealous with the success of the implementation of collectivisation. The purges at local level were difficult for Stalin to control and they often resulted in conflicts between local Party members and regiounal authorities.
                                      2. 1941 - 1945: WWII
                                        1. Propaganda was used to appaeal to Russian nationalism and Stalin was presented as a figue of national unity, enhancing his power. He emerged from the Second World War as a hero of the Soviet people. Soviet victory was attributed to his strong leadership.
                                          1. HIGH STALINIST 1945 - 1953: Party leadership moved quickly to reassert its control through terror after it had relaxed during the war. Concessions such as the Orthodox Church were withdrawn. As Stalin grew older, rivalry began to grow within the party for who would replace him. To destroy this threat to his power, he removed the Party Congress and carried out a purge in 1951 of some of Beria's allies, who was one of his possible opponents. Stalins power within the party had been in decline since 1945 despite his grpwth of public support - seen specifically in his was of admiration after his 70th birthday.
                                      3. KHRUSHCHEV
                                        1. REFORMATION AND DE-STALINISATION
                                          1. After Stalin's death 3 key Politburo members. Beria, Malenkov and Khrushchev formed a collective leadership. Beria was fear by his fellow Communist leaders and was executed on likely false charges in 1953. Later that year Khrushchev became the First Secretary of the Communist Party (the new name for General Secretary) and used the position to in the Presidium. He also filled the Central Committee with his cronies - his main opponents had therefore been removed by 1956.
                                            1. THE 'SECRET SPEECH' 1956: made at the Twentieth Party Congress. Khrushchev criticised Stalin's cult of personality, tyrannical style of ruling, unnecessary use of terror and economic mistakes.
                                              1. FEATURES OF DE-STALINISATION: regular meetings of the presidium and Central Committee resumed, moves towards a decentralised governmentwith more power given to regional organisations , removal of the threat of imprisonment if officials failed to meet targets, Secret Police brought more firmly under party control and no longer for individuals benefits, loss of control for secret police over labour camps, and finally the release of 2 million political prisoners between 1953 and 1960
                                                1. Despite the posative changes, fear did not completely disappear. Heavy punishment remained for corruption and critisims that exceeding Party boundaries could result in exile or admittance to a psychiactric hospital. Surveilance continued on more technically sophisticated grounds
                                              2. THE CRISIS OF 1957
                                                1. Due to Khrushchevs plans to decentralise decision-making, which would subsequently deduct from the power of party leadership, an attempt to remove him from leadership was carried out by Molotov and Malenkov. Khrushchev demanded the issue go through the Central Committee, a cunning move as it was full of his allies. They voted against the matter and Khrushchev remained in power. He did not, as Stalin would have, have them executed ,exiled, or even removed from the party. In 1958 he became Prime Minister.
                                                2. REFORMS OF THE PARTY - Stalin's body was removed from beside Lenin's in the Red Square, there was a major purge of local Party secretaries, 1962 Khrushchev divided the Party into agricultural and industrial departments, reducing power of party officials, Khrushchev limited length of party officials terms to 3 years enhancing the resentment of party officials for him.
                                                  1. DOWNFALL OF KHRUSHCHEV
                                                    1. REASONS - economic mistakes, the humiliating back down during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, and his erratic and unpredictable behaviour. After a particularly disastrous harvest in 1963 - a result of his failed agriculture policies - he was removed by the Central Committee. The mere fact that this could happen showed the great improvements he had made to the running of the party after the tyranny of Stalin.
                                                  2. BREZHNEV
                                                    1. After seeing how Khrushchev was removed as a result of loss of trust from colleagues, Brezhnev understood the importance of side-lining any potential rivals instantly, putting them in the less important roles.
                                                      1. Brezhnev exercised little personal power, he preferred to trust Party comrades to get on with the details of running the country. This was a stable period however one of stagnation.
                                                      2. REVERSING DE-STALINISATION
                                                        1. - The division of the party into industrial and agricultural sections was dropped. - limits on the tenure of office removed - main principles under Brezhnev were collective leadership and 'trust in cadres' and these resulted in long unbroken tenures in jobs of party officials. - he focussed on ensuring the politburo was constantly consulted, putting an end to 'subjectivism' - he used role of General Secretary to ensure Politburo members got the right information - SOVIET CONSTITUTION 1977 enshrined citizens right to criticize the party and government. Posts remained appointed rather than elected, ARTICLE 6 asserted the primacy of party over state.
                                                          1. No return to the use of terror.
                                                        2. GROWING POLITICAL STAGNATION
                                                          1. The party leadership had developed into an oligarchy, general secretary was the most powerful oligarch. Brezhnev had promoted his old colleagues/cronies from his time as Ukrainian Party boss. The Brezhnev system was a "coalition of Politburo oligarchs" united by the "preservation of the status quo."
                                                            1. The new system allowed corruption to go unnoticed, particularly in rural areas e.g. 'cotton affair'. Nepotism was also rife with officials ensuring jobs were given to their family members. By the early 1980s the Soviet leadership was becoming a gerontocracy (increasingly aged) 1984 7/11 Politburo members were over the age of 70.
                                                          Show full summary Hide full summary

                                                          Similar

                                                          Weimar Revision
                                                          Tom Mitchell
                                                          Hitler and the Nazi Party (1919-23)
                                                          Adam Collinge
                                                          History of Medicine: Ancient Ideas
                                                          James McConnell
                                                          GCSE History – Social Impact of the Nazi State in 1945
                                                          Ben C
                                                          Conferences of the Cold War
                                                          Alina A
                                                          Bay of Pigs Invasion : April 1961
                                                          Alina A
                                                          The Berlin Crisis
                                                          Alina A
                                                          Using GoConqr to study History
                                                          Sarah Egan
                                                          Germany 1918-39
                                                          Cam Burke
                                                          History- Medicine through time key figures
                                                          gemma.bell
                                                          The Weimar Republic, 1919-1929
                                                          shann.w