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19 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Do you agree with the view that collectivisation was a failure?
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> Human cost: up to 10% in a single village exiled, famine/cannibalism, resentment towards government
> Industrialisation: Grain exports rose, living standards fell, tension between groups, urban population trebled in some cities (led to housing shortages > Political: Overall a success because Party leaders were loyal to the policy, Stalin had achieved greater control and emerged innocent |
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Do you agree that the biggest motivation for collectivisation was economic?
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> Economic: Mechanisation would free up labour, production would increase (Grain Procurement Crisis)
> Ideological: Essential in embracing socialism, greater revolutionary spirit > Political: Struggle against the rightwing, greater control |
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Do you agree with the view that Socialist Realism was the most effective method of control?
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> The Great Terror: fear in the Russian people, eliminating the old elite, removing rivals
> Socialist realism: Propaganda, controlling every aspect of life, rewriting history, glorifying policies > Collectivisation: Loss of independence, changing traditions, removing people he viewed as threats |
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To what extent was the Congress of Victors the main cause of The Great Terror?
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> The Congress of Victors: Catalyst event
> Kirov's murder: Trigger > Terror economics: Official reason > Paranoia: Ultimate motivation |
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To what extent was there a 'Great Retreat' in Russia?
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> Women: Made up 41% heavy industry workers by 1940, Pasha Angelina... however, had not been liberated from domestic duties, expected to have children, frowned up for wives to be involved in politics
> Family: Wedding rings reintroduced (expensive paper), free love banned, divorce rates fell (expensive), propaganda portrayed men as responsible for family breakdowns > Education: Children now expected to conform rather than challenge (Komsomol), new curriculum glorifying great Russians (Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great) |
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Do you agree with the view that the Lend lease programme was mainly responsible for Russia's success in WWII?
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> Lend-lease: SPAM meat, transport... however did not have much military/industrial significance
> The Grand Alliance: German forces distracted (England and America) > The Home Front: turning to the 'Motherland', the Church etc. > German war economy vs. Russian war economy: Germany underestimated size/scale, focused on consumer goods, tactical mistakes whereas Russia's planning was highly effective, relocating industry etc. |
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Do you agree with the view that Stalin had total control by 1953?
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> Socialist Realism (how this affected every aspect of life)
> The Great Terror (had the ability to remove his rivals under a justification) > However, there were limitations- could not call on the Russian people on the basis of Communism at war, Collectivisation created resentment |
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To what extent were the lives of the Russian people affected by WWII?
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> Human cost: 30 million/10% dead, war families, labour reserve schools, women at work
> Economic cost: living standards (eg. electricity supplies, blockade bread), German 'scorched-earth' policy |
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How did Stalin's priorities change through the progression of the economic plans?
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> Switch from NEP: Favouring heavy industry, laying foundational industries, country of steel (Magnitogorsk)
> Consolidating gains: transport, incentives scheme, continuing with heavy industry > Preparation for war: Defence spending, reducing working mobility, heavy industry (continued in fourth plan) |
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Do you agree with the view that the main impact of The Great Terror was economic?
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> Economic: Chaos in gosplan, fall in production, lack of experienced workers
> Human: Eliminating the old elite, terrorised families, forging new identities > Political: Removing rivals, fear in the Russian people, greater control |
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To what extent could The Great Terror be considered a success?
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> Economic failure
> Huge human cost: the Red Army, mass murder etc. > Political success: Stalin emerged stronger than ever and was free of political rivals |
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Is it fair to say that Russia was a superpower by 1953?
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> Global: Spheres of influence, Eastern bloc, Cold war
> Economic: Fourth plan (defence spending) > Military: Soviet bomb, uranium in Czechoslovakia, didn't purge nuclear scientists |
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Do you agree with the view that the biggest effect of the war was on the Russian people?
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> Economic cost: Infrastructure, Germans destroying territory, living standards, production and consumption
> Human cost: Death, working through the war, women at war, family at war |
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Do you agree that the reformation of the military was the main reason why Russia was unprepared for war?
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> Military: Comradeship weakened, Red Army purged
> Espionage: Stalin wouldn't trust spies, focused on Trotsky > Economic: No budget for defence spending, chaos in Gosplan (however this compared favourably with Germany) |
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Do you agree with the view that the first Five Year Plan could be considered a failure?
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> Successes: Control, increasing production, social mobility (education), Magnitogorsk
> Failures: Targets, branches of industry, living standards, abolition of the free market |
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Do you agree with the view that the second Five Year Plan could be considered a success?
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> Successes: Consolidated gains, Stakhanovite movement (effective propaganda), Moscow metro system, living standards
> Failures: Branches of industry, nobody prepared to criticise, targets, consumer goods, social inequalities |
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Do you agree with the view that the third Five Year Plan could be considered a failure?
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> Successes: Rearmament and defence spending, heavy industry (marginal), worker discipline
> Failures: Purges led to chaos in Gosplan, inefficiencies unchallenged, targets |
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Do you agree that the main reason for Stalin coming into power was his political position within the Party?
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> Political position: General secretary (deciding who sat in the Politburo), could eradicate corruption.
- Trotsky was Red Army leader, Zinoviev and Kamenev had support in Petrograd/Moscow, Bukharin had no vote > Personality: Stalin was moderate, prepared to appeal to national pride (however Bukharin was 'golden boy' and a good theorist) > Relationship with Lenin: managed to manipulate Lenin's testament, Trotsky and Lenin's funeral etc. |
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Do you agree that the biggest motivation for the first Five Year Plan was economic?
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> Economic: Response to NEP's failure, new approach needed, resources left Russia behind Germany
> Political: Emerging from a pupil to a leader, defence for war > Ideological: Socialism only possible in a highly advanced industrialised nation, revolution should serve the working class (as opposed to NEP) |