Key Paragraphs for Essays on Russia
KEY CONCEPTS: Use key concepts in you essay. No matter what the essay title some or all of
these key concepts will be used. Also, if the key concept is in the title explain it
in your introduction.
Key concepts:
Communism:
Propaganda:
Dictatorship:
Cult of personality:
Totalitarianism:
Collectivisation:
Case Study:
Communists believed in government control of agriculture and industry. All
economic activity is directed by the community instead of the individual.
Spreading information to convince people of your point of view in order to achieve
or retain power.
Rule by one person or party, use of propaganda and secret police.
Worship of a leader. Propaganda is used to create an image of the leader as all-wise
and all-powerful.
Totalitarian governments control all aspects of life, from the people’s actions to
their thoughts.
The policy of Stalin’s government to force farmers to give up their farms to the
government and to form large collective farms.
The Show Trials, know the case study, will come under propaganda/terror.
There will always be an essay that is based fully or partially on Russia.
Economy and Society: Can come up on its own or with society in Russian history only or you could be
asked to compare it to other economies and societies especially that of dictators, Germany or Italy. You
will need key paragraphs for all three countries.
Propaganda/Terror: Again this can come up on its own or to compare to other dictatorships. Will need
to know paragraphs for all three.
These are the key areas for Russian history, learn the key points and you will use in any/most essay that
comes up on Russia. Could also get a question on part played by Russia in WW11.
KEY PARAGRAPHS: The Revision handouts that I give at end of each section are
very useful for getting the key points of each section. If you have lost them you will
find them here: http://leavingcerthistory.net/revision/revision-handouts/
More information on key paragraphs below:
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ECONOMY
Despite its sometimes tortuous path, Russia’s economic development in the period between 1917 and
1941 could be said to have been a qualified success. This is largely due to the pragmatism of Lenin,
whose New Economic Policy stabilised the nation following the Civil War, and the determination of
Stalin, whose industrialisation program pushed Russia forward at a pace that was almost dizzying.
War Communism
All industry and agriculture was geared solely to the war effort.
During the war, the communists needed to feed their army so they followed a policy called War
Communism, which involved seizing grain from peasant farmers without payment.
Grain Requisitioning / Banning of private trade/ Nationalisation of industry / Labour discipline /
Rationing / The Red Terror
The peasants refused to grow crops that would not earn money and the result was a terrible famine, in
which over four million people died. Seeing the disastrous outcome of this policy, Lenin decided to adopt
a New Economic Policy (NEP)
NEP
New Economic Policy (NEP), which allowed the peasant farmers to make some small profits by selling
their extra grain.
ROTCOM
R = requisitioning stopped.
O = ownership of small businesses encouraged.
T = trade ban lifted.
COM = commanding heights of industry with the state.
NEP Results 1921-28
1. Recovery to pre-war production levels.
2. By 1923 cereal production had increased by 25% on 1920 levels.
3. Rapid increase in agricultural output.
4. From 1920-23 factory output rose by 200%.
Collectivisation:
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Russian farming backward & inefficient
Millions of tiny peasant farms to be forcibly gathered into large state-run farms
Surplus grain to be either sold abroad to buy machinery for modern farming or for industries in the
cities or to feed the bigger populations needed in the cities for industrial growth
Dispossessed peasants to be moved to cities to work in the new factories
Collectivisation – Why?
 Soviet agriculture too backward and needs to be modernised (old machinery & subsistence) More
food needed for workers in towns (essential for 5-year plans) NEP not working (cities are 20m tonnes
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of grain short) Many in the Party feared the peasants might react to high taxes by reducing production,
so it was decided to take the decision out of their hands.
Stalin believed the collective farms would be more efficient, since they would allow capital intensive
farming (ie. use of machinery).
Stalin believed collectivisation would encourage peasants to leave the land. This would create the
labour force he needed to the factories he planned to build.
Kulaks needed to be brought in line (resisted communism). Collectivisation would eradicate
capitalism in the countryside. Stalin feared the peasants (especially the kulaks) would never support
the Bolsheviks in the long-run.
Collectivisation gave the state (i.e. Stalin) power over the rural population, which meant 80 percent of
Russia's people.
The process of collectivisation:
 Stalin's plan was to eliminate private ownership of agricultural land and replace it with a system of
state-controlled farms. In practice, this meant state control of agriculture.
 Initially, he intended to collectivise very slowly (1929), but he soon changed his mind and decided to
collectivise all the land in one go (January, 1930).
 Poorer peasants tolerated the plan because they had little to lose, but the richer ones (the so-called
'kulaks') bitterly opposed it. When, in retaliation, they burned their farms and killed their animals,
Livestock numbers fell by as much as 50 percent. Agricultural production was so disrupted that Stalin
called a halt to collectivisation in March, 1930. Most peasants abandoned the collectives and returned
to private farming.
 Stalin now decided that the reason collectivisation had failed was that the kulaks were reactionaries.
He set about eliminating them as a class in society. Once the growing season was over in 1930, he
restarted collectivisation. This time, anyone who resisted was shot, starved or exiled to Siberia. Seven
million died during the famine of 1932-33 - five million of them in the Ukraine.
The impact of collectivisation:
 There was little impact on poorer peasants, since they had little to lose. The kulaks, however, lost
everything. Millions were shot, starved or deported. Those in the last category formed the basis of
Stalin's system of slave labour.
 Agricultural production fell dramatically. Livestock numbers fell by up to 50 percent.
 Socialism was established in the countryside, albeit at a terrible price.
 Potential opponents of the Communist Party were eliminated.
 State power and Stalin's personal power were increased.
 Stalin learned that his supporters would carry out genocide on his behalf. This genocide was against
enemies of the Party. Later he would attack the Party itself.
Industrialisation – The Five Year Plan.
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Stalin ended the NEP and destroyed all elements of private enterprise in Russia.
Socialism in One Country - Turning Russia into an industrial country through a series of Five Year
Plans
In 1928, Stalin began his first Five-Year Plan, which placed heavy emphasis on industry such as coal
and iron. The aims of this Plan were unrealistic, but the goal was to transform the USSR,
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economically and industrially, into a complete socialist state, centrally-planned by Gosplan, the main
planning authority.
Result of 1st 5 year plan – production of machinery, oil and electricity all increased, new towns built
BUT some products were faulty.
The second Five-Year Plan in 1933 concentrated on the same aims as the first, while the third five
year plan concentrated on defense spending, armament and industrialisation, effectively militirising
the economy.
Five-Year Plans – Why and How?
 1928 – 1933, 1933 – 1938, 1938 – 1941
 Soviet Union 50 – 100 yrs behind rest of developed world Backwardness = weakness = vulnerability
 Socialism in one country Fear of Nazi Germany Targets set for every industry, region, mine, factory
& foreman Foreign expertise called in Workers bombarded with propaganda Workers fined/sacked
etc if late, targets not met etc Women called in to boost the workforce Order of Stakhanovites set up
as incentive Slave labour used (Jews, Kulaks)
Five-Year Plans – Results:
 Industrialisation was far more successful than collectivisation.
 The three Five Year Plans succeeded in industrialising Russia. By 1933, the economy was four times
the size it had been in 1913. Most of this growth occurred in heavy industry.
 The working class suffered through a lack of consumer goods. Only the wages of the most productive
workers grew. Working conditions were harsh. People worked seven days a week in many factories.
Internal passports were introduced.
 Those sentenced to labour camps suffered even worse conditions. During the 1930s, the slave labour
force numbered about 8 million at any one time. Millions died of malnutrition, disease and overwork.
 Living standards still rose for those peasants who moved into the new factories. However difficult life
was in the cities, it was better than life on a collective farm.
 Electricity – 5m k/w (1927) up to 36m k/w (1937) Coal – 35m tonnes (1927) up to 128m tonnes
(1937) Oil – 12m tonnes (1927) up to 47m tonnes (1937) Steel – 4m tonnes (1927) up to 18m tonnes
(1937) USSR becomes world’s 2nd industrial power New cities, dams, Moscow underground, health
service, education and no unemployment Industrial accidents, punishments & labour camps, slave
labour, no human rights, no consumer goods
SOCIETY
Terror
The use of terror during Lenin’s time
 Terror was used from the earliest days after the Bolshevik Revolution. Opposition leaders were arrested
and the Constituent Assembly closed. By the middle of 1918, Russia was a one party state.
 When the Civil War broke out, Lenin set the secret police the task of eliminating the Revolution’s
enemies. By 1924, it had caused the death of 250,000 people.
 In February 1921, the Kronstadt Rebellion was crushed, and thousands of sailors shot. The government’s
enemies were completely eliminated.
The use of terror during Stalin’s time
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The mid and late 1920s were a period of political relaxation, but that was not to last. Beginning with the
Shakhty Trials in 1928, Stalin unleashed a wave of repression.
He used Collectivisation to hone his killers in the NKVD. Seven million people starved to death, and
millions of others were sent to labour camps.
1935, he turned the NKVD on the Party. After Kirov’s murder, Stalin unleashed series of spectacular
show trials, aimed at discrediting and eliminating his enemies within the Central Committee.
Stalin very paranoid & suspicious of threats to his power, perhaps made worse by wife’s suicide 1929
Show Trials
Why: To show power Stalin had, to scare people in order to control, to discourage any opposition to Stalin
and his supporters, to get rid of any threats or rivals for power, to unite people against perceived
enemies (traitors, foreign powers)
What: High ranking communist officials, members of the central committee, generals, former head of the
secret police, a past Soviet Premier, were put on trial, accused of plotting to kill Stalin, treason,
Trotskyism, spying for foreign powers, sabotaging economy etc...
How: No jury, 3 judges, no defence lawyers, Andrei Vyshinsky (prosecutor), bullying tactics, vicious
language harassing the defendants etc... Confessions obtained through torture, blackmail,threats
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1st Show Trial- Trial of the 16: In 1936, Stalin eliminated the so-called ‘Oppositionists’ – those Old
Bolsheviks who had opposed him in the 1920s (men like Kamenev and Zinoviev). Already tried in secret
now in public. Audience, Stalin in dark
2nd Show Trial- Trial of the 17: In 1937, he eliminated those among his allies who had sought a policy of
relaxation and reconciliation at the 1934 Party Congress (such as Pyatakov and Radek), contrary to
Stalin’s wishes. Karl Radek accused of Trotskyism, spying for Germany and Japan. Radek imprisoned
most shot.
3rd Show Trial- Trial of the 21: In 1938, he eliminated all the remaining members of Lenin’s original
Party (men like Bukharin and Rykov). At the same time, he launched a full-scale assault on every
institution in the Soviet Union: the Party, the army, the bureaucracy, the cultural organisations, the
industrial enterprises, even the secret police. In all, 18 million people died during the purges of the 1930s.
The purges were brought to an end in 1939 because Stalin had eliminated all his opponents and established
himself as a totalitarian dictator. He was also fearful that continuing the purge might harm Russia’s
chances of defending itself in the war he knew was coming.
By 1939, Stalin’s power was complete – enforced by the terror of the secret police. Russia had become a
totalitarian state.
Reasons for the Terror:
Ideological reasons: Stalin believed that Russia had always been ruled autocratically, and that terror was
necessary to keep people on their toes.
Political reasons: Stalin needed to eliminate those in the Party who opposed his collectivisation strategy. He
feared that they might moved against him in the future.
Psychological reasons: Stalin was paranoid, and saw enemies everywhere. He also feared people would
compare him poorly with Lenin and Trotsky, so he wished to eliminate the collective memory of what came
before him.
Impact of Terror
 The Terror had a devastating effect on society as a whole. Stalin purged managers, doctors, scientists,
army officers, artists and workers. Even secret police officers were purged.
 Up to 20 million people were purged between 1930 and 1939.
 Stalin’s aim was to intimidate the population into total submission. The plan worked perfectly. Fear
permeated society and all trust disappeared.
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Many ordinary people accepted Stalin’s claim that a giant conspiracy was taking place against himself and
the Revolution, masterminded by Trotsky. Many did not blame him for the Terror, instead insisting that
the ‘traitors’, ‘spies’ and ‘saboteurs’ deserved to die.
Why was there no opposition to the Terror?
 For many senior members of the party, they had no moral principles to turn when arrested, since they
themselves had used torture and executions in the war against the kulaks. Hence, they went to their deaths
without protest.
 Other members were so loyal that they accepted death as part of their ‘historical role’. Many could not
find meaning in their lives outside the party; they preferred to die than to live as ‘enemies of the people’.
 Others accepted death as a means of protecting their families.
 The ordinary people felt isolated and helpless. Most felt their best hope of survival was to simply lie low
and ignore the plight of others.
 People were also convinced of their innocence, and so found it difficult to believe they would not be
released. Trying to resist, they felt, would only make their plight worse.
Propaganda
 All newspapers, radio stations, film studios and newspapers were controlled by the government, and
produced material favourable to Stalin and the state.
 The cult of Stalin was introduced in 1929. He was presented as the ‘Supreme Genius of Humanity’ – the
true successor to Lenin.
 Stalin’s face appeared everywhere; cities were named in his honour; children were taught to give thanks to
him for their happy lives.
 History was rewritten, to emphasise Stalin’s role the Revolution and the Civil War.
 All literature and art had to praise socialism and Stalin.
The cult of personality
 Stalin also initiated the cult of personality, to present himself to the Russian people as infallible - just like
Lenin.
 While he was purging the party of its collective memory of the Leninist period, Stalin commissioned the
writing of an official party history. In this version of history, Stalin replaced Trotsky as Lenin’s co-leader,
as the organiser of the 1917 seizure of power and as the chief strategist of the Civil War. The book became
required reading for all party members. It defined what they knew about the history of the party. For them,
Stalin was what he claimed to be – the true successor to Lenin.
 This was the most visible change in Soviet social and cultural life in the 1930s.
 Stalin was presented as the ‘Supreme Genius of Humanity’ – the true successor to Lenin.
 His face appeared everywhere, cities were named in his honour, and children were taught to give thanks to
him for their happy lives.
Totalitarianism
Characteristics of totalitarianism:
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A powerful ideology, which promises the onset of a golden era.
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A single mass-based party, led by a charismatic dictator.
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A system of terror, built around a ruthless secret police force.
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State control of the economy, the mass media and the armed forces.
The USSR as a totalitarian state:
Ideology:
Marxism promised a society that was devoid of exploitation and inequality.
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Politics:
Stalin used Kirov’s death to eliminate all democratic elements within the Party and to establish
a system where terror was the norm. During the various purges, the NKVD killed 18 million people.
Economics: The state owned virtually all productive assets and ran the economy via central planning.
Agricultural land was collectivized.
The media: The state controlled the nation’s newspapers, radio stations and cinemas. Stalin had history
rewritten, to emphasise his role the Revolution and the Civil War.
The armed forces:
Stalin purged the military and the secret police, filling their ranks with men loyal to
him. By 1939, all power was in Stalin’s hands. The system was totalitarian.
Russia under Stalin, 1929-41:
Economic : Stalin industrialised Russia, but this success was built on the sacrifices of the working class.
There were very few consumer goods available, which meant that living standards remained low. Stalin’s
agricultural policies were an economic failure. Collectivisation resulted in a decline in food production and a
famine in 1932-33. Seven million people died.
Social: Stalin maintained most of the reforms introduced in the 1920s (like equal pay for equal work, the right
to education, the provision of maternity benefits and child care facilities, and universal education and health
care), but reversed some of Lenin’s reforms (making divorce harder and banning abortion). The cult of
personality and russification of the country also had a negative impact on society. In the arts, all writers,
painters and film-makers had to devote their talents to the promotion of the socialist ideal. This new style was
known as ‘Socialist Realism’, and it left no place for individual expression. In education, the government
embarked on a universal literacy program and expanded the number of university places. The education
system was ‘Stalinised’, in that textbooks were introduced which presented the dictator as a genius.
The government discouraged religious belief, closing or destroying many churches.
Stalin reversed Lenin’s policy of tolerating national and cultural diversity, replacing it with a policy of
‘russification’.
Political: The impact of Stalinism was completely negative. Stalin centralised power in his own hands, then
purged all potential opponents. 18 million were purged between 1930 and 1939. The impact was that fear
permeated every level of society and trust all but disappeared.
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Essay Plans
To what extent did Stalin transform the society and economy of the Soviet Union
Note: No dates in the question – make sure to put them in mentally when doing the essay. Here I would
suggest the period between Stalin’s introduction of the first 5 year plan in 1928 and the German invasion
of Russia in 1941 Make sure to answer the question in your introduction or conclusion. Don’t give any
detail on his career prior to 1917 or his rise to power!!!! As it is not a political essay I would not write
more than one paragraph on the Show Trials Remember this is Economy (5yr Plans, Collectivisation)
and Society (Terror, Propaganda, Cult of Personality)
Plan
Introduction
Put in date/ Introduce the Key concept Communism/ Overview of his policiesand
hia aims/ how he achieved them an affect.
Between 1927 and 1939 Stalin or ‘Man of Steel’, transformed the USSR from a backward agricultural
state into a modern industrial power, having rose to leader of the Communist Party following the death of
Lenin, in January 1924. Stalin claimed he was creating a new society based on Communism. Under
communism the state owns factories and banks, there was no private business and land was held in
common.
A one party state was established and Stalin used a terror as state policy. He created a cult of personality
using mass media, propaganda and terror to create an idealised, god-like public image
Stalin also changed the social fabric of the USSR, through the Purges, the NKVD secret police and the
Show Trials, where he eliminated his main political oponnents. Economically, his implementation of the
Five-Year Plans, from 1928-32, 1933-37 and 1938-41, the latter interrupted by the German invasion,
turned the USSR into a ‘command economy’, aided by state propaganda. Stalin had one main aim, to
make Russia a modern industrial country and he was prepared to use any method to achieve this aim.
5 Year Plans - Industry
Collectivisation Agriculture
Terror and Purges
Show Trails
Propaganda/Cult of
Personality
Conclusion
Explain what they were, what was the aim and what was the effect both on economy and
society.
Explain what they were, what was the aim and what was the effect both on economy and
society.
Stalin getting rid of enemies or rivals or threats in organisations of the state. (Communist
Party, the Military, the Civil Service, the Judiciary, Doctors, Scientists, 1 and half million
killed. To scare people, to discourage any opposition to Stalin and his supporters, to unite
people against an enemy (spies/traitors), maybe Stalin was paranoid and/or sadistic
Explain what they were, what was the aim and what was the effect both on economy and
society.
Posters, radio, film, newsreels, statues, sculptures, paintings,pictures, books, schoolbooks,
role and importance in the 1917 Revolution exaggerated, photos edited to remove enemies
or rivals, e.g. Trotsky. Parades, marches, speeches.
Wrap it up and answer the question.
There is no doubt that Joseph Stalin transformed the society and economy of the USSR. He presided over
a period of rapid industrial development without parallel in history. An agricultural country was rapidly
changed into a modern industrial society. He brought Russia from the age of the wooden plough to the
atomic age. His policy of Socialism in One Country probably saved Russia from defeat in World War II.
Stalin also established a massive system of public schools and universities to provide a literate (and more
easily brainwashed) work force as well as engineers for his factories. By 1940, the Soviet Union had an
85% literacy rate and was the third largest industrial power in the world behind only the United States and
Germany. However, these changes were accompanied with the use of terror on a truly remarkable scale:
unsurpassed in modern human history. While he did oversee the industrial development of the country,
allowing it to resist the Nazi onslaught in 1941, he also subjected his people to a regime of lies, fear and
dictatorship, which resulted in over 20 million deaths. As the Russian historian Dmitri Volkogonov has
noted “no one in history has ever waged such war on his own people.”
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Essay Plans
How did Stalin consolidate his personal power and transform USSR from 1924 –1941
Use similar paragraphs to the above essay but emphasis is on consolidating power so and transforming
so ensure this is how you link each paragraph ie.linking Rise to Power to Propaganda (paragraph 1 to
2) you could finish paragraph 1 with
‘Stalin was now undisputed leader but despite his position, Stalin’s power was anything but absolute. He
had rivals in the politburo, and could be removed from his power base as general secretary if the Party so
wished. He now set out to turn this power into dictatorial power. Starting in 1929, Stalin used propaganda
to help him consolidate his power’.
Introduction
Joseph Stalin was one of the most powerful rulers of the twentieth century. He was able to seize control
of an incredibly vast and disorderly country and maintain that control for thirty years. It is baffling how
millions of Russians allowed this cruel leader to control nearly every part of their lives. Stalin established
himself as dictator of Russia by using his political skill to defeat Trotsky in the power struggle of the
1920s, then by using ruthlessness to crush his rivals in the 1930s. Joseph Stalin’s changes both socially,
politically and economically were able to raise the nation from the dark ages and into the world as a
primary leader and although Stalin was a cruel leader responsible for the deaths of millions of his own
people, he was able to transform Russia into one of the most powerful in the world.
Rise to Power
Propaganda
Terror/Purges
Show Trials
Industrialisation and
Collectivisation
Grey Blur / Becoming leader/dealing with Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev
Socialism in One Country'-Stalin, Vs 'Permanent Revolution-Trotsky
By 1929 he had the power but then set out to turn this power into dictatorial power
Posters, radio, film, newsreels, statues, sculptures, paintings,pictures, books,
schoolbooks, role and importance in the 1917 Revolution exaggerated, photos edited to
remove enemies or rivals, e.g. Trotsky. Parades, marches, speeches.
Stalin getting rid of enemies or rivals or threats in organisations of the state.
(Communist Party, the Military, the Civil Service, the Judiciary, Doctors, Scientists, 1
and half million killed.
To scare people, to discourage any opposition to Stalin and his supporters, to unite
people against an enemy (spies/traitors), maybe Stalin was paranoid and/or sadistic
What when and why
5 Yr Plans to to develop industry and increase production e.g. Coal, Steel,
Infrastructure. 1st one in 1928, 1933, 1938. Set targets and quotas to be reached.
Rewards: bonuses, holidays, employee of the month, news stories, etc...Punishments,
fines
Collectivisation Ended NEP, Goverment merged lots of small farms to create big
collective farms,share machinery, modern equipment. But farmers not getting share of
profit so less motivated, production remained low.
Conclusion
Stalin used his political skills to out-manoeuvre his rivals and acquire the powers of a dictator. He used
propaganda, censorship and a cult of personality to gain the support of the people. His use of
collectivisation and industrialisation also contributed to his consolidation of power but it was his use of
fear and terror that trully consolidated his power as ruler. He While he did oversee the industrial
development of the country, allowing it to resist the Nazi onslaught in 1941, he also subjected his people
to a regime of lies, fear and dictatorship, which resulted in over 20 million deaths.
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Essay Plans
How did Lenin and Stalin use propaganda and terror to maintain power?
Introduction
Propaganda is the art of persuasion, it attempts to force a doctrine on the whole people. To control the public
and their opinion, to support and to expand Soviet power, to portray Russia as a superior nation, to increase war efforts
Conclusion
How did dictators use propaganda and/or terror to maintain their power?
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To what extent had Lenin established a Communist regime in Russia by 1924?
Introduction
New government and actions –
Armistice / Constituent Assembly
Treaty of Brest Litovsk – outbreak of
Civil War
Reasons for the victory of the Reds
The Red Terror and the Cheka
The abandonment of War
Communism and the NEP
Conclusion
Lenin’s death and conclusion (evaluation)
By the time of his death Lenin had established Communism in Russia. His pragmatism and his ability to seize an
opportunity when it arose were two of his major political skills. Against the advice of many of his supporters, he
led a successful revolution in October 1917. He pulled Russia out of the war with Germany which helped to
consolidate his regime. Victory in the Civil War ensured the effective establishment of the Communist state. His
ability to recognise when his policies had failed led him to abandon War Communism and replace it with the New
Economic Policy. However Lenin instituted a very brutal totalitarian regime. Democracy was banned and a
oneparty police state was established. The biggest criticism of Lenin was his use of terror as state policy. This
policy was directed against different groups in society who were seen as enemies of the people.
Guilt or innocence was irrelevant. He set up the apparatus of terror (secret police, show trials, concentration camps,
etc.). He devalued human life and Stalin
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