Stalin’s Dictatorship:
USSR, 1924-1941
GCSE History Revision Notes
By Dane O’ Neill
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Stalin’s Dictatorship: USSR, 1924-1941
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5
KEY WORDS: .............................................................................................................................................. 6
The Rise of a Personal Dictator: Joseph Stalin ...................................................................... 6
The Background of Stalin and Trotsky .................................................................................................... 6
The Death and Funeral of Lenin .............................................................................................................. 7
STALIN VS. TROTSKY – THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER ......................................................................... 7
Stalin vs. Trotsky – Differences in policies .......................................................................................... 7
Lenin’s Funeral: Stalin Tricks Trotsky .................................................................................................. 7
STALIN’S RISE TO POWER IN R USSIA, 1920S ........................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
STALIN GAINS TOTAL CONTROL OF RUSSIA: CENSORSHIP , PROPAGANDA, AND GOVERNMENT IN THE LATE
1920S. ...................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
What is Totalitarianism? ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Stalin and the one-party government.................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Propaganda: Developing Stalin’s ‘Cult of Personality’ ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Stalin Suppresses Lenin’s Testament ................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Censorship............................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Apparatchiks ........................................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Secret Police (OGPU)............................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Stalin controls the military ................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
THE CONTROL OF THE COMMUNIST P ARTY OVER THE GOVERNMENT IN THE 1930S ..... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
DEFINED .
The Soviet Constitution (1936), AKA the Stalin Constitution............... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Government Structure ......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Problems with the structure of government ....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
THE PURGES ............................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
The Purges: Causes .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
The First Purges, 1930-1933 .................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Causes: ‘Collectivisation’...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Problems with Collectivisation: Kulaks resist....................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
THE GREAT PURGES, 1936-1939 ..................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
Causes: The assassination of Kirov, 1934............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
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The Purges escalate: The Great Purges; Show Trials; .......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
‘THE GREAT PURGES’ IN DEPTH: THE SHOW TRIALS ............................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
Show Trials: Overview .......................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Show Trial #1: The Trial of Kamenev, Zinoviev, & 16 other ‘Old Bolsheviks’ (August 1936)
............................................................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
Show Trial#2: Radek, Pyatakov, & 17 other ‘Old Bolsheviks’ (1937) ......... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT
DEFINED .
Problems with the Show Trials ............................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Results of the Purges and the Show Trials: .......................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Purges destroyed Russia ............................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
STALIN: THE CULT OF PERSONALITY ................................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
Propaganda: Developing Stalin’s ‘Cult of Personality’ ......................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Secret Police: ................................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Labour Camps (Gulag) .............................................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Conditions in the Gulag........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.
Informers in Stalin’s Russia ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
THE ECONOMIC SITUATION IN THE USSR IN THE LATE 1920S ................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
The achievements of the NEP .............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
The failings of the NEP: the need for faster economic growth............ Error! Bookmark not defined.
COLLECTIVISATION AND THE ‘FIVE YEAR PLANS’ .................................... ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
COLLECTIVISATION: THE THEORY; THE PROCESS: THE CONSEQUENCES . ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED .
THE FIVE-YEAR PLANS ............................................................ ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.
The first Five Year Plans, (1928-1933): Industrial Growth ................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Second Five Year Plan (1933-1938)............................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
The Third Five Year Plan (1938-41) ...................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
Failures of the Five Year Plans ............................................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
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Stalin’s Dictatorship: USSR, 1924-1941
Introduction
Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party, and one of the chief orchestrators of
the 1917 October Revolution, was dead by January 1924, leaving a power
vacuum at the top of Russian government. The question remained as to who
was going to lead the Communist Party now that Lenin was gone? Lenin had
already expressed his desires to see Leon Trotsky assume leadership – indeed,
many people had seen Trotsky as being Lenin’s ‘second in comm and’, and
Trotsky was certainly a capable leader – if a little on the arrogant side. For
many, there could be no doubt: Trotsky would become the next leader.
However, what would transpire over the course of the next few years would
shock even the most toughened veterans of Russian Communist politics:
working behind the scenes of Russian politics, and slowly and ingeniously
manoeuvring his way into power was Joseph Stalin, the dangerously obscure
General Secretary of the Communist Party, and the self -styled ‘Man of Steel’.
Stalin would eliminate his political enemies with a ruthless, calculating, and
clinical efficiency on a scale that many historians believe surpasses even the
atrocities committed by Hitler in Nazi Germany. Once in power, Stalin’s rule
was absolute; persecution, torture, imprisonment, murder, and unspeakable
cruelty are the tools of the dictator’s trade, and Stalin used them to
frightening effect. The Russian population dared not oppose him lest they or
their families face the executioner or the backbreaking slavery of the
terrifying Gulag labour camps- if given the choice between enduring the
slavery of the Gulag or facing a quick(er) death from the NKVD death squads,
many would almost certainly chose the bullet.
In Stalinist Russia, nobody was safe; fear ruled, and families and old friends
turned against eachother in an attempt to survive. Yet, Stalin transformed
Russia from a backwards peasant society to the second largest economy in the
world – second only to the US – in just 10 years. But this government-driven
period of rapid modernisation would come at a terrible price for the Russian
people between 1929-1953.
WE WILL EXAMINE STALIN’S DICTATORSHIP UNDER THE FOLLOWING AREAS :
1) TO WHAT EXTENT STALIN BECAME A PERSONAL DICTATOR IN COMMUNIST RUSSIA BY THE END OF THE
1920S
2) HOW STALIN REINFORCED HIS DICTATORSHIP IN THE 1930S
3) TO WHAT EXTENT STALIN MADE THE USSR A GREAT ECONOMIC POWER
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KEY WORDS: STALIN; DICTATORSHIP; TOTALITARIAN; PROPAGANDA; BOLSHEVIK;
COMMUNISM; ZINOVIEV; KAMENEV; TROTSKY; SHOW TRIALS; NEP; NKVD;
MODERNISATION; COLLECTIVISATION; GULAG; KULAK; CULT OF PERSONALITY;
INFORMERS; PIONEERS;
Key Issue 1: To what extent had Stalin
become a personal dictator in
Communist Russia by the end of the
1920s?
1.1 - THE RISE OF A PERSONAL DICTATOR: JOSEPH STALIN
The Background of Stalin and Trotsky
JOSEPH STALIN
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Born in Georgia, in the southern part of the Russian Empire in 1879.
Joined the Bolsheviks, and supported Lenin.
Took part in the Russian Civil War, defending Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad).
Became the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922 and he was also the
Commissar for Nationalities; he used these positions to rise to power; he placed loyal
followers in senior positions that could help advance his own interests.
People did not really know what Stalin might do if he came to power.
LEON TROTSKY
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Member of the Bolshevik/Communist Party and a supporter of Lenin.
Brilliant military leader; he led the Red Guards in the October Revolution; he formed and led
the Red Army during the Russian Civil War.
He was very popular within the Communist Party, but some members of the Politburo did
not like his arrogance. Lenin also criticised Trotsky’s over-confidence.
Some feared that Trotsky might turn Russia into a military state if he came to power.
He was a brilliant speaker and a great political organiser.
He was still the most likely to succeed Lenin as the leader of the Communist Party; Lenin’s
Testament also showed support for Trotsky becoming the new leader.
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The Death and Funeral of Lenin
Lenin’s Testament
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In December 1923, one month before he died, Lenin wrote his testament.
Lenin’s testament described his thoughts on who should lead the Communist Party when he
died.
Lenin showed his support for Trotsky’s excellent political and military capabilities. He also
hoped that some of the Communist leaders might share power between themselves; but
later this would prove impossible.
He did not want Stalin to become the leader–he was afraid that Stalin would abuse his
power.
Stalin vs. Trotsky – The Struggle for Power
Stalin vs. Trotsky – Differences in policies
TROTSKY
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Trotsky wanted permanent revolution worldwide Communist Revolution – this would mean
that workers in other countries would set up Communist states after overthrowing their own
governments.
Trotsky knew that Communism was weak in Russia.
Trotsky believed that Communism could only survive in Russia if it spread to other countries,
particularly in Western Europe.
He believed that permanent revolution should be a goal of the USSR.
STALIN
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Wanted ‘Communism in one country’ – he believed that before Russia encourages a world
revolution, Communism must be developed in Russia through a period of peace and
rebuilding in Russia
Communism would not be successful in Russia unless Russia becomes a modern and
powerful nation.
Lenin’s Funeral: Stalin Tricks Trotsky
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Stalin made great pomp and ceremony over Lenin’s funeral: this was to give the impression
that he and Lenin were very close.
Stalin intentionally told Trotsky the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral; Trotsky arrived a day late,
missed the funeral, and lost a lot of popularity as a result.
It was becoming clear that Stalin was trying to undermine Trotsky’s public image, with the
intention of challenging Trotsky for the leadership of the Communist Party in Russia.
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