Topic 3: The Nature of Stalin's dictatorship

The Leadership Contest
1. Removing other rivals
  1. Zionviev and Kamenev who he had allied with before were his next targets.
    1. Stalin used accusations of disloyalty and rumours towards them.
    2. So they allied with Trotsky.
    3. Zionviev was expelled in 1926 and Kamenev was expelled later that year.
  2. He allied with Rykov and Bukharin in 1925, who before this were allied with Trotsky.
  3. Stalin did this in order to leech onto his allies followers so that they would support him as well and once he was finished doing this and he didn't need them anymore then he would get rid of them (dispose of them).
2. Trotsky's removal
  1. He was shut out in much of the decision making and Stalin and his supporters read rumours about him, such as that he never really had Lenin's approval or that he in reality disrupted the work of the Politubro.
  2. His removal started when he resignes as the Commissar of War in 1925, after that he was expelled from the Politburo, expelled from the communist party, exiled to Kazakhstan and in 1929, when he was finally exiled from the Soviet Union.
3. Trotsky's first mistake
  1. Trotsky was not in Moscow when Lenin died as Stalin gave Trotsky false information so Trotsky missed Lenin's funeral.
  2. So instead Stalin lead the funeral march and gave the speech instead.
4. Stalins Strengths
  1. He could be charming
  2. He was clever and was an excellent planner
  3. A great organiser
  4. General Secretary
    1. He could choose people's jobs, so that means that people had to be nice to him.
  5. He kept his work close to Moscow so that he would seem closer to Lenin than Trotsky or the other opponents.
5. Stalin's weaknesses
  1. He was suspicious and had a quick temper.
  2. He had a different ideology to Lenin
6. Lenin's belief
  1. Lenin had 3 strokes
  2. He died in 1924
  3. He assumed that the whole Politburo would take over when he died in 1924.
7. Reality
  1. There were 7 candidates to rule the USSR:
    1. Stalin
    2. Trotsky
    3. Tomsky
    4. Bukharin
    5. Kaminev
    6. Zinoviev
    7. Rykov
Stalin's Police State
1. A State Police
  1. The OGPU dealt with Political crimes which was essentially opposition to the state.
    1. Most crimes were "political"
  2. The Cheka could send people to prison without a trial and get confessions any way that they want them to.
    1. This includes torture.
2. Prison Camps
  1. When the Cheka was set up, so were prison camps.
  2. Those often sent were used for cheap labour.
3. A climate of Fear
  1. The Cheka's methods were intended to frighten people so that they wouldn't speak out.
4. The Terror of Stalin
  1. Stalin expanded the powers of the OGPU and the scope of their activities.
  2. The department running them was known as a Gulag and eventually the camps themselves were known by this term too.
5. The Purges
  1. Effect of the Purges
    1. created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.
      1. But also made people resentful
    2. Killed about 1 million people
    3. 7 million sent to prision
    4. Removed many skilful workers from industry so production was reduced.
    5. Produced a government almost totally loyal to Stalin
  2. These started in 1934 because he started to fear growing opposition.
  3. Those purged were either sent to Gulags, exiled abroad or executed.
  4. Those purged were:
    1. the Politburo
    2. The Secret Police
    3. The Armed Forces
    4. Teachers
    5. Scientists
    6. The Communist Party
6. The Show Trials
  1. Importance
    1. Ordinary people did not know how unfair the trials were.
    2. The accused actually confessed
    3. The trials scared people so they were less likely to go against Stalin and his beliefs.
  2. Started because in 1934 Kirov was murdered.
    1. So in 1936 the Show trials begun..
    2. Leadees of the 1917 revolution were tried for treason and the assassination of Kirov.
  3. Everyone trialled was guilty.
Propaganda
1. Types of Propaganda
  1. Songs
  2. Poems
  3. Books
  4. Radio
  5. Newspapers
  6. Films
  7. Banners
  8. Posters
2. How it was used
  1. To turn people against his enemies
  2. To get people to accept his decisions
  3. to get people to put up with hardships
  4. To get people to work harder
  5. To build up a 'cult of Stalin'
3. The cult of Lenin
  1. Lenin was widely respected and loved before his death so he didn't want to discredit him in any way so he created this instead and put his image up with Lenin's in a way.
4. The Cult of Stalin
  1. Ordinary people wrote to Stalin asking for his help and sometimes he helped them made him seem like a good person even though he wasn't a good person.
  2. The newspapers had pictures and articles about him to tell people how great he was and about how amazing the changes he had made had influenced Russia in a positive way.
  3. HE WAS EVERYWHERE
5. The 1936 Constitution
  1. The democracy it set up was an illusion to make people believe that they had power when in reality they had none.
  2. The rights created were ignored.
  3. The Politburo still had all the real power.
    1. Therefore Stalin still had all the real power.
  4. However, the idea of having a democratic society was viewed as a very good thing by other countries so this was just another use of creating propaganda.
Censorship
1. Official culture
  1. Stalin wanted to create a culture of Social Realism.
  2. those who wrote or performed the arts had to produce low work so that everyone could understand it.
    1. If you didn't you'd become an enemy of the people and be executed or sent to a gulag.
    2. Or you had to find a way to become in favor again.
2. Censoring the Past
  1. He changed pictures and history textbooks.
  2. stopped the influence of people like Trotsky.
  3. This happened to people who felt out of favor.
  4. Acted as a warning to opponents.

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Topic 3: The Nature of Stalin's dictatorship

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