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USSR (1924-1941)

Struggle for power
1. Lenin dies 1924, vacancy for the leader of the party
  1. Trotsky
    1. Popular in army and in party
    2. Led red army in civil war
    3. Had been a menshevik and made some enimies
    4. Lenin said he was arrogant, but very able to lead
    5. But Trotsky wanted revoloution to spread and make a ussr world revoloution
  2. Zinoviev
    1. Left wing
    2. Didnt want trotsky as leader
    3. Friend of lenin
  3. Stalin
    1. Unlikely to lead
    2. Did some behind the scenes work as "General secretary"
    3. Lenin said he should be removed from office as he was too rude and ambitous
2. Stalin makes himself leader
  1. Stalin wanted a period of peace and rebuilding "communism in one country which most of the party agreed with
  2. He appointed people loyal to him to senior positions in the party
  3. Supressed lenins testament that stated he was too rude and should be kicked out
  4. By late 1920's Stalin had enough party support to vote his rivals out
3. Stalin got rid of the left wing and right wings
  1. In 1925, He joins with Zinoviev (Left Wing) against Trotsky who was then dismissed as commissar for war, then in 1927 he was thrown out of the party
  2. New loyal members were elected
  3. Stalin supports gradual reform of the economy, and dismissed Zinoviev (The left wing) because they believed in fast economic modernisation
  4. Trotsky forced to leave the USSR in 1929
  5. In 1928 Stalin adopts fast modernisation (More left wing) and as a result can remove leading right wing members who still supported gradual reform
  6. 1929 Stalin in COMPLETE CONTROL
The purges
1. Kirov Murder
  1. Kirov, the popular head of party in Leningrad (Moscow) was murdered in 1934
  2. Many people think Stalin was responsible for the murder, but there is no definate proof
  3. Stalin said there was a conspiracy against Kirov and himself and used this as an excuse to get rid of his rivals
2. What happened in the purges
  1. Many old communists and other leaders that posed a threat were arrested
  2. Those who were too popular to kill without reason were given show trails, where they were forced by torture or threats to confess betraying stalin
  3. Basically, the purges seemed an excuse to get rid of anyone Stalin saw as a threat to him
3. The effects of the purges
  1. Any normal person suspected of disloyalty to stalin was taken away by the secret police
  2. Most of these were shot or sent to labour camps, to avoid arrest people had to provide info on others (which was often false)
  3. Trotsky condemed Stalin from his home in mexico and called for a new revoloution (He was killed in 1940 by one of stalins agents)
  4. As many as 10 million were thought to be killed in the purges (More than the holocaust)
Stalins dictatorship
1. Controlling information
  1. Artists and writers had to follow the party line (create art that was good for the party)
  2. Newspapers, cinema, radio etc spread propaganda and never criticised Stalin
  3. History was re-written to make Stalin look more important in the story of the october revoloution than he actually was
  4. Trotsky was removed from history books and rubbed out of any old photos, which were altered to make stalin look like a close friend of Lenin's
2. The Purges Consequences
  1. Many of the most gifted people had been killed or sent to camps
  2. The army had lost its most senior officers
  3. Top scientists and engineers were lost, resulting in a lack of industrial progress
  4. Overall the purges really weakened the USSR
3. Removing the church
  1. The church was a supporter of the Tsar
  2. Church land had started to be taken, and many priests etc were murdered
  3. 1929 the church was banned from any activity except leading worship
  4. MANY STILL RELIGOUS THOUGH!
The 5 year plans
Collectivisation
Results of collectivisation

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USSR (1924-1941)

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	Created by liams8 over 11 years ago