Stalinism, politics and control
Dictatorship and Stalinism
Machinery of state terror:
- Emerged under Lenin so the USSR was already a police state in
1928
- Cheka established in 1917
- From 1922 to 1934, security functions were carried out by the OGPU
which also supervised labour camps that had been built up since
1918
- Stalin extended terror through enforcing collectivisation, expelling
Trosky from the USSR, removing Bukharin from the Politburo
- In 1931, Stalin put a group of former Mensheviks and SRs on trial
- 1928 Shakhty trial: managers and technicians at a coal mine had
questioned the pace of industrialisation and were accused of
‘counter revolutionary activity’ – five were executed
- By the end of the first five year plan in 1932, there was renewed
opposition to Stalin, particularly after the forced collectivisation
resulted in the 1932-1933 famine – led to a further purge of the
party
- Ryutin’s platform in March 1932 urged Stalin’s removal – Ryutin was
imprisoned for 10 years, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others were
expelled from the Party for failure to report the document.
- In 1934, the USSR’s internal security was passed to the NKVD led in
turn by Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria.
Kirov’s murder:
- Seventeenth Party Congress 1934: split between Stalin who wanted
to maintain the pace of industrialisation and others who spoke out
about stopping forcible grain seizures and increasing workers rations
- Kirov, standing out in opposition, received a standing ovation at the
party congress
- Title of ‘General Secretary’ was abolished, and Stalin and Kirov were
given ‘Secretary of Equal Rank’ – spread responsibility for the
economic crisis
- Kirov was murdered in December 1934 – Stalin claimed this was part
of a Trotskyite plot to overthrow the party
- A decree was published the day after the assassination giving
Yagoda, as head of the NKVD, powers to arrest and execute anyone
found guilty of ‘terrorist plotting’
, - Over a hundred Party members were shot and thousands more
arrested and sent to prison camps
- In January 1935, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 17 others were arrested,
accused of instigating terrorism and sentenced to between 5 and 10
years of imprisonment
- In June 1935, the death penalty was extended to anyone aware of
subversive activity
The show trials:
- Public trials in which foreign journalists were invited to – to prove
that Stalin and the USSR were facing ‘enemies of the state’
- The verdict was never in doubt, and the purpose was to
demonstrate the accused’s guilt
- In the months preceding the trial, it was the task of the NKVD to
extract a signed confession through every form of interrogation from
pressure and promises to starvation, physical torture and threats to
the defendant’s family
- In April 1935, a new decree was passed that children over the age of
12, who were found guilty of crimes, were subject to the same
punishment as adults
- First major show trial in August 1936 when Kamenev and
Zinoviev (who had already been secretly tried in 1935) underwent a
trial for propagandist purposes – the defendants confessed their
guilt and they were all sentenced to death and executed in Moscow
on 25 August 1936
1936 Stalin constitution:
- In 1936, a new constitution drafted by Bukharin was introduced that
declared that socialism had been achieved
- Stalin claimed that his constitution was the most ‘demographic in
the world’
- The new constitution promised local autonomy to ethnic groups and
support for national cultures and languages
- It also promised four yearly elections with the right to vote for all
over the age of 18
- It was also accompanied by a statement of civil rights, such as
freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of the press and religion and
the right of free speech
- Citizens were expected to work and were guaranteed the right to
work, education and social welfare
Dictatorship and Stalinism
Machinery of state terror:
- Emerged under Lenin so the USSR was already a police state in
1928
- Cheka established in 1917
- From 1922 to 1934, security functions were carried out by the OGPU
which also supervised labour camps that had been built up since
1918
- Stalin extended terror through enforcing collectivisation, expelling
Trosky from the USSR, removing Bukharin from the Politburo
- In 1931, Stalin put a group of former Mensheviks and SRs on trial
- 1928 Shakhty trial: managers and technicians at a coal mine had
questioned the pace of industrialisation and were accused of
‘counter revolutionary activity’ – five were executed
- By the end of the first five year plan in 1932, there was renewed
opposition to Stalin, particularly after the forced collectivisation
resulted in the 1932-1933 famine – led to a further purge of the
party
- Ryutin’s platform in March 1932 urged Stalin’s removal – Ryutin was
imprisoned for 10 years, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others were
expelled from the Party for failure to report the document.
- In 1934, the USSR’s internal security was passed to the NKVD led in
turn by Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria.
Kirov’s murder:
- Seventeenth Party Congress 1934: split between Stalin who wanted
to maintain the pace of industrialisation and others who spoke out
about stopping forcible grain seizures and increasing workers rations
- Kirov, standing out in opposition, received a standing ovation at the
party congress
- Title of ‘General Secretary’ was abolished, and Stalin and Kirov were
given ‘Secretary of Equal Rank’ – spread responsibility for the
economic crisis
- Kirov was murdered in December 1934 – Stalin claimed this was part
of a Trotskyite plot to overthrow the party
- A decree was published the day after the assassination giving
Yagoda, as head of the NKVD, powers to arrest and execute anyone
found guilty of ‘terrorist plotting’
, - Over a hundred Party members were shot and thousands more
arrested and sent to prison camps
- In January 1935, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 17 others were arrested,
accused of instigating terrorism and sentenced to between 5 and 10
years of imprisonment
- In June 1935, the death penalty was extended to anyone aware of
subversive activity
The show trials:
- Public trials in which foreign journalists were invited to – to prove
that Stalin and the USSR were facing ‘enemies of the state’
- The verdict was never in doubt, and the purpose was to
demonstrate the accused’s guilt
- In the months preceding the trial, it was the task of the NKVD to
extract a signed confession through every form of interrogation from
pressure and promises to starvation, physical torture and threats to
the defendant’s family
- In April 1935, a new decree was passed that children over the age of
12, who were found guilty of crimes, were subject to the same
punishment as adults
- First major show trial in August 1936 when Kamenev and
Zinoviev (who had already been secretly tried in 1935) underwent a
trial for propagandist purposes – the defendants confessed their
guilt and they were all sentenced to death and executed in Moscow
on 25 August 1936
1936 Stalin constitution:
- In 1936, a new constitution drafted by Bukharin was introduced that
declared that socialism had been achieved
- Stalin claimed that his constitution was the most ‘demographic in
the world’
- The new constitution promised local autonomy to ethnic groups and
support for national cultures and languages
- It also promised four yearly elections with the right to vote for all
over the age of 18
- It was also accompanied by a statement of civil rights, such as
freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of the press and religion and
the right of free speech
- Citizens were expected to work and were guaranteed the right to
work, education and social welfare
