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Causes of the Terror, Stalins personal motives and personality, Economic…
Causes of the Terror
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Social instabilities
Cities were becomeing very hostile towards the Communist Party and the government was worried about the loss of control in the 'quicksand society'
The government resorted to the terror of the purges to drown out the ciriticism of the leadership, control people and to keep them working.The campaign encouraging people to criticise officials wsa intended to delfect criticism towards the government.
The disruption caused by the Five Year Plans created a very unstable society. Mass urbanisation caused social tension and violence in the overcrowded cities which lacked basic facilities and services.
The position of the NKVD
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THere was also the argument that any slow down after the agressive collectivisation would make them less indespensible while the Great Terror could raise their profile and allow them to become the leading institution in the Soviet system.
Some historians argue that the NKVD conducted terror at such high rates and with agressive attitudes due to the beneftis it presented them. An inclrease in work required for the NKVD increased the workforce of the organisation, the power held by NKVD leaders and resources provided to them.
External Threats
The Great Terror was an incentive/threat to push people further for the Five Year Plan and development of industry.
After Hitler became Chancellor war became more and more likely. This increased the pressure to develop an armament industry based on heavy industry. This meant people who were already suffering in the Five Year Plan had to be pushed even further.
The growing likelyhood of a war was an inscentive for Stalin to remove any opposing people who might be unwilling to follow the war plan Stalin prefered.
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Economic difficulties
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Due to this suffering economy Stalin and the elites could use the terror as a way to place the blame for the failing economy on other people such as managers. Managers were arrested and used as scapegoats for economic failure and sabotage from the managers. Stalin encouraged criticism from below and mobilised the masses by calling for workers to critizie managers and administrators they blieved were causing issues. This got out of control.
Around the mid 1930s production figures of the Five Year Plans were failling behind schedule. The economy suffered after techincal problems, Stalins bad managment and a bad harvest in 1936.
The Stakhanovite campaign of 1936 was set up to encourage wokers to be more productive but also to persuade would-be Stakhovites to put pressure of their managers by demanding tools and materials to raise production rates. Managers that did not respond were labeled as wreckers and haters of the Soviet Union.
The Gulag
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Industries were suffering in not many russians were willing to work the hard jobs in the gold mines, steel mines or logging jobs at the north of Russia due to the horrid conditions
Stalin needed the money and the resources to be able to feed his rapid industrialisation. He resortted to gulags which sent counter revolutionaries to the hardest conditions making them for hours wihtout stopping. This helped the russian economy and maintained the rapidly growing urban cities.