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The stalinist dictatorship and reaction 1941-1964 - Coggle Diagram
The stalinist dictatorship and reaction 1941-1964
Stalins dictatorship during high stalinism
By the end of war the USSR could arguably be a world superpower. It gained lots of satellite states such as many eastern European countries. When Stalin shrunk the party he eliminated the 'Old Guard' these people were people who joined the party because of there own commitment to marxism they were replaced with 'new men' who were extremely bureaucratic and wouldn't do anything without the approval of Stalin.
The Zhadovschina was when Zhdanov launched a cultural purge. The movement was about spreading socialist ideal and promoted the cult of Stalin. It bega with a purge on 2 literary journals published in Leningrad. The publishers were purged and the authors were expelled from the union of soviet writers. One of the writers was sent to a gulag. Stalin was terrified of ideological contamination from the west. He sent anyone who had sent time outside of the USSR including soldiers to gulags. Even a brief contact with a foreigner could land you in a gulag. A law was passed which banned marriages to foreigners. Beria, the head of security and a member of the Politburo was largely responsible for the growth in gulags. When Isreal turned out to be pro-USA Stalin became extremely anti-semetic and he feared all jews were enemies
Stalin was the only person who was apart of both the GKO and Stavka. This meant he could make most of the decisions. After the war he got rid of the GKO to give Stalin more power. He demoted the general that helped with the war effort as he didn't want people to feel a loyalty to him, He only made decisions with his close circle and he listened to the party less. He got rid of the Old Bolsheviks from the party as the wanted Marxist policies. They were replaced with Bureaucrats who would agree with Stalins Policies. Stalin was portrayed as a god and a war hero and there were lots of monuments over Russia. Stalin was terrified that western ideologies would spread to USSR. To prevent this he sent many returning soldiers and people who had spent lots of time outside the USSR during the war to gulags or labour camps. The NKVD was strengthened and reorganised under 2 new ministries; The MGB which looked at state security and the MVD Which looked at internal affairs. Stalin also had lots of censorship - any non-soviet views were criticised. Lots of books, poets, writers and artists were banned and thier families sent to gulags. Stalin also set up the presidium with his close circle and made it so only they could have a say in how the country was run.
The director of jewish theatre was killed in a mysterious car accident. Stalin changed the name of the Politburo in 1952 to the Presidium. The presidium was nominated by Stalin, rather than elected this meant that Stalin and his close circle made all decisions
Similarities in Khrushchev's state to Stalins state
Changes
Khrushchev's tried to introduce democratization. He enlarged the party from 7 million in 1956 to 11 million bringing in more working class members. This reduced the power of the higher levels of bureaucrats, who supported Stalin.
A new cultural thaw was underway. Banned writers were allowed to write again. Western books were also allowed
End to centralised power with more power to the party. After Stalins death the power struggle provided them with a new level of importance as centers for decision making. The secret police was reduced in size and and controlled by the party. A partial revival of the judicial system marked a move away from police influence in state matters. Khrushchev's removal of Beria (head of the NKVD) gave the Party influence
Decentralisation is shown as the party was split into urban and rural sections. Local soviets were given the power to hand out punishments for minor offences.
De-Stalinisation and the end of terror. Following ww2 Stalin was hailed as the saviour of the state in propaganda but following his death, images were removed and Stalin was declared an enemy of the people. Secret Speech signalled an end to the Stalinist use of terror. this is shown that Khrushchev's rivals do the leadership were sent to jobs away from Moscow and given a comfortable living. The fact that they were not murdered in show trails shows change.
Continuity
There was still a centralised economy. Khrushchev still issued plans including the 6th and the 7th FYP. Despite his decentralisation economic policies, Khrushchev introduced the Supreme Economic Council which demonstrated continued centralism.
There was still an Authoritarian state and censorship. Artists and writers still did not have complete freedom.
The party organisations may have changed but they were still there. Stalin's politburo continued as did the Central committee
Timeline
High Stalinism 1945-53
Khrushchev 1953-64
WW2 1941-45