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Government of Khrushchev and Brezhnev, Government of Lenin and Stalin -…
Government of Khrushchev and Brezhnev
Brezhnev
Stability of Cadres
- reversed the 3 year term positions , more job stability for those in party, no promotions or demotions - between 1964-1971 only 2 people promoted to Politburo - supposed to stop patronage but instead:
Political Stagnation
1970-85 (changes to the government slow/ non existent)
Inefficiency - no incentive to work hard as no promotions (only 2 people promoted to politburo between 1964-71) , generational gap between leaders and society, too old and ill to perform jobs
Corruption - sackings and discipline were rare under Brezhnev and so corruption such as selling on the black market very common
Gerontocracy - stability of cadres meant no new young people joined government - average age went from 58-->75 (Rule of old people - Gerontocracy) - the leaders did not understand the society they were governing
Moral decline - soviet people less caring about socialist revolution dreams as Brezhnev said these had already been achieved, fall in membership growth from 7% (1965) to 2% (1973) – ideological appeal was drifting.
Restoration
- reversed Khrushchev's key reforms:
reversed de-centralisation by resestablishing the all-union ministries that Khrushchev had abolished
ended spilt between industrial and agricultural wings of party
Brezhnev Constitution - officially recognised Party's leading role in society and over the state
Vanity - made himself feel clever through having articles written on him and awarding himslef medals
Leadership of Brezhnev and also Kosygin until 1970- Kosygin lost job
Khrushchev
Democratisation and Decentralisation (major government reforms)
Democratisation
designed to allow workers and peasants to join communist party
made party more representative of people in Russia
party membership grew 6.9 million --> 11 million
introduced fixed terms for senior communists so relplaced regualry
Decentralisation
economic powers shared to 105 new economic councils
Ministry of Agriculture moved 'closer to the fields'
Divided the party in 2 - agriculture and industry
Backlash- many communist officials demoted --> criticism of Khrushchev, 'Anti-party group' tried to remove Khrushchev but failed as he claimed only central party ( who liked him) had that power
De-Stalinisation
Removal of Stalinist loyalists from senior party and replaced 44% of central committee with own supporters- secured his own position in the party
Secret Speech - critisesd Stalin and his cult of personality, creating a dictatorship --> shock from the party who loved him (heart attaks, sucicides reported maybe)
Scrapped plans for museum of Stalin
Annual Stalin prizes scrapped
Newspapers began to quote Lenin and Marx rather than Stalin
Ending Terror - prisoners under Stalin pardoned and released and amnesties for various classes of prisoners (2 million from 1953-60) - sped up after secret speech
Problems with de-stalinisation
unrest in Soviet Union, revolution in Hungary (surpressed)
Khrushchev backtracked after critics said soviet people not ready to hear truth about Stalin
Stalin never propely rejected
Destalinissation came to a full hault in 1957
Revived under Brezhnev
People allowed to retire without humitaltion and members removed without being killed
Khrushchev's Downfall
Cuban Missile Crisis
Gave more power to party and so they were abel to remove him
Corn Campagin failure
Political reforms created discontent in the Party - too rash and dangerous
Senior figures plotted his overthrow and summonded to special meeting after which he retired and lived under guard for the next 7 years of his life
Contenders for Power
Krushchev
Popular member of politburo
Beria
Head of police and implimenting Terror
Rivals feared he would use secret police to turn agaisnt them
K and Malenkov orangise plot to execute Beria
Malenkov
Rumoured to be Stalin's choice
After Beria executed they ruled together but stil in competition
By 1955, Khrushchev had enough support to force Malenkov to resign as Premier
Malenkov expelled from the Politburo
Andropov and Chernenko
Andropov
Stoped 'Stability of Cadres' - allowed a younger generation into the Soviet Government
Small scale econmic reforms
Anti-corruption campaign - exposing corrpt officals
Chernenko
Basicly did nothing as he was so old and ill
Government of Lenin and Stalin
Lenin
Lenin's State
Ideology
Replace Capitalsim with socialism
Based of Marxism - society progressed due to class conflict and the next step was past capitalism
Marx did not clearly state how this would happen but Lenin was very ruthless about his approach
1917 - Initally democratic
Started as Lenin seizing power on behalf of the 'soviets' - a small demonctratic conciliatory
Gave power of governing Russia to small democtratic council - Sovnarkom - new Russian cabinet
Sovnarkom was orginally not very powerful and also disorganised
His popular decrees allowed him to maintain control as peasants and workers supported him
Genuinly democtraic with popular decrees and not a one party state
Decrees (popular) :
Decree on Land - peasants could seize land from nobility and the church
Decree on Peace - withdraw from WW2
Workers Decree - 8 hour working day max
1918 - The Constituent Assembly
Jan 1918, Lenin beganto turn agaisnt democracy
Lenin refused to acknowledge the results of a nationwide election by closing a constituent assembly that posed a threat to Soviets
Bolsheviks voted out in election but Lenin refused to acknowldge the results
Impact of the Civil War (1918-21)
Communist opposition
The Whites: liberals, Tsarists, miliarty
British, French and American troops who didnt want communism spreading
The Mensheviks
Broke out into full scale civil war in summer 1918
However, Red Army began to win the war
Changes to government
- Lenin's government bceomes incresingly centralised and the communist party incresingly powerful
The emergence of a 'party-state'
During civl war, Lenin began to reply more on the politburo (loyal members of only 5-7 (trotsky, Stalin etc)) rather then the Sovnarkorm
new gorvernment based more on the communists (educated folk) than the Soviets
This created an imbalacne in power and a new form of governemnt knwon as the 'party-state'
Red Terror
In 1917, Lenin created the Cheka (political police force) who were tasked with defending the revolution
Imprisoned anyone who was a threat to the communist party
Lenin formed a Red Army to fight in the civil war and were led by Tsarist lead (Trotsky idea) which helped them win
They becmae. adisciplined sucessful fighting force
Crisis and reform (1921)
-Reds/communists won due to dominating the government. However, this made then extremly unpopular leading to rebellion to Lenin's government
Popular Unrest
Droughts in 1920-21 threaten famine
peasnt revolts against grain stores
Russia's economy ruined
Strikes agasint communist policies in ealy 1921
Kronstadt sailors rebelled - demanded new election, restore freedom of speech, abolish Cheka, end war communism
-Reds/communists won due to dominating the government. However, this made then extremly unpopular leading to rebellion to Lenin's government
Response
Deported 100,000 people to labour camps and attacking peasant villages with poisoned gas
Created one-party state: suppressed other political parties - arested leaders
Lenin used Red Army and crushed the Kronstadt upraising
The 1921 Party Congress
Lenin recognised the unrest and dislike of the regime and put forward series of reforms
Recognised the opposition from the
Workers Opposition
and the
Democratic Centralists
His resolution was 'On Party Unity' which banned factions inside the party - which made opposition more difficult to organise
Lenin's Legacy
Created Dictatorship of Proletariat to defend revolution - one party state
Removed power of
Sovnarkom
and only Politburo had real power
Citizens had no real rights as Cheka freee to persecute anyone governemnt saw as threat
Workers governments reaced with highly beaurocratic ones - not the working class as promised
Stalin
The Communist party in 1928
Collectivisation and Industrialisation
Abandoned NEP in favour of more radical policy - state owned farms that would fuel the social unions industry
Socialism
Stalin and Bukharin argued that socialsm could be achieved without a global revoltion and instead just in the Soviet Union
Increase in Party membership
Encourged by Stalin
128,000 people joined
But there people uneducated and only joined for better paying jobs
Stalin's patronage system (giving jobs to supporters)
Issued lists of people allowed to be in Party Congress
Could sack officals who didnt agree with him
No revolutionary people just career adavancing obsessed
The purges of 1930
Causes (all Stalin wanting to maintain his position)
Oppossition from the Politburo - Kirov (moderate) main issue as ahd growing in fluence and support from within the party
Economic Problems - wanted to blame these on the managers of factories rather than accept responsibility --> sent to Gulags
The Congress of Victors - Stalin's position under threat as he came second to Kirov in the vote thst elected the new Central Committee - members urged Kirov to stand against Stalin -> Kirov murdered but we dont know by whom
The Great Terror 1934-38
Show trials
Removed all Stalin's Rivals - Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotskys former supporters, Burkhain + many more
Also destroyed reputations of defenders
95% of victims were middle aged men in senier position os party or economy
Secret Trials
Red Army leaders
37,000 officers purged
Killed 10 million Soviet citizens - 10% of the population
Consequences
Imprisonment of whole generaition of communist who had known Lenin so they couldnt criticise him for being un-Leninist
NKVD became powerful organisation
Eliminted Stalin's Rivals
Stalin's rivals for power - 1923
Nikolai Bukharin (NOT BERIA)
Like Lenin's son
Alliance with Stalin
However, had disagreed with Lenin about somethings
Trotsky
Most famous other than Lenin
Revolutionary hero
Lenin's right hand man
However not popular within communist party
Zinoviev
Lenin's closest friend
Had supported him since start of Bolshevik movement in 1903
Agaisnt Trotsky and made speaches agaisnt him
Stalins power over party and state
Totalitarianism
Complete control of the economy
Complete control of the media
Extensive propaganda
Tested loyalty by imprisoning or sacking wives of his allies and seeing if they resisted
Stalin created competition between Party and State to ensure no one competed agaisnt him
Leningrad Affair - 1949
Stalin launched a purge agaisnt the Leningrad party
100 ppl shot, 2000 arrested
Second World War
Russia needed a more effective government with better co-ordination
Ended Mass terror
Allowed Sate power to grow
Created State Defence Committee
Background to the Bolshevik revolution
Before revolutions of 1917
Russia ruled by all powerful emperors - Tsar Nicholas II
Repression widespread - no political rights, impoverished
Empire included Ukraine, Georogia , Finland, Estonia
Weak economy
Never alowe any other political parties and exiled their leaders
Februray Revolution
Russia entered in ww2 1914 but Tsar so incompetent in war it led to military, ecnomic and politcal defeat
The led to Februruary revolution which overthrew Tsar and set up provisional government
The Provisional Government
Promised many great freedoms but was still in WW2 and ecnomic problems worsened
Lenin returned from exile and called for a second revolution
October 1917 - Coup d'état which overthrew provisonal government and Bolsheviks took power