SCQ 9 1-2

IBHL1 SGQ9


QWs:


Compare and contrast the economic and social policies of one left wing and one right wing single-party ruler.


Examine the status of women in two single-party states, each chosen from a different region.


In what ways did one ruler of a single-party state try to use education to support his regime?


MWH 361-378


1. How did Stalin get to supreme power?
a. Why might Trotsky have become leader? Why did he not?
He might have become leader because he was an ispired orator, an intellectual and a man of action, and the organizer of the Red Armies. He tended to be arrogant and was bitterly crtical of his rivals. because he was so mean to his rivls they all went against him so they wouldnt be accused anymore. He also kept quite at the wrong times;



b. Who were the other Politburo members? Why did none of them take power?

They are the "parlimentary system" and they never took complete power because they quarlled so much about topics, thereofre making them unproportional representation and unable to compromise.

c. How did Stalin use his position?

Very well he elimintaded people in the Politburo who disagreed with him and put in supporters and he wused it to his advantage.

d. What was the major Politburo disagreement? What were the three options?
Disagreement over policy arose in the this area because Marx never described in detail how the new communist society should be organized. The three major issuies where permant revolution ideas, to continue or not continue the NEP, and who would be the next leader(they didn't want a dictator)




2. How successful was Stalin in solving Russia's economic problems?
a. What were Russia's economic problems?
production from heavy industry was still very low
more food needed to be produced



b. What were the Five Year Plans?

i. How were they carried out?

cash was provided by Russians themselves
foreign technicians were brought in
emphasis in expanding edu. in colleges and factories
factories-the old capitalistic methods of piecework and pay differnentials between skilled and unskilled workers were used to encourgae production

ii. How successful were they? (Provide hard facts as evidence!)

many of the products were in poor quiality( the high targets forced workers to speed up and this caused
c. What does collectivization mean? smaller farms join together to grow and help the USSRand all the peasants would own the land and contribute to the farms
i. How was it carried out?
Stalin used terror and propagenda, but mostly sheer brutal force. Many times the government would encourage the peasants to join a collectivized farm and then refusal would esue but then the government would force them and then state that that it was the peasants decision. Many times peasants if they refused then they shot on the spot or sent to a labour camp.

ii. How successful was it? (Provide hard facts as evidence!)

It allowed greater mechanization which did achieve a greater production in 1937. The amount of grain taken by the states greatly increased and so did grain exports, 1930 and 1931 were excellent years of exports. The hard facts were that only in 1930 (the year Stalin stopped colectivization did it increase) did the grain increase but other than that there was faminiie from 1932-3, especially in the Ukraine due to many things but among them is the idea that the livestock was all eaten by the peasants. Over 5 million peasants died of starvation. So the best way to look at this was that it was a political success but an economic failure which caused the inhumanity of the country to truly show.


3. How successful was Stalin in solving Russia's political problems?
a. What were Russia's political problems?

i.a new constitution was needed to consolidate Stalin's power and the Communist party over the country

ii. trying to hold the union together and stop countries that wanted to be independent because nationalism was needed for communism to flourish

iii. grow the popularity back towards communism and to elimante political oppostion from other opponents not agreeing with communismtic ideaology.



b. The Purges and Great Terror

i. What were the "purges"?

These were killings and assassanations of poltical figures and high up officials that posed a threat or any oppostion to the communist party or Stalin's power. They were meant to terrorize the masses into obediance. they were a form of political infighting and another revolution.

ii. How were the purges justified?

1. that it was politcal infighting

2. revolutions have consequences such as the ones being experianced in the "purges"

iii. What was the Great Terror? How was it carried out?

it was carried out by force and brutality and mass scares that where meant to put the masses into submission to stalin and the communist party. It was a campaign that isued that Stalin had the ultimate power.

c. What was the purpose of the 1936 constitution? How did it work in practice?
To consolidate power to the communist party and knock out any oppostion. Also to secure the power of Stalin in the forms of a leader. It just stated the Stalin and the party ran things and even though it didn't state it that the real power remained in the Politburo


d. What was Stalin's two part approach for holding the union together?

i. national languages and cultures were encouraged and the republics hada certain amount of independence

ii. moscow had the final say in important decesions. if necessary force would be used to preserve control



4. What was everyday life and culture like under Stalin?
a. Why was life hard?
i. food: famine, bnad harvestings
ii. housing: shortages, evictions, communial apartments, barracks for many
iii. the nomenklatura:they had bread delievered to their home and experianced special priveliages, lower prices for things, better accomdations


b. What signs of improvement were there?

i. food supplies where improving and rationing was abolished

ii.education and healthcare were improving

iii.more facilties for leasure were set
iv.provision of clothing and food at work bettered condtions



c. The state, women, and the family
i. Why was life hard for women?
1. they were forced often times to be the breadmaker of the family
2. they faced hard jobs and yet had to face a hard home life with lesser wages and benfits than men
ii. What two goals did the government have for women?
1. build more daycare centers and nurseries for children
2. no abortions and have as many kids as possible and maternity leave was fine
iii. What policies did the government adopt towards women?
1.produce children

2. take jobs

3. increaase output and look after the houshold and family

iv. What was life like for upper-class or well-educated women?

They were seen by the state as part of a campaign to 'civilize' the masses. Their main duty was to leada comfortable home life for their husbands and families.




d. Education

i. What improvements were made to education?
1. 8-11 must be enrolled in education

2. new training colleges were set up to train new lecturers and teachers



ii. What were some of the goals of education?
1. turn the younger generation into good orthodox Soviet citizens

2. religion and other "bourqeois' practices were presented as superstious and backward



e. Religion
i. Was was the Communist view of religion?
Because of Lenin and Stalin and other Bolshevik leaderes antheisism was the leader of what the people believed and many thought it to be a harmful superstition which must be eliminated. Also they felt it was merely an invention of the ruling classes to keep the people docile and under control.


ii. What actions did the government take towards religious organizations?
Stalin didn't like the way that preists opposed collectivization so he had hundreds of secret attacks on the churchs that were burnt down and many cemeteries vandalized. Thousands of preists where killed. There was an anti-religious campaign.


iii. What was the people's reaction to those policies/actions?
Mnay were outraged, especially in the rural areas where preisnts and rabbis where popular.


f. Literature and theater

This was a cultural revolution because this gave the governement leway to make writers and actors get their ideas across. There was a "war"between the non communist writers adn the RAPP. Although after awhile Stalin didn't like the RAPP because it showed the flaws in society. Many theater people came under attack because "social realism' was needed in order to Stalin and they weren't portraying it correctly.



g. Art, architecture, and music
"social realism' was also expected to be portrayed in this area. No western ideas or iedeaology was allowed in terms of anything. Scultptures where supposed to produce images of Stalin and other communist leaders to show the postive affects of revolution and communism pride.


h. The cinema
Moderinzaing the film industry was one of the major ideas that Stalin wanted because with film propagenda can be portrayed and more efficently. Stalin also many times rewrote scripts to his liking. Films could only portray certain ideas that Stalin set as well.