IB History of the Americas3 Nov. Test: Sneaky Stalin

Outline:1. How Stalin stole (I mean, attained) power2. Domestic Policy (ie., economics and torture)3. Purges (ie., torture)4. Foreign policy5. Anecdotes

NOTE: This guide is, like, totally unbiased.NOTE 2: Stalin, don’t take this personally. I’m Lenin and all, but you knows I loves you.

1. Stalin stole power from Lenin because he was evil.

This is all the power Stalin had:Commissar of National(al)alitiesHead of Orburo (party organization)Politburo (decision-making body)

Because the National Congress has no powerSecretary General of Comm. Party

The power that “other” people had?Trotsky=Commissar of War

Controlled Red ArmyKamenev=Head of Moscow PartyZenoviev=Head of Leningrad PartyBuhkarin=Dialectic theoristRykov=Not important enough

Those guys are the Thucydides intellectuals.

S.General is created just for Stalin: he gets to appoint all new members (just like the Prez of USA gets to appoint new judges… but Stalin’s in charge of everybody in the party. Yeah.)

Stalin is the doer. Every revolution must have a doer. (See Anecdote #1)

Lenin, meanwhile, is dying (from strokes that Stalin may or may not have encouraged by possibly maybe telling doctors to give him blood thinners…) and writes his Testament. (as in “last will and”.)

In it, he says that Stalin’s crude (and a jerk) and should never be the leader of the Party, because he encourages strife and factionalism. He also says Trotsky’s arrogant, but that’s small potatoes.

Basically Lenin’s scared of a split. And what do we soon have???

A SPLIT!

Lenin dies. People argue.Who?

Left Bolsheviks Right Bolsheviks

Eg. Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev

Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky

Belief

ANTI-NEP! PRO-NEP

Why?

Slow, un-Marxist“coddles peasants”Mix of socialism with ugly capitalism

Democratic centralism: Obey Lenin!Coaxes peasants to follow socialism, thus necessary

Belief

PRO-Comintern ANTI-Comintern

Why?

Doctrine of Permanent Revolution (Trotsky)

Wasteful: focus on “socialism in one country” (Stalin said that and Buk. Supported it)

Etc. Supported collectivization but said NEP was slowing that down.

Wanted limited provocation of revolution (huh?)

And where is Stalin? Why, in the middle, of course?

Basically: 1924.Stalin sends Trotsky away, Lenin dies, Trotsky’s gone. People condemn him for it.Trotsky is easily expelled from Party, then exiled, etc. Insta-scapegoat!

It helped that he used to be a Menshevik.Oh, and by the way? Trotsky was betrayed by his own fellow

leftists (Kamenev and Zinoviev). Who were subsequently betrayed by Stalin because of their Anti-NEP arguments.

1926: The three Lefties join again and form “United Opposition,” vocally denouncing Stalin and NEP.

Which means they can be (And are) tried for factionalism. But that’s a purge, so see Section 3.

Meanwhile:

2. Domestic Policy, or Collectivization Hits the Fan

The Plan (Five Year, that is)(They were 5 YPS because every 5 yrs they were reset)

1. Collectivize agriculture and industry2. Eliminate Kulaks (middle-class peasants)3. Nationalize land and animals4. Increase grain production by moving east (for resources and avoidance of westerners)

They move past Urals, which is good because then grain is protected from Hitler.5. Mechanize agriculture (turn farms into factories)

Precedent: Spain (see anecdote #2)

Stalin is selling all the grain to other countries to get money (to replace the wimpy Rubel). So people are starving and still trying to make stuff from nothing.

Institutionalizing famine.

Gosplan (quota system) means a PLANNED ECONOMYQuantity > QualityPeople lie or make shoddy stuff to save themselves… because if

they don’t meet their quotas…They go to the GULAGS!

Slave labor camps, mostly in Siberia, where people were sent for the smallest reasons. Millions of people (as in 20,000,000) died here.

Bullington says the 5YPs were a partial success because they expanded the industrial base (superficially) but not the agricultural one.

3. PurgesBut first, the USSR political system:

Secretly in charge: Party Pretending to be in charge: Govt

In order of decreasing power:Sec’y General (Stalin)Politburo“Central Committee”(it pretends to elect members, which is Stalin’s doing)

PresidentSupreme Soviets

a) Soviet of Unionb) Soviet of Nationalities

Communist Party

Now, the Purges. Also called Stalin’s Red Terror.Essentially:

Early 1920’s: Lenin’s Radish Purges (rooting out fake Bolshies)1926 or so: Trotsky and co.1928: Shakty Purges (engineers accused of sabotage)1936-1939: Show Trials

Non-Russians tried:1. Francis Gary Powers, the u2 guy2. Mathias Russ: German teenager3. Someone else?

The Show Trials were Stalin’s PurgesFirst: Assassination of Sergei Kirov, a “hero”Bullington says Stalin ordered this assassination.

Then: NKVD (KGB) gets lots of power10 days to confess or dieStar Chamber: No defense, just torture, confession, and

execution

Thousands of people were “purged” in every city. Why?1. Removal of rivals2. Labor for Gulags (5YPs)3. Shift blame for economic failure4. Give jobs to young commies

4. Foreign Policy, of Stalin and Others

1937: Axis Treaty (Tripartate Agreement)Between Germany and ItalyPolitburo legalizes torture

Previously:1917-18: Diplomatic isolation1919: Zinioviev does stuff w/Comintern1922: T. of Rapallo w/Germany

They recognize one another1923-27: USSR sends commissar to organize Chinese Nationalists

And Jiang Jieshi (Kai Shek), who hates Communists, takes over—Shanghai Massacre

1924: UK recognizes USSR

1933: US recognizes USSRFDR’s Good Neighbor Policy

1934: USSR joins League of Nations1931-32: Manchuria crisis (Japanese invade, Russians panic)1935: Soviet-Franco-Czech agreement1936-39: Spanish Civil War

Only Mexico gets involved… not really related to USSR…

1937-38: USSR fights Finland for land—they start to lose, because1937-38: Military Purge

2/3 of senior officers killed for “sabotage” and “fascism”

1939: Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression pactBullington says Stalin always knew Hitler would attack. He just

didn’t think it’d be in 1941.

5. Anecdotes:1. Che, Chibas, Castro, and Batista

Basically, Castro heard Chibas, a revolutionary, kill himself on the radio and was inspired to harass Batista. Che didn’t do that. He was a café guy.2. Spain vs. Stalin parallel

Spain was gold-crazy, so it did all kinds of exportation and had to buy food from other people. Dumb!

Stalin did the same thing, selling all his people’s food for money. He also destroyed the middle class, just like Spain did with the Moors.

3. Nixon=Bullington’s Favorite President! Why?1. He Ended Vietnam War.2. He Completed Détente.3. He sold grain to the USSR.

WHEREAS: Jimmy Carter, in 1979, tried to starve the Russians into submission. Um, hello, Nuclear War, Jim?

That’s it for the guide. Please read that IB handout (the big one) that Bullington keeps referencing, for further aid.Good luck!