4. SOVIET HISTORY QUIZ PRE-REVOLUTIONARY PRECEDENTS

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THE GREAT BREAK The ‘Great Break’ is the name for a rapid growth of industrialization and the collectivization of agriculture from 1928-29. It also entailed an attack on so-called ‘capitalist’ elements, and thus meant the abandonment of NEP and an attack on rich peasants – so-called kulaks – in the countryside.

INTELLIGENTSIA The intelligentsia were a strata of the population who emerged in Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. The ‘intelligentsia’ must be differentiated from ‘intellectuals’ by virtue of the fact that the former saw themselves as a progressive, often messianic, force driving forward social change. Their identity was formed in opposition to the ruling elites. Socially, many intelligenty were of noble origin, and members of the raznochintsy.

NEP NEP or ‘New Economic’ policy marked the return of market forces and private enterprise into the Soviet economy after a period of ‘War Communism’ during the Civil War. While the policy led to a period of economic recovery and was supported by Lenin, it angered many Bolsheviks who saw it as a betrayal of Marxist principles.

ZHDANOVISM Zhdanovism, or the ‘Zhdanovshchina’, is the name given to a freezing of the cultural, political, and social atmosphere in the mid- to late-1940s. It encompassed a series of xenophobic, and often anti-semitic policies under the umbrella of ‘anti- cosmopolitanism’, alongside a series of Party resolutions condemning so-called ‘formalism’. The term refers to Andrei Zhdanov, the Central Committee member in charge of cultural matters.

THE THAW ‘The Thaw’ is the name given to a period of liberalisation after the death of Stalin. Taking its name from a novel by celebrated writer Ilia Ehrenburg, the term is now used by historians to signify a ‘thawing’ of the cultural and social atmosphere after 1953 and, in particular, a renunciation of terror as a mode of governance and increased possibilities for debate.

GLASNOST’ Glasnost’, or openness, is the name given to one of Mikhail Gorbachev’s key policies. Deriving from the Russian word golos, or ‘voice’, the term expresses the idea that open discussion of the country’s problems was necessary for the country to move forward. Often used interchangeably with the term ‘perestroika’ [reconstruction], the logic of this policy eventually led to the Soviet media printing and broadcasting more stories about social and political problems and the abandonment of censorship.

THE SOVIET UNION

GORBACHEV ON STAGNATION “At some point the country began to lose momentum. Difficulties and unresolved problems started to pile up, and there appeared elements of stagnation and other phenomena alien to socialism. All that badly affected the economy and social, cultural and intellectual life.” Speech to the Central Committee, 1987

1917 1918-21 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 1941 1953 1956 1968 1985 1991

1917 1918-21 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 1968 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 1968 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 ‘Secret’ Speech (February), Invasion of Hungary (Nov) 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 First Five-Year Plan 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 ‘Secret’ Speech (February), Invasion of Hungary (Nov) 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 First Five-Year Plan 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 ‘Secret’ Speech (February), Invasion of Hungary (Nov) 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 Gorbachev becomes General Secretary 1991

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 First Five-Year Plan 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 ‘Secret’ Speech (February), Invasion of Hungary (Nov) 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 Gorbachev becomes General Secretary 1991 Attempted coup (August), Collapse of Soviet Union (Dec)

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (Feb), Bolshevik Revolution (Oct) 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 First Five-Year Plan 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 Germany invades USSR (22 June) 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 ‘Secret’ Speech (February), Invasion of Hungary (Nov) 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (August) 1985 Gorbachev becomes General Secretary 1991 Attempted coup (August), Collapse of Soviet Union (Dec)

1917 Overthrow of Tsarism (23 Feb – 2 March*), Bolshevik Revolution (25 Oct*) * = old calendar 1918-21 Civil War, War Communism 1921-27 New Economic Policy 1922 Founding of the USSR 1924 Lenin dies 1928-32 First Five-Year Plan 1936-38 Great Terror 1941 Germany invades USSR (22 June) 1953 Stalin dies (5 March) 1956 ‘Secret’ Speech (25 February), Invasion of Hungary (4 Nov) 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia (20-21 August) 1985 Gorbachev becomes General Secretary 1991 Attempted coup (19-21 August), Collapse of Soviet Union (31 December)

PRE-REVOLUTIONARY PRECEDENTS Ilia Repin, ‘Barge Haulers on the Volga’ (Oil on Canvas, 1870-73)

PRE-REVOLUTIONARY PRECEDENTS Tetiana Iablonska, ‘Bread’ (Oil on Canvas, 1949)

NEXT WEEK Reading: Aleksandr Bogdanov’s Red Star (1908) Questions to be discussed: What are the influences on Bogdanov’s novella What does the novel tell us about the origins of early Bolshevik … Visions of the future? Scientific utopianism? Sexual morality? Gender norms? Political beliefs? Attitudes to labour?