Deck 43: The Soviet Experiment to World War II

Question 1

Describe and explain the emergence of Josef Stalin from the power struggles of 1924 to 1927,as the undisputed master of the Soviet Union and his consistent challenges.

Answer 1

Answers would include a discussion of Lenin and his death,challengers such as Trotsky,the agrarian problems,industrial problems,major differences in policies between Lenin and Stalin,and support of the population.

Question 2

Toward the end of his life,Lenin had come to view Stalin as

A) reliable.
B) religious.
C) righteous.
D) reprehensible.
E) rude.

Answer 2

rude.

Question 3

All of the following factors worked to the advantage of the "Reds" during the Russian civil war EXCEPT

A) effective leadership.
B) control of the country's interior.
C) Leon Trotsky.
D) intervention by foreign powers.
E) increased agricultural production.

Answer 3

increased agricultural production.

Question 4

The crucial factor in the collapse of the Czarist government was

A) desire for constitutional freedoms.
B) aristocratic corruption.
C) the disastrous conduct of the war.
D) over-reliance on American aid.
E) failure to take care of peasants' needs.

Question 5

Evaluate Stalin's agrarian and industrial/economic policies.To what degree did he succeed in achieving his anticipated goals?

Question 6

Unlike Marx,Lenin believed

A) in a proletarian dictatorship.
B) that religion should be abolished.
C) that the peasantry could be led to revolution.
D) that the ends justifies the means.
E) that revolution was inevitable.

Question 7

"Land,bread,peace" was a slogan used by

A) Trotsky.
B) Nicholas II.
C) Stalin.
D) Kerensky.
E) Lenin.

Question 8

Leon Trotsky was forced into exile by Stalin and was finally murdered in which of the following nations?

A) United States
B) Germany
C) Mexico
D) China
E) Italy

Question 9

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

A) ended the Russian Revolution.
B) settled the dispute between Lenin and Kerensky.
C) took Russia out of World War I.
D) stopped the Russian civil war.
E) was an agreement of friendship between Russia and France.

Question 10

The major mistake of Russia's Provisional Government lay in

A) redistributing land to the peasantry.
B) collectivizing agriculture.
C) liquidating the nobility.
D) continuing to pursue World War I.
E) choosing ineffective leadership.

Question 11

Explain the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the role of Lenin specifically.

Question 12

The outside intervention by Western governments in Russia's civil war resulted in

A) Bolshevik indignation at outside interference in a purely domestic issue.
B) victory for the Bolsheviks.
C) increased support at home for the White army.
D) a partnership of convenience between Trotsky and Kerensky.
E) no real change because it came too late to help the White army.

Question 13

Peasants in Russian villages believed that they had carried out their revolution after they

A) took control of local governments.
B) seized land from the nobles and the church, and redistributed it themselves.
C) had served their term in the Marxist army, so they returned to their farms.
D) sent monetary help to the resistance in St. Petersburg.
E) fought off the royal army and thus retained their sovereignty.

Question 14

What did "discipline" mean under Stalinist rule,1928 to 1941? Describe the apparatus of the personal police state.

Question 15

Compare and contrast Lenin and Stalin.Which of the two was best for Russia at the time.Be sure to defend your answer.

Question 16

Under Lenin and Stalin,Russia was fast becoming a

A) true republic.
B) strong democracy.
C) definite economic oligarchy.
D) totalitarian government.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 17

Explain the factors that account for the durability and survival of Bolshevism in Russia during the Civil War period,1918-1922.

Question 18

What was the main difference between Russia's 1905 and the March 1917 revolutions?

A) In 1905 the aim was to get rid of the tsar, and in March 1917 the focus was on getting a constitution.
B) The 1905 and early 1917 revolutions were really very much alike.
C) The 1905 revolution targeted the tsar as the problem, but Nicholas maintained control; by the March 1917 revolution the issue was social unrest, but Nicholas suddenly abdicated the throne.
D) The 1905 revolution pushed for a constitution and a democratic setup, but by March of 1917 the tsar appeared to be firmly in control.
E) More ordinary Russians participated in the early 1917 revolution than did so in 1905.

Question 19

By the spring of 1917,Russia was experiencing

A) its second revolution in as many years.
B) problems with recalcitrant farmers.
C) revolts in its military ranks.
D) bread riots in its cities.
E) a modern, parliamentary government.

Question 20

The essence of Lenin's New Economic Policy was

A) agricultural collectivization.
B) rapid industrialization.
C) anti-U.S. propaganda.
D) small-scale capitalist businesses.
E) suppression of religion.

Question 21

When Russia's more prosperous peasant farmers held back part of their crops in 1928,Stalin did all of the following EXCEPT

A) had them tried for treason and executed.
B) began to collectivize farms.
C) started a push for major industrialization.
D) view their actions as a betrayal.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 22

During Stalin's years of leadership,the Soviet Union experienced many social changed,including

A) a sharp decline in alcoholism.
B) a small decline in divorce and abortion rates.
C) the opening of many more medical clinics but not much improvement in treatment.
D) an increasing acceptance of prostitution.
E) an easing of moral restrictions.

Question 23

Stalin's Five Year Plans were aimed primarily against

A) Orthodox priests.
B) Trotsky's party supporters.
C) peasants and landowners.
D) former aristocrats.
E) church officials.

Question 24

By the Treaty of ____________________,Russia pulled out of the First World War I in 1918.

Question 25

The major goal of the industrial programs in the Five Year Plans was

A) increased production of heavy industry.
B) impressing Western countries.
C) creating higher quality products.
D) concentrating on consumer goods.
E) higher worker wages.

Question 26

Stalin's dictatorship over the population of the Soviet Union included

A) a large increase in communist party membership.
B) two five-year plans that were designed to purge the communist party of Russia.
C) an increase of about 400 percent in the growth of heavy industry and the infrastructure.
D) dragging the Russian people, kicking and screaming, into the 20th century.
E) promoting communist party membership for the majority of the population.

Question 27

The March Revolution in Russia took place without real opposition after

A) Alexander Kerensky spoke in Moscow and called for the people to rebel.
B) Tsar Nicholas II abdicated his throne.
C) Vladimir Lenin returned to Russia.
D) Leon Trotsky took control of the military.
E) Russia and Germany signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Question 28

Stalin's show-trials during the last half of the 1930s

A) led to his eventual ouster.
B) proved his popularity with the Russian people.
C) left Stalin an isolated, disliked figure.
D) illustrated the length to which his enemies would go to defeat him.
E) led to the imprisonment of millions.

Question 29

It is estimated that during Stalin's collectivization drive,perhaps 10 million peasants died,mostly due to

A) homelessness and starvation.
B) hunger strikes in opposition of his plan.
C) artificially induced famine.
D) brutal banishment to Siberia.
E) state-sponsored seizure of crops.

Question 30

____________________ is the name given to the first version of the Soviet secret police (later NKVD and KGB).

Question 31

During the 1930s,the Comintern (Communist International)

A) supported Trotsky.
B) was an organ of Russian foreign policy and manipulated by Stalin.
C) took over control of the Soviet Union.
D) encouraged debate on Marxism.
E) was liquidated by the Cheka.

Question 32

____________________ is the name given to the Communist International organization,later abolished during World War II.

Question 33

Stalin's collectivization and industrialization efforts in the 1930s

A) succeeded in helping the Soviet Union weather the post-war period without much inflation.
B) made it possible for the Soviet Union to turn out large amounts of consumer goods that could be exported.
C) resulted in the scarcity of automobiles and clothing, as well as rationing of food at times.
D) were so harsh that even the stoic Russian people finally began to complain.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 34

The Great Purge resulted in all of the following EXCEPT

A) anger among the peasants.
B) fear of opposition to Stalin.
C) complete obedience to Stalin.
D) a somewhat terrorized society overall.
E) Both B and C are correct.

Question 35

Overall,it would appear that regarding crime during Stalin's early years,

A) theft increased while concern about committing theft decreased.
B) embezzlement and fraud didn't happen very often, because people in a position to commit those acts had no need to do so.
C) violent crimes decreased because of the oversight of the KGB.
D) prostitution was rare because few had the funds to purchase such services.
E) the Soviet Union statistics showing a sharp decline in robberies and other theft were completely fabricated.

Question 36

The leader of Russia's Provisional Government from March to November,1917,was ____________________.

Question 37

One of the chief rewards for the workers in the new Soviet Union of the 1930s was

A) improved and expanded housing.
B) mass educational facilities.
C) a decisive voice in public affairs.
D) security of life and property against the state.
E) improvements in their working conditions.

Question 38

The main purpose of collectivization under Stalin was

A) to provide more industrial workers.
B) to gain governmental control over Russia's millions of peasants.
C) to cut down on overpopulation by creating a false faming that killed about a million people.
D) to help Russia to industrialize in a very short time.
E) to become industrially competitive with Germany

Question 39

Stalin's political methods have been described as

A) roughshod.
B) eerily successful.
C) generally a failure.
D) Mafia-like.
E) twisted.

Question 40

The ideology of international communism under Stalin differed from Hitler's ideology in Germany by

A) insisting that the Russian people had a special calling to embrace communism in their country only.
B) expounding a racist attitude toward some ethnic groups in the Soviet Union.
C) concentrating on a small minority of Russians as worth "saving."
D) promoting the ideal of a better world for all the world's downtrodden.
E) pushing industrialization for the sole purpose of preparing for war.

Question 41

The ____________________ Revolution witnessed the mostly bloodless overthrow of Czar Nicholas II.

Question 42

The ____________________ armies were massed against the Soviet regime during the Russian Civil War.

Question 43

Stalin's ____________________ called for heavy industrialization and ____________________ of farms.

Question 44

Lenin's Central Committee,called the ____________________,included his presumed successor,____________________.

Question 45

Lenin had been an exile living in ____________________ and ____________________ before he returned to Russia in 1917.

Question 46

The ____________________ were wealthier peasants whose estates were broken up by Soviet collectivization.