The Big Picture (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
The Big Picture
Introduction: The Communist vision of total control
The Communist leaders of the Soviet Union sought control far beyond just government and economics. Lenin's single-party system gave the Communists political power, whilst Stalin's policies of collectivisation and central industrial planning allowed control over the economy. However, Communist ambitions extended much further than this.
The goal: creating Homo Sovieticus
Communist leaders aimed to fundamentally transform human nature itself. They dreamed of replacing ordinary human beings (Homo sapiens) with a new type of person: Homo Sovieticus, or 'Soviet man'.
Homo Sovieticus would possess these characteristics:
- Live for the good of society as a whole
- Be free from selfish personal ambition
- Embody Communist ideals in thought and behaviour
Methods of total control
To achieve this complete transformation of humanity, Soviet leaders pursued total control across multiple areas of society:
- Media control - managing what people read and heard
- Propaganda - shaping public opinion and beliefs
- Religious suppression - removing alternative ideologies
- Cultural control - dictating art, literature and creative expression
- Secret police terror - using fear to control behaviour
Variations in control across different Soviet leaders
The extent to which Soviet leaders achieved or even attempted total control varied significantly across different periods.
Lenin's approach (1917-24)
Lenin's government took initial steps towards control but showed some flexibility:
- Established the foundation for control mechanisms
- Created early organisations like the Cheka (secret police, established December 1917)
- Introduced the Decree on the Press (November 1917) to begin media control
- Implemented the Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State (January 1918)
- However, worked cooperatively with radical artists rather than imposing strict artistic guidelines
Unlike his successors, Lenin showed pragmatic flexibility in some areas, particularly with the artistic community. This cooperative approach would change dramatically under Stalin's rule.
Stalin's totalitarianism (1924-53)
Stalin's government, particularly during the late 1930s, achieved the most comprehensive control:
- Has been described by some historians as totalitarian - meaning he achieved control over virtually all aspects of Soviet life
- Established systematic censorship through Glavlit (1922)
- Created the Union of Soviet Writers (1932) to control literature
- Used the NKVD (secret police) under leaders like Yagoda (appointed 1934) and Beria (appointed 1938)
- Published official histories of the Communist Party edited by Stalin himself (1938)
The limits of totalitarian control
Even under Stalin, some spontaneous initiatives emerged from below that the leadership did not directly control. This suggests limits to totalitarian control even at its height - a reminder that complete control over every aspect of human society may be impossible to achieve.
Khrushchev and Brezhnev (1953-85)
Later Soviet leaders adopted a different approach:
- Abandoned widespread terror as a control method
- Tolerated some degree of independence among Soviet citizens
- Still maintained control mechanisms but applied them less intensively
- Faced new challenges including dissident movements and cultural non-conformity
The shift from Stalin to Khrushchev and Brezhnev marked a fundamental change in Soviet governance. While the state still maintained control mechanisms, the abandonment of mass terror represented a significant retreat from the totalitarian model of the 1930s.
Key developments: timeline of control 1917-75
Early Soviet period (1917-22)
- October 1917: Decree on Land
- November 1917: Decree on the Press - beginning of media control
- December 1917: Cheka established - first Soviet secret police
- January 1918: Decree Concerning Separation of Church and State
- January 1918: First photograph of Lenin published - start of personality cult
- 1920: Department of Agitation Propaganda (Agitprop) established
- 1920: Commissar of Enlightenment created Glavpolitprosvet (political education)
- 1922: Glavlit introduced - systematic censorship organisation
The rapid establishment of control mechanisms between 1917-22 shows how quickly the Bolsheviks moved to consolidate their power after the October Revolution. Within five years, they had created the foundations for comprehensive state control over information, education, and political opposition.
Stalin's consolidation (1932-38)
- 1932: Union of Soviet Writers established - controlling literature
- 1934: Yagoda appointed head of the NKVD
- 1938: Beria became head of the NKVD
- 1938: Two histories of the Communist Party published, both edited by Stalin
Late Stalin and after (1949-75)
- 1949: Leningrad Affair - purge of party officials
- 1953: Beria arrested and executed after Stalin's death
- 1954: Doctor Zhivago refused publication in the Soviet Union
- 1966: Sinyavsky-Daniel trial - prosecution of dissident writers
- 1967: Yuri Andropov promoted to head of the KGB
- 1968: Prague Spring - reform movement in Czechoslovakia
- 1968: Sakharov circulated his essay Reflections on Progress, criticising Soviet human rights record
- 1973: Solzhenitsyn forced into exile
- 1975: Helsinki Agreement on human rights
Key organisations for control
Cheka (1917-22): The first Soviet secret police, established to protect the revolution and eliminate opposition.
NKVD (1934-54): Secret police organisation under Stalin that conducted purges and ran labour camps.
KGB (1954-91): The main security agency in later Soviet period, responsible for intelligence and suppressing dissent.
Agitprop (1920): Department of Agitation and Propaganda, responsible for spreading Communist ideas.
Glavlit (1922): State censorship organisation that controlled all publications.
Glavpolitprosvet (1920): Political education department promoting Communist ideology.
Key Points to Remember:
- The Communist project aimed to create Homo Sovieticus - a new type of human being focused on collective good rather than personal ambition
- Total control required domination of media, propaganda, religion, art and behaviour through secret police terror
- Stalin's government (especially late 1930s) came closest to achieving totalitarian control, though even this had limits
- Lenin established foundations of control but showed some flexibility, particularly with artists
- Khrushchev and Brezhnev abandoned mass terror and tolerated greater independence, though control mechanisms remained
- The timeline shows progressive development of control mechanisms from 1917 through to challenges from dissidents by the 1960s-70s