DP History Questionbank

Description

This section deals with the consolidation of the Soviet state from 1924 and the methods applied to ensure its survival, growth and expansion inside and outside the borders of the Soviet Union. The rise and nature of the rule of Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev and the policies and practice of Sovietization (post‑1945) in Central and Eastern Europe are areas for examination. East–West relations post‑1945 in relation to Soviet aims and leadership should also be considered.

• Stalin (1924‑53): power struggle; collectivization and industrialization; Five Year Plans; constitution; cult of personality; purges; impact on society; foreign relations to 1941

• The Great Patriotic War: breakdown of wartime alliance; Cold War; policies towards Germany: Berlin; Eastern European satellite states; Warsaw Pact

• Khrushchev (1955‑64): struggle for power after Stalin’s death; destalinization; peaceful coexistence; domestic policies: economic and agricultural; foreign relations: Hungary, Berlin, Cuba, China

• Brezhnev: domestic and foreign policies

• Case study of one Sovietized/satellite state: establishment of Soviet control; the nature of the single-party state; domestic policies; opposition and dissent (suitable examples could be East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland but all relevant states are valid)

• Transformation of Soviet Union: political developments and change (1982‑2000)

Directly related questions

• 16N.3op5a.HL.TZ0.17:

  Discuss the impact of the purges in the Soviet Union.

• 16N.3op5a.HL.TZ0.18:

  Compare and contrast the foreign policies of Khrushchev and Brezhnev.