Russian Vocab

Bolsheviks

Lenin’s followers that took control of the russian govt in late 1917

Command Economy

a strict form of socialism where governmental decisions dominate the economy with a myriad of central planning institutions.(government controlled economy)

Democrats

followers of the right-wing democratic party in russia

Party State

A type of sovereign state in where only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution.

Lenin

Led the communist revolution, was the leader of the Bolsheviks, ruled Soviet Union in 1917

Liberal

One who favors more government regulation of business and support for social welfare but less regulation of private social conduct.

Perestroika

Radical economic reform by Gorbachev that was the least successful and tried to keep the old Soviet structure, and modernize from within.(Transfered economic powers from central government to private hands and market economy)

Cult of Personality

a situation where a public figure is shown as an idealised, heroic, almost god-like figure.

Politburo

Heart and soul of Communist party, made up of a group of 12 men that ran the country and carried out their decisions through government agencies and departments

Yukos

a large Russian energy company with huge oil and gas reserves.

Democratic Centralism

-a form of democracy where the policy is decided centrally and is binding on all members

-leadership group that led the revolution of 1917 in the name of the people

Proletariat

the class of wage workers who work in industrial production

Duma

the lower house of the legistature

Federation Council

the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russian parliment

Nomenklatura

The process of party members selecting promising recruits from the lower levels

Five-Year Plans

development of the Russian economy through centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union in 1920s by Stalin

Nationality

to belong to a particular nation, by birth or naturalization.

State Corporatism

a political system in which the state requires all members of a particular economic sector to join an officially designated interest group.

Constitution of 1993

-Law that gave Russia a stronger president that checks the preseident by popular election and the lower house of the legistature,

-Created a three branch government with a preseient, a prime minister, and a lower legistature called the Duma and Constitutional Court

-Established federal supremacy over "the subjects" of the Russian Federation.

Kulaks

a wealthy or prosperous peasant, generally characterized as one who owned a large farm, and alot of cattle and horses

Cultural Heterogeneity

Differences in cultural identity related to, for instance, class, ethnicity, language, traditions, religion, sense of place, and many other cultural aspects

( increased when Russia expanded its borders)

Boris Yeltsin

1st president of Russian Federation, former member of the Soviet Poliburo who decleared end of the old soviet-style regime.

Krushchev

After Stain died, he was chosen as party secretary and premier of the USSR

Denounced Stalin(deStalinization) in his famous secret speech

Medvedev

President that was nominated by Putin, stepped up after Putin stepped down

Provisional Gov’t

a provisional(emergency) government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II.

Secret Speech

Speech said by Khrushchev to reveal a letter written by Stalin and denounce Stain and Destalinize russia(through reforms)

Shock therapy

Refroms that Yeltsin advocated to point the country into a direction of democracy and free-markey economy

Glasnost

“political openess” is the translation, a new emphasis on freedom of speech and press in the 1980s

Chechnya

primarily muslim region that fought for freedom for years

Slavophile

member of a 19th-century intellectual movement that wanted Russia's future development to be based on values and institutions derived from the country's early history.

Stalin

-Russian leader who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state (1879-1953).

-Leader of Soviet Unionduring WWII.

Gorbachev

Younger generation reformer that was open to western-style reforms and wanted to save the country from economic disatster

Gulag

a system of forced labor camps established during Stalin's reign

Putin

He won presidential elections in 2000 and 2004,

He handpicked his successor Medvedev in 2008 & became PM*

KGB

State security commitee

Collectivization

The policy of transferring the ownership of private farmland to the state.