An agreement, usually international, between states, and/or political to work together

Triple Entente and WWI; worker-peasant alliance after 1917; Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939; WWII Allies

Political ideology, advocates destruction of capitalism and the state

Violent destruction of property, or otherwise attack, through fire

Targeted killing or murder of an individual in a position of power

Assumption of a dominant culture by a subaltern or minority ethnic or cultural group

A position of non-belief, or opposition to belief, in religion or god(s)

Militant atheism under the Communism, including actions of Komsomol

A belief in the value of strong political leadership, often at the expense of individual and societal rights

Tsar, Communism, Bolshevism, State, Government, Repression, Terror (state), Totalitarianism

Principle of autocratic rule of the Tsars; personal dictatorship of Stalin

Art or wider culture considered to be breaking boundaries or progressive

Emergence of avant-garde culture in the "Silver Age" (early 1900s) and early Soviet period

The Bolshevik Party in opposition (1903-1917) and in government (1917-1918)

The growing authority and influence, often through force and intimidation, of the Bolshevik Party over positions and offices of state authority

Growing Bolshevik power through 1917 and the Russian Civil War (1918-1921)

The ideology of, and broader ideological principles underpinning, the Bolshevik Party

Single-party Communist rule, "democratic centralism", "Dictatorship of the Proletariat"

The middle classes, including educated and entrepreneurial elites

The offices and procedures of government and state administration

Tsarist bureaucracy, including noble Table of Ranks; Communist bureaucracy and elites

Slang term of denigration for the middle classes, derived from "bourgeoisie"

Anti-burzhui propaganda during the Russian Civil War, linked to the Red Terror

Economic system with a prominent role for private trade and enterprise

Emerging capitalist economy in late-Imperial Russia after 1861 Emancipation of Serfs

Blocking of publication and public dissemination of certain information by the state

Censorship of culture and oppositional political texts under the Tsars and Communism

The leading policy body of the RSDWP (from 1898), Bolshevik (from 1903), and Communist (from 1918) Parties

Freedoms and rights granted to citizens of a country, due legal protection

A conflict, usually over political power, fought between two or more groups within the same state or national territory

Groupings in society bound by common social origin and/or relation to production

Nobility, middle class, working class, peasantry under the Tsars; changing class relations after 1917

The use and targeting of violence and terror against particular classes perceived to be enemies

The Red Terror and Civil War class war policies, 1918-1921; dekulakisation during collectivisation

Bourgeoisie (= middle class), Proletariat (= working class), Nobility, Communism, Communists, Bolshevism, Bolsheviks

A conflict in which active fighting is replaced by a lasting hostile standoff

Growing Cold War tensions between the USSR and West after WWII, especially from 1949

The Russian Liberation Army under General Vlasov, collaborating with Nazi Germany in WWII

A large farm in which all work, tools, and produce is held in common

The principle of ruling, usually through a state or political party, using a team or group of political equals

Kolkhozy established under the First Five Year Plan from 1929, leading to full collectivisation by 1941

A territory comprising part of an empire; the process of integrating a territory into an empire

An economic system where the state controls and directs all large enterprises and businesses

Establishment of a command economy under War Communism; strengthening under Five Year Plans

Government officials, appointed as part of a political process, in charge of commissariats (equivalent to ministries in USSR, c. 1917-45)

Establishment of "commissars" under Communist rule after 1917; renamed "ministers" in 1946

Housing units in which large groups share extensive common space and amenities

Construction of communal appartments in the early Soviet Union, c. 1920s-1940s

Village-level administrative organ in Tsarist and early Communist Russia

The mir as the main administrative body in peasant villages after 1861 Emancipation

The ideology of the Communist Party and its members/supporters

The ideological principles and beliefs of the Communist Party and state in the USSR

The supporters and followers of the political ideology of Communism

The members of the Communist Party in Russia and USSR from 1918, when it took its name

Punitive camps used, often for economic gain, to imprison political and social enemies

The extensive network of Gulag (singular) camps established under Stalin in 1930, lasting until 1950s

Terror (state), Police State, Economy, Economic Planning, Command Economy, Industry/Industrialisation, Exile (internal)

A large meeting, typically on a national scale, of a political party or reprensentatives of certain groups

The Second Congress of Soviets (October 1917), Communist Party congresses after 1917

The obligation of all men over a certain age to undertake military service

Peasant conscription under the Tsars, including in WWI; mass conscription in WWII

Sometimes invented or exagerated by authorities for the purpose of political gain, a secret plan, often to damage ruling authorities

Assassination attempts under the Tsars; the assassination of Kirov; the "Doctors' Plot"

A body convened to draw up a new constitution or set of rules determining the form and workings of government

The Constituent Assembly of 1917/18 and its dispersal by Bolsheviks in January 1918

Sets of rules by which governments are obliged to abide, primarily associated with liberal democratic government

The Loris-Melikov Constitution; the Constituent Assembly, 1917-18; the 1936 Stalin Constitution

A system of government involving the collaborative and rule-bound authority of monarch and parliament

The October Manifesto of 1905, State Dumas of 1906-17, and the Fundamental Laws of 1906

Collectively run trade and production organisations that aim to share costs and benefits between members

Cooperative stores established by populists in villages during 1870s and "movement to the People"

Use of Cossacks in Tsarist military, including against protestors before 1917

Measures passed to limit or reverse reforms previously made by government

The construction through extensive propaganda of a semi God-like image for a particular state ruler or political leader

Perceptions of cultural inferiority or a lack of modernity amongst certain, particularly ethnic or national, groups

Russification under the Tsars and the Communist "civilising mission" of the 1920s and 1930s

State, Government, Culture (everyday = byt) Culture (high = the arts), Propaganda, Ethnic Cleansing, Ethnicity, Nationality, Nationalism

Everyday actions and habits, usually felt to be lacking in sophistication and decorum

The arts, including theatre, fine art, orchestral music, and literature

The "Silver Age" in the early 1900s, Socialist Realism and Stalinist art, and cultural developments after Stalin

Voluntary turning of onesself over to an enemy or opposing side, especially in war or times of conflict

Defection of Andrei Vlasov and some Soviet troops in WWII; defection of Rudolf Nureyev under Khrushchev

The process of eliminating, through extreme violence and repression, a "class" of wealthy peasants

The principle of government decided and constrained by popular sovereignty of "the people"

Attempts to establish democracy in 1917 and reforms in governemnt granting voting rights before 1917

Forcible removal of an entire group, usually national, ethnic, or social, from a particular territory

Deportation of Jews in WWI, Tsarist policies of Russification, deportation of ethnic minorities in WWII

Removal of key elements of the political system established under and by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin

Reform, Repression, Concentration/Labour Camps (= Gulag), State, Government, Command Economy, Economic Planning

A singular authoritarian ruler free from the political constraints of others

Stalin's emergence as Soviet dictator and his personal rule, c. 1928-1953

State, Government, Totalitarianism, Repression, Civil Rights/Liberties, Terror (state), Purges, Dictatorship

The USSR, especially after the emergence of Stalin as Lenin's successor and ruler in the late-1920s

State, Government, Totalitarianism, Repression, Civil Rights/Liberties, Terror (state), Purges, Dictator

Peaceful governmental interactions and agreements between two states

Alliances and treaties, including Triple Entente, Brest-Litovsk Nazi-Soviet Pact, and WWII Allied agreements

The simultaneous existence of two governemntal authorities within a single state territory, typically at time of revolution

Dual power in 1917 between the Provisional Government and Petrograd Soviet

Proto-parliamentary consultative assembly called by Tsar Nicholas II through his October Manifesto of 1905

Establishment of State Duma in 1905/6, with four iterations 1906-1917

Reform, Revolution, Counter-Reform, Government, State, Parliament, Parliamentarism, Rechtsstaat, Democracy

Local council bodies established in 1870 during the "Great Reforms" in large towns and cities

Establishment, activities of town dumas, 1870 to 1917; limitations of powers by Alexander III counter-reforms, 1892

Principle of strategically managing and organising an economy through state planning agencies

Economy, Command Economy, State, Government, Communism, Bolshevism, Marxism, Totalitarianism

Sphere of activity involving production, distribution, allocation, and management of resources and finance; industrial and agricultural

Capitalism, Communism, Economic Planning, Command Economy, Ministers, Industry/Industrialisation, Agriculture

Formal processes involving widespread participation to choose a political leader or representative

Elections to zemstva, town dumas, and State Duma in late-Imperial Russia; Constituent Assembly and Soviet elections in 1917; unfree elections after 1917

A group of electors chosen to select representatives for positions in government

The electoral college system of indirect (and unequal) voting for the State Duma

A powerful group of individuals, often comprising a class, who have privileges over and above the rest of society or citizens

The nobility under the Tsars and Communist elite after 1917, especially emerging in the 1930s under Stalin

Travelling, often due to forced circumstances, to live in a different country (not to be confused with internal exile)

Marxist leaders in late-Imperial Russia living in emigration, including Lenin in London/Geneva etc.

An empire comprising territories that are connected by land, usually all in one continent, to one another (not an overseas empire)

Gathering information on behalf of an opposing side, usually another country

Fear of spying and espionage in the 1930s, helping lead to the Great Terror

Expulsion and deportation of diaspora nationalities, e.g. Volga Germans, under Stalin

Ethnicity, Nationality, Nationalism, Terror (state), Government, State, Dictatorship, Totalitarianism

Inherited culture and characteristics, including language, customs, fashion, etc., usually particular to a particular nationality

Forcible removal of an individual considered to be dangerous, usually to the government, to a distant part of the same country (not to be confused with emigration)

Far-right nationalist ideology which supports continual conflict as a means to strengthen the national unit and state

Fascism as an ideological challenger to Communism in Europe after WWI

The organisation of a country or state into autonomous units or provinces, each with their own powers and freedom to choose policies

Political ideology advocating for the equality and promotion of women's rights

Liberal feminists before 1917; Soviet/Communist women's activists, including members of Zhenotdel after 1917

A social and political system associated with medieval Europe in which a strict hierarchy is enforced through obligations of service and land ownership

Former members of the Tsarist social and political elite, repressed after 1917

Deprivation of rights of "former people" in the Civil War (1918-21); terror against "former people" under Stalin

State, Government, Elite (social, political), Repression, Terror (state), Purge, Class (social), Class War

Belief in, and support of, the liberty to choose sexual partners and engage in unrestricted sexual relationships

Advocation of "free love" by Alexandra Kollontai, Bolshevik women's activist

Perceived differences in roles and duties of males and females in society

Tsarist-era gender roles and their remoulding in early USSR; shifting attitudes to male and female under Stalin

Leadership position of the Soviet Communist Party, establshed in 1922; de-facto leader of the USSR

General Staff/High Command (military = Stavka)

Imperial Russian army to 1917, including in WWI; Soviet Red Army after 1917

Deliberate and calculated effort to destroy a national or ethnic group as such

Civil War anti-Jewish pogroms (1918-20); Holodomor in Ukraine (1932-33); Holocaust on Soviet territory (1941-45)

War, Total War, Repression, Military, Terror (state), Class War, Collectivisation, Ethnicity, Nationality

Organised bodies and political leadership, working in coordination, tasked with running a country through the state apparatus

Irregular, often clandestine warfare usually carried out by small groups attacking then retreating far larger, better equipped forces

Rapid and uncontrolled decrease in the value of money and increase in prices

A belief system, typically attached to a particular political grouping

Russian political ideologies ranging from socialism and anarchism to liberalism and conservatism

Government, State, Opposition (political), Political Party, Political Party (mass), Political Party (vanguard)