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Autonomy
Ability of regions or communities to manage their own affairs.
Collectivism
A business and social philosophy where the emphasis is on the collective (the company or work group) over the individual
Constituent Assembly
A Constituent Assembly is a body of elected or appointed representatives convened specifically to draft or adopt a constitution for a new state or political system. In India, the Constituent Assembly (1946-1950) comprised 299 members who drafted the Indian Constitution under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's Drafting Committee.
Cult of Personality
The use of mass media, propaganda, and state-controlled information to create an idealized and heroic public image of a leader, demanding unquestioning devotion. Stalin's cult portrayed him as an infallible genius and the father of the Soviet nation.
Five-Year Plans
Economic programs aimed at industrial and agricultural development through state-led planning.
Gosplan
Gosplan was the Soviet State Planning Committee responsible for setting production targets and coordinating the economy under the Five-Year Plans from 1921 to 1991.
Gulag
The Main Administration of Camps, a vast Soviet network of forced labor camps where millions of political prisoners, criminals, and perceived enemies of the state were imprisoned. The Gulag served both as a tool of political repression and as a source of forced labor for economic projects.
Holodomor
Holodomor ("death by hunger") refers to the 1932-1933 famine in Soviet Ukraine that killed millions. Many historians and governments recognise it as a deliberate act of genocide by the Stalin regime.
Industrialization
the process of developing factories, technology, and large-scale production.
Kulaks
Kulaks were wealthier peasants in Russia who owned larger farms or hired labour. Stalin targeted them for elimination as a class during collectivisation (1929-1933), resulting in mass deportation, imprisonment, and death.
League of Nations
The postwar international organization created to maintain peace and collective security; Brazil was an active early member before withdrawing in 1926.
Lend-Lease
A US policy enacted in March 1941 allowing the President to transfer military supplies to any nation whose defence was deemed vital to American security, without requiring immediate payment. It provided over $50 billion in aid to the Allies during World War II.
Lend-Lease
A US programme enacted in March 1941 that allowed the president to supply military aid to nations deemed vital to American defence. It provided billions of dollars in equipment to Britain, the Soviet Union, China, and other Allied powers without requiring immediate payment.
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs - the Soviet secret police responsible for political repression, surveillance, running the Gulag system, and enforcing state security from 1934 to 1946.
Nomenklatura
The Soviet system of Party-controlled appointments to all important positions in government, industry, and society. Under Stalin, it became a patronage network that rewarded loyalty over competence, creating a privileged ruling elite.
Politburo
Politburo was the highest policy-making body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, responsible for all major political and economic decisions. Its members were the most powerful figures in the USSR.
Popular Front
A broad coalition of left-wing and centrist political parties formed to oppose fascism, most notably in France (1936) and Spain (1936), typically uniting communists, socialists, and liberals.
Propaganda
Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. States use propaganda through media, education, and public events to shape public opinion.
Show Trials
Show Trials were staged public trials in the USSR (1936-1938) in which prominent Old Bolsheviks were forced to confess to fabricated charges of treason and sabotage before being executed.
Stakhanovite movement
Stakhanovite movement was a Soviet propaganda campaign promoting exceptionally productive workers as heroes. Named after miner Alexei Stakhanov, it encouraged competition and higher output in factories and mines.
Totalitarianism
A system of government in which the state holds total authority over society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life, including political, economic, and cultural domains.