Elements that make up 'High Stalinism'

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High Stalinism
- Terror
  - Stalin demanded an excessive isolationism from the non-Soviet world.
  - Between 1945-53, around 12 million were sent to the labour camps.
  - Under Lavrenty Beria, the head of the security service, the gulag system was vastly expanded. NKVD strengthened and reorganised.
- Political
  - Wartime institutions were dismantled.
  - The military hierarchy was downgraded - Stalin became Minister of Defence.
  - Although a new Politburo and Secretariat were elected in 1946, Stalin remained Head of Government and Head of the Party.
  - Politburo became an advisory body with decisions being made by Stalin and his inner circle.
  - Party lost its autonomy and became a bureaucratic structure, with members recruited from 'administrative' ranks
- Cultural
  - Social realism became the norm in literature, art, music and film.
  - Anti-Soviet authors were condemned and the publication of works forbidden.
  - Only pro-Soviet foreign writers and artists were allowed to visit the USSR and very few Soviet citizens were allowed to travel to the West.
Cultural
- Social realism became the norm in literature, art, music and film.
- Anti-Soviet authors were condemned and the publication of works forbidden.
- Only pro-Soviet foreign writers and artists were allowed to visit the USSR and very few Soviet citizens were allowed to travel to the West.

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