14: Stalin’s rise to power

Question 1

When did Lenin decide to dictate his testament

Answer 1

December 1922

Question 2

In what form did Lenin decide to dictate his testament in Dec 1922

Answer 2

A letter to be read to the party Congress ok bus death

Question 3

What did Lenin give in his testament

Answer 3

He did not nominate a future leader, but gave his critical opinion of members of politburo

Question 4

Who did Lenin particularly criticise in his testament

Answer 4

Stalin

Question 5

Why did Lenin particularly criticise Stalin

Answer 5

Party because of Georgian affair and partly because Stalin insulted Lenin’s wife

Question 6

When did Stalin become the party’s general secretary

Answer 6

April 1922

Question 7

What did Lenin’s refer to (Stalin’s personality) in his testament

Answer 7

Personal rudeness, uneccesary roughness and lack of finesse

Question 8

What did Lenin suggest to comrades in his testament

Answer 8

That they should think of a way of removing Stalin from his post

Question 9

Why was Lenin’s testament never read in public as intended

Answer 9

Since central committee decided among themselves to surpress it- played into Stalin’s hands

Question 10

What had the communists been split over since 1921

Answer 10

Economic policy

Question 11

How had Lenin’s NEP of 1921 been controversial

Answer 11

It conflicted with strict Marxist teaching

Question 12

What was at the heart of ideological debates of the 1920s

Answer 12

Whether Lenin had intended the NEP to be a temporary measure

Question 13

Who favoured abandoning the NEP and who weee they represented by

Answer 13

Left

Represented by Trotsky, zinoviev and kamenev

Question 14

Who supported the NEPs continuance and who were they represented by

Answer 14

The right

Represented by Bulgarian, rykov and tomsky

Question 15

What was Stalin’s position in the support of the NEP

Answer 15

Stalin fluctuate from a left leaning position up to 1925, to temporary support for the right and the continuance of NEP 1925-28 and back again

Question 16

What can Stalin’s fluctuations be accounted for by

Answer 16

Bread shortages and high food prices of 1928, rather than a lack of ideological principles

Question 17

What did Trotsky still hold to the line despite the Soviet Union being the only communist state in the 1920s

Answer 17

That Russians should be working to stir up revolution elsewhere and that there should be a continuous revolution until a truly socialist society was created

Question 18

What pragmatic view had Stalin adopted by 1924

Answer 18

That there should be ‘socialism in one country’ and that efforts should be concentrated on building a workers paradise in Soviet Union

Question 19

What did Stalin’s less orthodox attitude of socialism in one country appeal to

Answer 19

Those who favoured stability and feared the continuous revolutionary turmoil that Trotsky appeared to be advocating

Question 20

What did some elements within the party favour in terms of leadership

Answer 20

Collective control, through a committee of equals- a view which had ideological justification

Question 21

Who was the idea of collective control over oarty most advanced by

Answer 21

Those who feared the dominance of Trotsky- worked to Stalin’s advantage

Question 22

What principles laid down in the time of Lenin did Stalin benefit from

Answer 22

Change from elections to appointments within party hierarchy
Ban on factions
Growth of central control during civil war