3.1 The Power Struggle Flashcards
When was Lenin’s death? What happened at his funeral?
Lenin died on the 21st of January 1924.
Over 1 million people visited Lenin’s body from the 23rd to the 25th (shows his cult of personality).
Stalin intentionally gave Trotsky the wrong date to Lenin’s funeral, causing him to miss it, which made him look bad.
Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honour.
How did Lenin describe the other leading members of the party in his Last Testament 1923?
- Trotsky was too arrogant and willing to use violence as a political weapon
- Stalin was too impatience, rude and held too much power as General Secretary of the Party, he should be demoted
- Zinoviev and Kamenev were reminded of their lack of support for the October Revolution
- Bukharin was accused of not truly understanding the Leninist ideology
What were Stalin’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
- He held powerful position as General Secretary
- He was underestimated by his opponents, good at hiding his true intentions
- Close to Lenin (in the eyes of the public)
What were Stalin’s weaknesses when considering a replacement for Lenin?
- He was seen as crude and violent
- He had only played a minor role in the October revolution
- He was unpopular within the party
- Stalin knew that Lenin had turned against him in his Last testament
(he had been rude to Lenin’s wife previously)
What were Trotsky’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
- He was a brilliant intellectual and theorist
- Had a huge role in the October revolution and the Civil War, leading the Red Army to victory
- He was very organised and a good planner
What were Trotsky’s weaknesses when considering a replacement for Lenin?
- Trotsky was originally a Menshevik, leading other Bolsheviks to suspect him
- He was Too arrogant and blindly misjudged Stalin
- He had no support
- He was Indecisive and made serious errors in judgement, which made him came off as inconsistent
- He had missed Lenin’s funeral, which was not a good look in the eyes of the public and party
What were Kamenev’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
Kamenev was very close to Lenin and had been trusted with his personal papers.
He had a strong power base in Moscow and was thoughtful, intelligent and got stuff done.
What were Kamenev’s weaknesses when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He was too inconsistent and had objected the October Revolution.
He was seen as too similar to Zinoviev, who was more popular.
He was seen as soft.
What were Zinoviev’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He had a strong powerbase in Leningrad and was Lenin’s most trusted assistant.
What were Zinoviev’s weaknesses when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He too had also opposed Lenin during the October Revolution.
He had seriously underestimated to power of Stalin.
What were Bukharin’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He was popular with the party and close to Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky.
He was widely regarded as the best theoretician in the Party.
He was an expert in economics and agriculture which the party badly needed.
What were Bukharin’s weaknesses when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He had no powerbase as his was on good terms with everyone (neutral).
His popularity made him an enemy of Stalin.
What were Rykov’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He had implemented War Communism and managed the swap to the New Economic Policy.
He was supported extensively by the Sovnarkom.
What were Rykov’s weaknesses when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He was overshadowed heavily by Bukharin and also lacked any powerbase.
He had put tax on vodka, which despite being the socially correct thing to do had made him very unpopular with the rest of the party.
He had previously argued against the October Revolution.
What were Tomsky’s strengths when considering a replacement for Lenin?
He held positions the General Secretary of Red International of the Trade Unions.
His working class origins made him popular with the party.
