How did Stalin win the power struggle 1924-29 Flashcards
What were the major reasons for Stalins power struggle victory
- Strong support base
- clever tactics
- Luck and timing
- Solid understanding and history within the political
system
When did Lenin die
21st January 1924
What political legacy had Lenin left behind
-One party state- all parties other than the Bolsheviks
had been outlawed
-A ban on factionalism-prevented criticism of leadership
within the party and in effect freedom of speech
-politicising the law- under Lenin the law was operated
not as a means of protecting society, but as a means of
control ‘The court is not to eliminate terror but to
legitimise it’
Stalins early character
- Stalin grew up in Tiflis Georgia, studying at an
Orthodox church
-Stalin soon realised that he was less attracted by
theology than by the revolutionary ideas with which he
came into contact outside he seminary - This hunger for action rather than policy became
central to Stalins personality
-Stalin became involved in the Georgian resistance
movement, he was a committed follower of Lenin - He threw himself into the task of raising money for the
Bolsheviks, carrying out bank and train robberies
Stalin during the October uprising
- Stalin became indispensable to the Bolshevik party, his knowledge of minority
groups led him to become the commissar for nationalities
-Although Lenin had been completely loyal to Lenin, there were two occasions where Stalin had aroused Lenin’s anger - Stalin had shouted verbal abuse at Lenin’s wife and had also failed to control
the Georgians
How did Stalin’s background within the political system help him win the power struggle
- Stalin had been involved in another of key posts within the political system, and this proved vital
- Peoples commissar for nationalities- links with many officials in the regions that made up USSR
- General secretary of the communist Party. In this position, Stalin recorded and conveyed party policy
- What these posts gave him above all was the power of patronage
- He could use his authority and close links to put his supporters in power
- Since they then owed their place to him he could rely on them to support his policies
- He had a very strong knowledge of the system and new many people
How did Stalin benefit from his strong support base
-Stalin benefited from the recent changes of the Communist party
-Between 1923 and 1925 the party had increased its support from 340,000 to 600,000
-The new members were predominately poorly educated and politically unsophisticated
-They new that their privileges that came with the party membership came with loyalty to those who first invited
them to the Bolshevik ranks
-The task of vetting the enrolment had fallen largely with officials who worked directly under Stalin
-In this way,expansion of the party added to his growing power of patronage
-reliable votes
How did the weaknesses Trotsky help Stalin in the leadership race (Stalins defeat of the political left)
-Trotsky was a complex character, despite his many talents, strong experience within the party and intellectual
brilliance, he had serious flaws that undermined his chance of success
-Trotsky felt inhibited to make decisive moves due to his
jewishness, Trotsky new that in a country like Russia
with large scale Anti-Semetism he would always appear
like an outsider
-Trotsky had failed to build up a strong political base within the party, he was flamboyant and brilliant whereas
his rival Stalin was unspectacular and methodical- this meant he either attracted admiration or distaste
-He was only regarded highly by the Red army
-This meant Trotsky failed to have a power base and invariably made him seem again, like an outsider
How did the clever tactics of Stalin help him win the leadership race
-Stalin exploited heavily the NEP question
-Many saw the NEP as a betrayal of the parties revolutionary principle
-Stalin used Trotsky’s attitude towards the NEP as a way of undermining him
-Stalins own view of the NEP was far from clear at this point yet there were strong rumours that Trotsky was
strongly against the NEP, in fact in 1923 Trotsky had led a group openly criticising GOSPLAN
- Despite the majority opinion being against the NEP, Stalin cleverly exploited Trotsky’s opinion suggesting to
party members who already looked on at Trotsky as a disruptive force
Stalin also exploited the question of ‘socialism in one country’
- Trotsky believed that for a successful revolution within the USSR a worldwide revolution was necessary
- The USSR would not be able to survive as a rogue socialist nation
- Stalin took advantage of this, accusing Trotsky being intent on damaging the Soviet Union
- Stalin focused his direction on calling for the modernisation of Russia and turning it into a strong nation
How could you argue that Stalin achieved victory through luck and timing
- Trotsky did not attend Lenin’s funeral
- Trotsky happened to have fundamental weaknesses
How did Stalin deal with Kamenev and Zinoviev (the political right)
- The right suffered from a number of weaknesses, which
Stalin was able to exploit: these related to their ideas,
their organisation and their support: - Their economic arguments were timid and unrealistic for
the 1920s - Their plan for a softer line with the peasants was
unacceptable to the party and hardliners around Stalin - Their only support was with the trade unions, however
they had been abolished as independent organisations
by Trotsky, by early 1929 the right had been condemned
beyond recovery and their entire political support had
been extensively damaged
-Stalin, after weakening Trotsky, moved to take out now potential rivals Kamenev and Zinoviev
-Again, Stalin’s control of the party machine proved
critical
-Stalin’s chief backers and their supporters combined to outvote the United opposition.
-Kamenev and Zinoviev were dismissed from their roles and were replaced by Stalins staunchest allies
