Power Struggle Flashcards
Candidates - Trotsky - Left
Popular amongst younger population
- Only joined the party in 1917
- was currently peoples commissar for military and naval affairs - strong power base in the Red Army
- weaknesses = too loyal although he was feared by party members due to his control of the Red Army
Candidates - Joseph Stalin - Middle
Stalin = ‘man of steel’
- inspired by writings of Lenin - 1922 appointed general secretary - made him quite powerful
- Weaknesses - tendency to disobey orders from the centre - removed from military post for disobedience
Candidates - Bukharin - Right
Very popular = called ‘golden boy’ by Lenin
- utterly loyal to the party joining in 1906
- role at Lenin’s death = Leading role in the Pravda newspaper - also led the opposition to the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
- weaknesses = lacks the political cunning of Stalin
Candidates - Kamenev - Left
- Lenin described him as being ‘able and reliable’
- full time revolutionary from 1905 - was commissar for foreign trade
Weaknesses = lost support after the October revolution and was not seen as a leader
Candidates - Zinoviev - Left
not very intelligent or popular
- active in party since 1903 and made chairman of the Comintern in 1919
Weaknesses = wanted a socialist coalition which went against Lenin’s ideologies and underestimated Stalin’s powerbase
Candidates - Tomsky - Right
active member of the metal workers union before 1917 - made chairman of the central council of trade unions in 1918 - fought hard for workers trade union rights
Weaknesses = Opposed Lenin and went against some Bolshevik ideologies
Candidates - Rykov - Right
Became chairman of the Vesenkha - strong supporter of the NEP and opposed return of war communism
Weaknesses = Massive alcoholic
Debates in the leadership struggle - NEP and Industrial debate
Many felt the NEP had no place in a socialist state and thus it was a question of when and how to the end the NEP - Left wanted rapid industrialisation and right wanted to keep NEP and make peasants richer
- everyone agreed on the need for industrialisation but couldn’t agree on how to do it
Debates in the leadership struggle - Permanent revolution VS socialism in one country
Permanent revolution =belief working class was too small for communism to survive in Russia - needed more support from working class in other European nations - Believed by Trotsky who felt that money should be invested into spreading the communist ideologies.
- Socialism in one country - created by Stalin - wanted soviet superiority over the west - argued permanent revolution showed Trotsky didn’t believe in Russia
Stage 1 - the early struggle
- The Triumvirate = Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin
- May 1924 = 13th party congress = Zinoviev and Kamenev all agreed not to read out Lenin’s arbitrary - they thought Stalin posed no real threat - Trotsky remained silent = mistake - Trotsky defeated in votes because Stalin had packed the congress with is followers.
- Zinoviev and Kamenev also attacked Trotsky as they were on Stalin’s side at this time
Stage 2 - The ‘new or united opposition’
Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev VS Stalin and the right
- Stalin’s socialism in one country was very popular
- Trotsky, Zinoviev, and Kamenev called for a vote of no confidence against Stalin - They lost as Stalin had control of the delegates
- Kirov appointed party secretary ( friend of Stalin. )
- Trotsky forced out of war commissar role
- Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were accused of factionalism in 1926 and all lost their positions in power, forcing Trotsky into exile
Stage 3 - Stalin VS the right opposition
- Stalin now advocated for rapid industrialisation and reintroduced grain requisitioning
- Bukharin mounts a strong defence in 1919 but was still out-voted and removed from the Politburo
- 1929 = Stalin now leader of the USSR
11th party congress
March 1922 - Stalin appointed general secretary
12th party congress
April 1923 - Last congress during Lenin’s leadership - Stalin dominated the congress
13th party congress
May 1924 - Packed with Stalin supporters - Lenin’s last will and testament were NOT read out
