★ Power Struggle & Stalin's Rise Flashcards
★ When did the Power Struggle begin?
★ 1922 after Lenin’s stroke
★ What was the Triumvirate and why did it form?
★ 1922
★ Alliance between Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev
★ What was Lenin’s testament?
★ Lambasted potential successors of Lenin’s, most severely was Stalin who Lenin urged to remove from his post as General Secretary
★ ^ This was over his treatment of minorities in Georgia and Krupskaya, Lenin’s wife
★ What did Lenin actually want?
★ Collective Leadership, where Russia was run by a committee of equals
★ Stalin’s character?
★ Seen as intellectually inferior but hard-working and a man of violence
★ Regarded as rude and jealous but close to his allies
★ Patient, kept long-term plans hidden
★ Stalin’s strengths?
★ General Secretary, could appoint people in key positions
★ Underestimated by the rest of the party
★ Understood theories of Marxist-Leninism
★ Placed himself close to Lenin to act as his successor even before his death
★ Triumvirate
★ Stalin’s Weaknesses
★ Crude and violent
★ Was criticised harshly in Lenin’s testament which Lenin’s colleagues were aware of
★ Minor role in 1917 revolution
★ Trotsky’s Character?
★ Extremely important in party, War commissar who had control of Red Army
★ Extraordinary organiser & strategist
★ Arrogant and dismissive
★ Prone to sudden bouts of inaction and illness
★ Trotsky’s Strengths
★ Power Base in Leningrad
★ Had control of Red Army
★ Major role in 1917 Revolution and Civil War
★ Close to Lenin
★ Popular
★ Trotsky’s Weaknesses
★ Used to be Menshevik
★ Underestimated Stalin
★ Arrogant, many feared him
★ Seen as inconsistent and an opportunist
★ Fell ill at critical moments (Lenin’s funeral)
★ Made serious errors in judgement, such as attacking the Party Bureaucracy in 1924 when he needed their support
★ Zinoviev and Kamenev’s Characters?
★ Important role in 1917 revolution
★ Kamenev: Often clashed with Lenin, first member of Politburo in 1919, Lenin’s Deputy Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, Chairman of the Moscow Soviet in 1918
★ Zinoviev: Chairman of Comintern Congress
★ Z & K’s Strengths?
★ Old Bolsheviks
★ Intelligent
★ Strong power bases in Politburo & Comintern
★ Strong power bases in Leningrad and Moscow
★ Z: High in Lenin’s favour before 1924, called his closest and most trusted assistant
★ Z & K’s Weaknesses
★ 1917, went against Lenin and voted against revolution 10-2
★ Underestimated Stalin, left it too late to support Trotsky
★ K: Too closely linked with Zinoviev
★ Bukharin’s character?
★ Highly popular with Politburo colleagues and with party members, Lenin called him ‘ the darling of the Party. ‘ Open and cooperative with both the Left and the Right
★ Bukharin’s Strengths
★ Popular, friend of Lenin and Stalin
★ Regarded as best theoretician in party, expert on economics and agriculture
★ Bukharin’s weaknesses?
★ No power base
★ Underestimated Stalin
★ Left it too late to side with Zinoviev and Kamenev
★ Alexei Rykov’s strengths?
★ Old Bolshevik
★ Managed switch to NEP
★ Extensive support from Sovnarkom, who chose him as Deputy Chairman in 1923 and Chairman in 1924
★ Rykov’s weaknesses?
★ Overshadowed by Bukharin
★ Lacked power base, largely ceremonial position
★ Heavy taxes on vodka made him unpopular
★ Underrated Stalin
★ Mikhail Tomsky’s character?
★ Working Class, son of a factory owner and long associate of Workers’ Unions
★ Tomsky’s Weaknesses?
★ Hostility towards Trotsky blinded him from Stalin’s power
★ Alliance with Stalin, Rykov and Bukharin in purging left-wingers from party in 1926 handed massive power to Stalin
★ Power base in Trade Unions made Stalin jealous
★ Support for NEP backfired in grain crisis of 1927
★ How did Stalin gain power?
★ Switched from the left of the party to the right to attempt to knock out opponents
★ Tricked Trotsky into not coming to Lenin’s funeral by sending him the wrong date, damaging his reputation
★ 1925: Managed to knock out Left of the party through his Socialism in One Country Policy, by the time Z & K complained in the Fourteenth Party Congress it was made up by Stalin’s supporters, 1926 Trotsky, K & Z formed the United Opposition which kicked them out of the party in 1927 due to Lenin’s ban on factionalism
★ Support for Rapid Industrialisation caused Tomsky, Rykov and Bukharin to lose their positions
★ What was Rapid Industrialisation?
★ Policy brought forward by the Left of the party to militarise labour and squeeze more grain out of the peasantry
★ What was Socialism in One Country vs Permanent Revolution?
★ Socialism in One Country: Backed by Stalin, said to focus on the USSR before spreading Communism elsewhere
★ Permanent Revolution: Backed by Trotsky, spread revolution to other countries to ensure longevity of the USSR’s Communist reign and gain allies
