Power Vacuum Flashcards
Stalin
S:
-General secretary when party bureaucracy was expanding rapidly- could install who he wanted
-Placed himself close to Lenin during his illness
W
-Crude and violent, Georgia civil war as commisar of nationalities.
-Overshadowed by Trotsky’s province and Bukharin’s popularity
Trotsky
S -Extraordinary organiser -held power and prestige from leading red army, revolution and civil war W -Old menshevik -Badly underated Stalin -no base of support in party
Kamenev
S
-Old Bolshevik close to Lenin, entrusted personal papers to him at death
-Strong power base in Moscow where he ran the local party
W
-Reputation of inconsistency and opportunism opposing Lenin/switching on Stalin
-Too close to Zinoviev who was more popular then he was
Zinoviev
S
-One of the party’s best speechmaker’s with a commanding presence, chairman of the cominterm congresses
-Old Bolshevik
-Strong power base in Leningrad, party boss
-Lenin referred to him as “closest and most trusted assistant”
W
-Voted against revolution
-underestimated Stalin
Bukharin
S
-popular, close to Lenin, for a long time friendly with Trotsky, close associate with Stalin calling him pet nicknames such as “Koba”
-Expert on economics and agriculture
-widely regarded as best theoretician
W
-Too friendly, avoided faction fighting, no power base
-underestimated Stalin
-Tactical mistakes, too long to ally with Z and K
13th party congress
-tensions rise in triumvirate, Trotsky fails to speak out against Stalin
14th party congress
- Tv broke down. Z+K launch attack on Stalin which he uses to accuse them of factionalism, angry as they could not control his influence
- gained influence in party by installing a personal following of loyal supporters such as Molotov, Kaganovich, Voroshilov, Kirov
United Oppostion
- Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev launch a literary discussion against Stalin which he combats by threatneing resignation, increased pressure on Stalin by blaming him for the crushing of Chinese communists in Canton and Shanghai
- Voted out CC
Great turn
- Stalin disagrees with Bukharin and wants industrialisation and collectivisation
- starts using Ural Siberian method without Bukharin permission
- Bukharin thus removed from power