section 3- Stalin's rise to power 1924-29 Flashcards
contenders for power- stalin
- general secretary
- working class background
- positioned himself as Lenin’s successor
- seen as cruel and violent
- minor role in the revolution
- criticised in the last testament
- underestimated
contenders for power- trotsky
- theorist with good speeches
- rude and dismissive of others
- joined in 1917- hero of the revolution
- ill during critical moments in the struggle
- amassed a lot of power- feared
contenders for power- kamenev and zinoviev
- popular old bolsheviks
- seen as inconsistent in alliances
- high in lenin’s favour BUT known to have opposed lenin in 1917
- high positions in the party
contenders for power- bukharin
- prominent in the party
- popular
- best theorist
- stalin worked to undermine him
- old bolshevik
contenders for power- rykov
- old bolshevik
- underestimated stalin
- overshadowed by bukharin
- heavy drinker
- good with admin in the civil war
- popular in the sovnarkom
- supported NEP
- no obvious power base
contenders for power- tomsky
- hostility for trotsky
- supported NEP
- working class- spokesman for trade unions
- argued with lenin BUT was pallbearer
NEP vs industrialisation
NEP:
- peasants benefitted so contributed to the economy- alienating them would bring ruin
- industry was recovered and grew
Industrialisation:
- NEP led to growth of a new superclass (kulaks)
- NEP is not socialist
permanent revolution vs socialism in one country
Permanent revolution:
- needs support of the wc abroad to survive
- outcast state and needed allies
SIOC:
- PR failed, no more revolution occurred
- need to ensure USSR is independent
how stalin became leader- building up power
- controlled enrolment in the Lenin Enrolment- ensured loyalty
- fashioned himself lenin’s successor
- party secretary- controlled info and discussion in the Politburo
how stalin became leader- removal of opposition
trotsky: S formed triumvirate with K+Z and dominated 13th party congress 1925, T loses Red Army post and commissar for military and naval affairs, 1928 exiled to Kazakhstan
K+Z: broke with S and were demoted, tried to hold a vote of no confidence that didn’t work
the right: great turn 1928, B expelled from politburo after disagreeing with collectivisation
how stalin became leader- securing his position as leader
- fashioned himself as lenin’s successor
- 1st 5YP used to start industrialisation
- Great Turn 1928
economic condition of russia 1924-28- agriculture
- backward- 5 million wooden ploughs in use 1927
- farms = small subsistence farms
- govt stopped private trade so had to sell at a lower price, retaliated by feeding grain to livestock
- horded grain to wait for higher prices -> fall in production by 25% 1926-27
- grain requisitioning campaigns = successful but alienated peasants
economic condition of russia 1924-28- urban areas
- real wages only recovered in 1928
- 8 hour workday and rep in trade unions (BUT were still very hierarchical)
- high unemployment
- women lost work they took on in the war- many unemployed
- live in overcrowded, poor housing, 6-7 people in 1 room
- increasing crime rate, growth of youth crime
reasons for the great turn- failures of the NEP
- wrong type of society formed- new ruling classes e.g. kulaks
- kulaks and NEPmen were financially benefitting from the profit incentive
- by 1927 growth was stagnating
- removal of the NEP = removal of the right in the party
BUT still need support of the peasants
reasons for the great turn- russia and the world
- outcast state- wanted to be self-sufficient
- had to use sale of surplus grain to industrialise
- 100 years behind Europe industrially
- needed to become more socialist- create the ‘new soviet man’
- move to a command economy
1st 5YP 1927-1932 and its goal
plan consisted of rapid industrialisation to catch up to western capitalist countries
aim: to become a self-sufficient nation
targets were very ambitious and met with skepticism
facets of the 1st 5YP
- centralised planning to maximise output (criticised by managers)
- consumer goods = low priority (BUT still expected to 2x output)
- infrastructure = targeted e.g. railways and electrification
- overall production ^ by 300%
- new industrial complexes e.g. Magnitogorsk
- hopefully would increase employment and working conditions
factors that led to the collectivisation policy from 1927
- grain procurement crisis 1927-28
- need to adequately feed the workforce
- ideological conviction that collectivisation was the most socialist
what did collectivisation policy from 1927 do?
- socialised land into large state farms of 20-150 families to maximise output
3 types of farms: - toz
- kolkhoz- most popular- lived communally but had a 1 acre plot to use privately
- sovkhoz
used as a political tool to oust Bukharin
government under stalin
- bureaucratic centralism
- factionalism = criminalised- party line was set out by the leader and backed by the majority
- successor to lenin
- had group of loyal men in lower levels of the party who owed their position to him
- fear = driving force
- secret police (OGPU) = more pervasive under Menzhinsky
- used terror to repress dissent
propaganda and the stalin cult
- continued lenin’s use of propaganda to harness support for policies
- stalin reinforced his position by presenting himself as lenin’s successor
- seen as steering russia through the struggles it was facing
- lenin cult grew after his death and cultivated by stalin
- stalin used the lenin cult to cultivate his image as Lenin’s disciple and heir to increase his own status
stalin’s attitude to foreign powers
main aim = SIOC
for Stalin, the comintern was an unwelcome nuisance in the early 1920s
- Chief rep in foreign affairs = Chicherin and his deputy Litvinov- polished diplomats with a modest and reassuring image, and loyal Stalinists
From 1929- Comintern increased in priority due to his left turn to expel Bukharin
USSR and China 1925-27
China in 1925 = unstable after death of President Sun Yat-sen
- CCP wanted revolution and expected the USSR’s support
- USSR supported Jiang Jieshi of the GMD (though would make the Russo-Chinese border stable)
- pushed CCP to join the GMD
1926- GMD massacred striking workers and established a military dictatorship ~30,000 workers massacred
- stalin gave the GMD financial and military help and entered them into the comintern- criticised by trotsky
- stalin blamed the CCP taking the side of the peasants over the workers
USSR and Germany until 1929
Treaty of Rapallo 1922- ended outcast states of the two + ‘normalised’ relations
Locarno treaty signed 1925 (Germany + Western powers) which continued Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Berlin 1926- adapted treaty of rapallo + ensured:
- neutrality if other was attacked
- allowed Germany to break the ToV in the USSR
- USSR received large financial credits from german banks
