Stalin's victory Flashcards
Why didn’t Lenin’s Testament damage Stalin?
It wasn’t published
Why wasn’t Lenin’s Testament published?
It incriminated other members of the Politburo (including Kamenev and Zinoviev), so the Central Committee agreed to suppress it
What was Trotsky’s power base?
Very limited - soldiers and students
Why did Trotsky’s political past before 1917 damage his chances of leading the Bolsheviks?
He was a Menshevik who converted after the July Days - he was accused of not being a dedicated Bolshevik
What happened to Trotsky at the 1925 Party Congress? Why was this able to happen?
Removed as Commissar for War
Stalin used the Troika (with Kamenev and Zinoviev) to influence the Moscow and Leningrad parties to make their delegates to Congress pro-Stalin and anti-Trotsky
Why did Kamenev and Zinoviev dislike Trotsky?
Trotsky had tried to embarrass them with Lessons of October, playing on their opposition to Lenin at the 10 October 1917 Central Committee meeting
What happened to Kamenev and Zinoviev in 1926?
Outvoted by the Right Communists + Stalin, and removed from their posts as Soviet chairmen
Who replaced Kamenev (Moscow) and Zinoviev (Leningrad) as Soviet chairmen?
Molotov (Moscow)
Kirov (Leningrad)
What did Trotsky attempt at the 1927 Party Congress?
Was he successful?
Tried to challenge Stalin’s authority (again)
No - he was exiled from the USSR two years later
Why was Trotsky unable to use his strengths to defeat Stalin?
Trotsky was a great speaker and writer but that could not compete against Stalin’s grip on the party machine - Trotsky never had control of the political system
Who were the main Right Communists on the Politburo in the 1920s? What wider positions did they have in the party?
Bukharin (leading economist, editor of Pravda)
Tomsky (Chairman of the Trade Union Council)
Rykov (Chair of Sovnarkom)
Explain how Stalin used political skill to defeat the Right Communists
Having defeated the Left Communists (Kamenev, Zinoviev) he took their policy of reversing NEP and enforcing collectivisation.
This went against the Right Communist policy of incentivising the peasants (rather than forcing them) to produce more grain
Why were the Right Communists’ economic ideas unacceptable to most in the party?
They were viewed as timid, unrealistic and soft - not what was needed to take on so-called enemies of the revolution
How loyal were Bukharin and his colleagues to Stalin?
Why was this a problem?
Very loyal - wanted to remain good party men
They were fearful of creating a ‘faction’ and didn’t want to cause deep divisions - so Stalin could defeat them more easily
Where was the main Right Communist support base? How did Stalin deal with this?
Trade Unions - Tomsky chaired the Central Council of Trade Unions.
Stalin sent Kaganovich to undertake a purge of suspect trade unionists
