The struggle for power 1924-28 Flashcards
Trotsky
- most likely to follow Lenin
- charismatic
- intelligent
- admired by Lenin
- Largely responsible for the Red victory in the Civil War
- disliked in the party for his arrogance
Stalin
- least likely to assume leadership
- lacking charisma
- not liked by Lenin
- powerful power base in the party bureaucracy
- largely underestimated
Zinoviev
- opposed Lenin’s seizure to power call in 1917
- didn’t distinguish himself in the civil war
- strong party support since he is the boss of the Petrograd party
Kamenev
- opposed Lenin’s seizure to power call of 1917
- Lenin’s deputy
Bukharin
- very popular with party members
- admired by Lenin as a Marxist theorist
troika
group of 3 - Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev
Lenin’s thoughts on Stalin
- originally valued Stalin’s practical nature by started doubting him in 1922 since he recognised that this position required an enormous amount of power
“Stalin is too rude, a fault…intolerable in the office of General secretary”
“I am not sure he will always use this power with sufficient caution”
Scissors Criss of 1923
- caused by a fall in agricultural prices along with the rise in the prices of manufactured goods
- Troika: prioritised the recovery of the peasant sector, financing the growth of the industry from the growing prosperity of the peasants and from their increased purchasing of products
- left wing: priorities of the industry and proletariat
Lenin’s testament on Stalin
he was meant to produce this testament to the 1923 party congress, but since he fell sick his wife produced it in front of the Central Committee who decided to not release it to the public, in order to not tarnish Stalin’s image
‘Socialism in One Country’
Stalin’s ideology; involved strengthening Communism within the soviets rather than applying the Marxist idea of unity powers around the world. The 14th Party congress of 1925 supported this, forcing Trotsky to resign from Commissar for War.
issues with the NEP
- ZInoviev and Kamenev argued that it was introduced as a temporary measure and if continued would restore capitalism
- Bukrain and Stalin argued for long-term preservation
- 1927: Stalin denounced Z, K and T from the party by accusing them of being anti-Leninist, factionalism and attempting to undermine the unity of the party.
- 1928: Z and K were readmitted later but T refused and was arrested and sent to exile
1923
Stalin purged Party membership of “lukewarm members”
1924
- influx of new embers through the Lenin-Enrolment, which resulted in more Stalin-admitted members over Lenin’s
- any criticism of Party policy led to expulsion
- Trotsky criticised the cult of Lenin, criticised Stalin and failed to attend Lenin’s funeral, showing a lack of support, leading to his explusion
1927-28
- major economic crisis
- NEP failed as Trotsky predicted
- rapid industrialisation, hard line against peasants and development of heavy industry initiated by Stalin
- eliminated the Kulaks
1925
Bukhrain, Rykov and Tomsky supported the NEP to encourage the peasants to produce more food to be sold, resulting in growth in population and move in factories to produce consumer goods
reasons for emergence of Stalin as leader of the USSR by the late 20s
- he was a tireless worker whose early career was supported by Lenin
- skills of politics and administration were extremely relevant for the time
- ruthless in the treatment against opponents
- opponents underestimated him until it was too late to act against him effectively
- manipulated events to create a crisis in order to eliminate his opponents as “lukewarm” members
- his economic and political pragmatism allowed him to shift to the left and right, whilst remaining with the majority of the Politburo
- He was head of the Secretariat in 1922, giving him immense power over the Orgburo and Politburo where he handled membership, appointments to positions, reassignments and purges
abuse of the cult of Lenin
- capitalised on Lenin’s death by being a pallbearer at his funeral
- using Lenin to criticise Trotsky causing him of lacking faith in Lenin
- claimed that Trotsky’s idea of permanent revolution represented a lack of faith in the Russian people
- Stalin convinced Trotsky to miss Lenin’s funeral by telling him the funeral was on a different date, leading to criticism and highlighted his lack of respect towards Lenin
Stalin’s political skills
- used his control to get rid of T, Z and K in 1923-24
- when the left opposition (T, K & Z) formed, he threw out their party members
- In 1928, he opposed Bukharin the rightists and removed their members and voted out their leadership
- spoke to the dissatisfaction of many soviets and initiated his ideology to develop patriotism within Russia so they could develop their industrial force
