Bolshevik/Stalinist Russia

Lenin, Stalin, and Trotsky

• 1924 - Lenin dies and Stalin moves in to try and carve out his own path to leadership

• 1924-1929: Collective leadership

• 1929-1953: Stalin’s authoritarian rule

• Trotsky: Stalin’s biggest political rival in the 1920’s

What characterised Stalin’s life as a revolutionary before the revolution in 1917?

He was involved in the Georgian resistance movement against the tsar, which led to his expulsion from the Tiblis seminary where he was studying, which eventually led him to the Social Democratic Workers’ Party (pre Bolshevik movement name). He “raised funds” for the Bolsheviks by robbing banks and trains. He played a central role in the Bolshevik Party and was held in high regard by Lenin. By 1912, he became part of the six members of the Central Comittee of the party. He had up to 40 aliases to avoid detection. He was internally exiled in Siberia following his attacks as a political terrorist.

What critique/concerns did Lenin raise regarding Stalin in his political testament?

He said that he didn’t believe Stalin always knew how to exercise his power with enough caution, that he was too crude, and should be removed from the position of general secretary.

What roles did Stalin play in the party between the revolution in 1917 and 1924?

He was one of the six members of the Central Comittee and held in high regard by Stalin by 1912. Prior to this, he had robbed trains and banks to fund the party, and in 1917, he was appointed Comissar for Nationalities.

How did these positions help him in the competition for power over the party/state after Lenin’s death?

Pages 70-77

• After Lenin’s death, “left” communists wanted the party abandoned or modified, while right wanted it to continue

• Stalin became the dminant figure of the right, opposing Trotsky on the left

• The Politburo publicly announced collective leadership, but there was already a struggle for individual leadership

• Stalin solidified himself as Lenin’s successor by speaking at the funeral - which Trotsky was conspicuously absent from

• Almost all members of the Politburo had reason to not want Lenin’s testament published, they had it shelved indefinitely

• Trotsky lacked aggression and proactivity in his political campaign, felt inhibited by his Jewishness

• The Politburo regarded Trotsky as a bigger threat than Stalin

• Trotsky was a polarising person, he was ambitious and flamboyant: lacked loyalty and a genuine following which made him seem like an outsider

• Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Stalin allied to attempt to isolate Trotsky due to his unpopularity

• Trotsky believed in a “permanent revolution” and that the interesys of the international working class would be the driving force behind this. He believed that there could be no revolutionary socialism in the USSR without international uprising.

• Stalin believed in “socialism in one country,” that the USSR should focus on industrialisation and overcoming agricultural challenges above all else.

Pages 78-82

• Trotsky lost the propaganda war of the 20’s and was relieved of his post as commissar of wars

• Stalin delivered the votes

• Pro-Stalin, anti-Trotsky congresses were put in place in bigger cities

• With Trotsky no longer posing a threat, Stalin turned on Kamenev and Zinoviev

• In 1925, Kamenev and Zinoviev stated that proletarian revolution was neccessary for the USSR to achieve proper socialism

• This, along with their call for the NEP to be abandoned, was indistinguishable from Troskyism, and made them both unpopular

• Kamenev, Zinoviev and, Trotsky formed an alliance

Timeline 1924-1929

Politburo: the exectútive comittee of the party