wrote his “testament”, expressing his thoughts on Stalin and Trotsky - praised Trotsky and criticised Stalin
warned about Stalin’s quickness to abuse his power
Lenin spoke well about Trotsky
only negative thing was that he was egotistical
Lenin’s Thoughts and Death
after receiving reports on Stalin’s Georgian affair and his impatient actions - he attempted to reduce Stalin’s influence (newspaper, articles and letters to him)
a political conflict within Soviet leadership about the way in which social and political transformation was to be achieved in the Georgian SSR
30 December 1922 - Soviet Union (USSR) was formed
Lenin was leader
had origins of 1917 revolution
had a massive stroke in March/May 1923, ending his career and in 1924 died
when he died, there were 3 main contenders to replace him as head of the Soviet Union:
Josef Stalin
joined the communist party in 1902
Lenin relied on Stalin’s loyalty
suspicious of his intentions though
had position of General Secretary from 1922 and was centre of party
Leon Trotsky
joined Lenin and other Marxists in 1902
on left side of party
very radical
Commissioner for Military
Nikolai Bukharin
joined Lenin in 1912
referred to as ‘Golden Boy’ by Lenin
on right wing of party
moderate and tolerant
Grigori Zinoviev
active in party since 1903
then Chairman of the Comintern in 1919
then made party secretary in Leningrad
part of ‘United Opposition’ with Kamenev
least appealing of Communist party
Lev Kamenev
full-time revolutionary from 1905
Commissioner for Foreign Trade
known more for caution rather than compassion and had little ambition
Zinoviev and Kamenev fitted between the left and right wing of the party
caused members to lose trust in them and left them isolated
The wings
Left wing
focussed on Lenin’s policies during the Civil War of 1918-1921
radical wing of party
wanted permanent revolution
ideological rejection of NEP
ideologically committed to immediate industrialisation
Right wing
inspired by the New Economic Policy (NEP)
time of peace rather than war
focused on education and gradual change
socialism in one country (SIOC)
The Centre
pragmatic commitment to NEP
similar to right wing (SIOC, gradual industrialisation)
The ‘powerbases’ of contenders
powerbase: source of power and influence based on position within an institution
power of candidates came from official position within party and government
important - allowed candidates to build and sustain support
or use gov resources to assist them
all contenders had set on Poltiburo by the time of Lenin’s death, although Bukharin had no vote as he was only a ‘candidate member’
the executive committee for Communist parties
first set up in 1917 by Bolshevik party and decided matters of policy and issued instructions to be followed by party
Kamnev became Chairman of Central Committee (CC)
highly influential role
Central Committee elected members of Poltiburo
Stalin was General Secretary
responsible for the party bureaucracy (gov system where important decisions are taken by state officials rather than elected representatives)
responsible for interpreting and implementing Poltiburo decisions
in charge of recruitment, appointment and promotion of 1000s of Party workers across USSR
also Head of Central Control Commission
set up by Lenin in 1921 to end corruption
had power to investigate and discipline members of Party
How was the left opposition defeated?
Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev feared Trotsky
formed alliance against him → a ‘troika’
in 1923, at 12th party Congress, Trotsky refused to make principle speech in Lenin’s place
instead, it was Stalin that dominated Congress
Although Zinoviev was worried about Stalin’s increasingly powerful position, he was more worried about Trotsky
October
Trotsky foolishly published an open letter to Central Committee
‘The Lessons of October’
it attacked the govs economic policy and accused Stalin of Secretariat (permanent administrative office)
later, organised ‘Declaration of the Forty-Six’
leaving him open to accusation of factionalism (splitting group into factions)
Trotsky seemed mysteriously ‘ill’
caused him to miss meeting of CC and even Lenin’s funeral
claimed to be given wrong date
in reality, lacked political will to fight for the leadership position
made no attempt to respond to criticisms made against ‘Lessons of October’
Jan 1925
Trotsky was commended by cc
badly weakened to point of no return
Stalin turned his attention on United Opposition
How was the Right Opposition defeated?
Now that Stalin defeated left he could criticise NEP without helping them
Bukhairn was not in a position to resist Stalin
had no powerbase and could be undermined
1927 - crisis about amount of grain
to prevent, take grain from peasants
thought to be hoarding it
Jan 1928, campaign of forced grain requisitioning was led by Stalin
resulted in the collectivisation of Soviet agriculture
further culminated in defeat of Bukharin
July 1928, Bukhairin secretly visited Kamenv
however, never able to organise a real campaign of resistance across the party
too fearful of accusation of factionalism
Nov 1929 Bukahriin was expelled from Poltiburo - lost position at Comintern
power struggle was over
“Like previous oppositions to Stalin, the right was defeated by the Party machine which Stalin controlled”
How was the United Opposition defeated?
1926, Zinoviev and Kamnev came together to fight back against Stalin
formed ‘United Opposition’
however, this casted them further as outsiders
lacked support in CC and intimidated by Party members recruited by Stalin
October, desperately released copies of Lenin’s Testament to world press
but, it was too late
CC removed Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev from all positions of power
August 1927, secret police banned opposition leaflets
The Opposition (the left?) had to operate outside the Party as factionalists
1929, Trotsky was expelled from the uSSR
Zinoviev and Kamenev were allowed back into the Party, yet their power was destroyed
Why did Stalin win the struggle for power?
The ban on factionalism
10th Party Congress, March 1921, resolution had been passed that banned all groups which tried to put ideas disagreeing with official policy and Party leadership
Secret clause (not revealed till Jan 1924) allowed leadership to expel any party members who showed lack of discipline or tolerance to factionalism
limited amount of debate within Party and during power struggle, those who succeeded in accepted ideas were quick to accuse opponents of factionalism
A centralised Party machine
after 1917 revolution, party found complexities of gov forcing it to become more centralised
Stalin became General Secretary in April 1922
put him in a unique position to influence job appointments and Party Organisation.
No clear leader:
Lenin dominated Communist Party by force of personality and ideas
did not occupy an official position as leader
When Lenin died in 1924, no didn’t say who was leader
all he left was a Testament
last message to the Party, which he criticised leading candidates
particularly Stalin, stating he should lose his job as General Secretary
however, testament damaged everyone
so those competing for power, had no interesting in Publishing - reputation ruined
Effectively, Lenin’s last fears about Stalin were ignored
Stalin’s Propaganda
After Lenin’s death, began to position himself into a place to be the replacement of the Soviet Union
Was secretary General - had lots of authority
shown in Georgian affair and Lenin’s comments
Dec 1923, Stalin and Zinoviev bombarded opposition (Trotsky) w/ propaganda
especially his past
support for Mensheviks before 1904
almost forced him into submission w/ oligarch (very rich business leader with a great deal of political influence) with slanderous material
Stalin’s Political Power
presented himself in diff manner than Trotsky
didn’t show himself as someone with “Lenin’s genius” but as “Lenin’s disciple (follower of Christ)” - knew Leninism and faithfully serve Central Committee
made mutual pact with Zinoviev and Kamenev
prevented Trotsky from gaining power in Poltiburo
Trotsky as a viable replacement for Lenin
especially because of prominent involvement with Red Army
was appointed Head of Department of Foreign affairs
transformed Red army to more orderly and more unified during 1918 Civil War