The Struggle for Power

Lenin’s Death

Lenin’s demise

had major strokes in 1922
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

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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

Trotsky’s Political Power

Trotsky no longer had

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