1. When did Lenin die and what did it create?

   • Jan 1924

   • Power Vacuum
     

2. What should leadership look like according to Marxist-Leninist ideology? 

   • collective leadership.

3. Why was collective leadership problematic?

   • Lenin had been very dominant and it was likely the Bolsheviks would look to one leader again.

   • There was also no format for choosing a leader.

   • Lenin’s style had been dictatorial.

     • His ban on factions in 1921 had stifled different views.

4. What were the main elements that shaped Lenin’s ideology?

   • Refusal to share power, events and pressures of the Civil War

5. What were the main points of disagreement in the party?

   • Some believed in ‘party democracy’ (debate within the inner circle) and collective leadership. 

6. Which major issues need to be addressed?

   • Extent of party democracy,

   • NEP

   • permanent revolution

7. When did the power vacuum start and what form did it take?

   • In 1922 after Lenin’s first stroke.

   • The Triumvirate (Troika) of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin was formed to counter the influence of Trotsky

8. Who was involved in the power struggle?

   • Stalin who was General Secretary of the Party, Zinoviev, Kamenev. They wanted to counter Trotsky who was on the Left.

   • Bukharin also acted against the Left and Trotsky. Rykov, Tomsky and Radek were also involved on the right

9. What was the aim of Lenin’s Testament?

   • To warn of future dangers.

   • Started in late December 1922 and postscript added in January 1923.

   • He wanted it read out at the Party Congress after his death.

10. Who was criticised the most in the testament and why?

    • Stalin because of his brutal suppression of dissent in Georgia during the Civil War while he was Commissar of Nationalities (he had pretended that there had been a popular uprising in favour of the Bolsheviks).

    • Stalin had also been rude to Lenin’s wife Nadezha Krupskaya

11. Was the testament read out as Lenin had wished?

    • No, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin convinced their colleagues to suppress it.

Power Struggle 

12. Name 3 aspects of Stalin’s character.

    • Violent,

    • hardworking, liked bureaucratic detail, regarded by many as intellectually inferior, vast knowledge of party machinery,

    • patient when needed

13. Name 3 of Stalin’s strengths.

    • Good at gaining loyalty of subordinates,

    • understood theories of Marxism and Leninism,

    • placed himself close to Lenin 1922-23

14. Name 3 of Stalin’s weaknesses.

    • Rude and crude

    • minor role in 1917 revolution

    • not as popular as Bukharin,

    • colleagues knew Lenin had turned against him (last testament 1923)

Trotsky and The Left

15. Name 3 of Trotsky’s strengths. 

    • Most widely regarded as the most important man in the Party apart from Lenin,

      • Admirers include Viktor Serge, Karl Radek.

      • Zinoviev and Kamenev joined Trotsky from 1924-5 onwards

    • Extraordinary organiser

      • ensured that red army remained reasonably well equipped during the civil war

    • exceptional ideologist - leading marxist theorist

War, theorist, speechmaker

16. Name 3 of Trotsky’s weaknesses. Arrogant, dismissive, bouts of illness and inaction, Many Bolsheviks feared him, had been a Menshevik and only became a Bolshevik before the revolution, no power base within the party, made serious errors of judgement in attacking party bureaucracy in 1924 when he needed support the most

17. Name 3 of Kamenev’s strengths. Important in 1917 revolution, Chairman of Moscow Soviet 1918, one of the first Politburo members in 1919, capable, intelligent, closely associated with Zinoviev, old Bolsheviks, close to Lenin, strong power base in Moscow

18. Name 3 of Kamenev weaknesses. Lacked ambition, flip-flopped, regarded as too soft, underestimated rivals, especially Stalin

19. Name 3 aspects of Zinoviev’s character.

20. Name 3 of Zinoviev’s strengths. Intelligent and educated, great speechmaker, Chairman of the Comintern Conferences, spokesman for Central Committee at annual Party Congresses, powerbase in Petrograd/Leningrad as party boss, Old Bolshevik

21. Name 3 of Zinoviev’s weaknesses. Vain, inconsistent, moody, compromiser, had opposed timing of Oct Revolution

Bukharin and the Right

22. Name 3 aspects of Bukharin’s character.

    • Golden-boy

    • friendly

    • co-operative

23. Name 4 of Bukharin’s strengths.

    • Impressive and highly popular within the party - liked on Left and Right

    • highly intellectual,

    • best theoretician,

    • expert on economics and agriculture

24. Name 3 of Bukharin’s weaknesses.

    • No power base

    • underestimated Stalin

    • tactical mistakes - should have allied with Kamenev and Zinoviev earlier

25. Name 3 of Tomsky’s strengths.

    • Son of factory owner

    • long association with Trade Unions - chief spokesman for Trade Unions,

    • elected to Politburo 1922

26. Name 3 of Tomsky’s weaknesses.

    • Intense hatred to Trotsky

    • helped Stalin by purging left-wing of the Party in 1926

    • supported NEP

27. Name 3 of Rykov’s strengths.

    • Old Bolshevik - widely respected

    • administrative capability (he implemented war communism and switched party to NEP),

    • support in Sovnarkom (Chairman from 1924)

28. Name 3 of Rykov’s weaknesses.

    • Lacked power base, conciliatory,

    • heavy tax on Vodka was very unpopular,

    • had argued against Lenin on some occasions and this was held against him (had never been disloyal)

Leadership Struggle

NEP and Industrialisation

31. What was the issue with NEP?

    • The economy and ideology were inseparable.

    • From 1921, the Party was badly split over whether to accept the NEP

32. What was Lenin’s view on the longevity of the NEP?

    • The NEP was to be implemented ‘seriously and for a long time’. 

33. What was the party’s view?

    • Left wanted to abandon the NEP, Right wanted to continue,

    • Stalin fluctuated (Left leaning up to 1925, the supported NEP until 1928, switching to rapid industrialisation and collectivisation from 1929

‘Permanent revolution’ or ‘Socialism in One Country’

34.  What was the Marxist view on the issue of world revolution?

    • All other capitalist countries would try and strangle the revolution, so Bolsheviks had to try and create chain reactions and start revolutions in other countries

35. What was the problem with permanent revolution?

    • Communist revolutions had failed in Germany and Hungary

    • the defeat in the Russo-Polish war

    • Russia was the only Communist country in the world. 

36. What was the Left’s view on permanent rev?

    • Maximum support should be given to the NEP in order to encourage revolutions across the world.

37. What was Stalin’s view on NEP?

    • From 1927, he took a more pragmatic view and argued in favour of Socialism in One Country 

How and why did Stalin succeed?

38. What does Stalin use to his advantage?

    • His position as Party Secretary

    • his position in planning Lenin’s funeral

    • He creates a cult of Leninism

    • His strong support base

39. Which mistakes does Trotsky make?

    • He does not move against Stalin at the 13th Party Congress in 1924 and he fails to create a power base.

40. Name key supporters of Stalin in 1924 who he places in important positions.

    • Molotov (Assistant General Secretary)

    • Kaganovich (Party Secretary in Ukraine)

    • Voroshilov

    • Kirov

41. What were the reasons for Trotsky’s loss of support in 1924/25?

    • He was regarded with suspicion by other Bolsheviks, Zinoviev and Kamenev supported Stalin, his policy of permanent revolution was unpopular

42. When and why do Zinoviev and Kamenev turn against Stalin?

    • At the 14th Party Congress in 1925 because the fear of Trotsky is gone

43. Why did K + Z fail to oust Stalin?

    • they could be accused of factionalism.

44. How do alliances change in 1926?

    • Z+K join Trotsky to form ‘The Left or United Opposition’

    • Stalin allies with Bukharin

45. What was the ‘Literary Discussion’?

    • Books and Pamphlets produced by K+Z, Bukharin, Trotsky and Stalin on theoretical and political issues.

    • Stalin’s contributions were very popular with the party and showed someone with a solid grasp of revolutionary theory

46. When is the Left finally defeated?

    • In Oct 1927 after 1 year of infighting the Central Committee voted to expel Z+K and Trotsky

The defeat of Bukharin and the Right

47. Why did the alliance between Stalin and Bukharin not survive? 

    • Stalin did not intend to share power. 

    • Ideological rift: 1928 saw a food crisis with not enough grain being procured from peasants. This turned into criticism amongst party members of the peasants and of Bukharin’s ‘weak’ approach, as well as the NEP.  Stalin favoured harsh treatment of the peasants and a rift emerged between him and Bukharin. Stalin ordered harsh measures against peasants in Feb 1928 - Ural Siberian Method

48. How did other Bolsheviks respond to Stalin’s attack on Bukharin?

    • There was no support for Bukharin when he spoke up against the harsh treatment of the peasants. He was left isolated. 

49. What was Bukharin’s fate?

    • In April 1929, he lost editorship of Pravda and in Nov, Politburo membership. 

50. When was Stalin’s dictatorship established?

    • December 1929.

Economic Developments

51. What was the ‘Great Turn’ and when did it take place?

    • Dramatic shift in economic policy, rapid industrialisation and enforced collectivisation. 1927-1929.

    • Formal announcement of end of NEP Dec 1927

52. Name 3 problems associated with the Soviet economy in 1927.

    • Industrial recovery after 1921 was slow, especially after ravages of revolution and Civil War

    • Veshenka and Gosplan have not achieved much.

    • Strikes, managerial incompetence, low mechanisation.

    • Grain needed for workers and to sell abroad and pay for machinery but peasants are not producing enough.

    • Only 5% in collectivised farms by 1928. 

53. What is a sovkhoz?

    • State run collective farm with landless peasants who become state-controlled workers.

54. What is a kolkhoz?

    • Collective farm, families working in farm cooperatives. 

55. Name 3 concrete reasons for the ‘Great Turn’.

    • To increase efficiency.

    • To grow the Soviet economy and to become militarily stronger.

    • To stop relying on foreign imports.

    • Grain Procurement crisis in winter of 1927/28 25% down (grain prices were low, so peasants were not selling their grain).

    • Wish to return to true Communism with state control over the economy.

First 5 Year Plan

56. What were its main aims?

    • Develop heavy industry (coal, iron, steel, machinery).

    • Boost production by 300%.

    • Improve transport system.

    • Electrification to increase 6 fold.

    • Increase agricultural production.

    • Low priority to light industry. 

57. How was the 5 yr plan seen by the public?

    • Wave of propaganda (see Magnitogorsk and Stalinsk).

    • Population is enthusiastic.

    • Party members were happy to see a return to ideological principles

Decision to Collectivise

58. What was the ‘Ural-Siberia’ method?

    • ordered by Stalin in 1928

    • grain procurement in this region of the Soviet Union was down by ⅓ although the harvest had been good.

    • Police and officials were sent out to close free markets and take grain by force. 

59. Who helped in this move towards forced collectivisation?

    • Enthusiastic local officials,

    • Molotov

    • the Central Committee sent out 250,000 workers to the countryside to accelerate collectivisation. 

Government, Propaganda and foreign relations

60. Name 3 features of Stalin’s government.

    • Bureaucratic factionalism (government controlled from the centre and district and party officials appointed from the centre. This results in complete control).

    • Factionalism became a crime against the Party.

    • Loyal Support base in the lower levels of the Party.

    • Closeness to Lenin which is exploited in Propaganda.

    • Divide and Rule tactics to instill constant fear
      

Stalin’s attitude to foreign powers

61. What were his aims?

    • To secure Russia’s borders (especially from the chinese)

    • Socialism in one country

62. Who were the key people in foreign affairs?

    • Chicherin

      • commissar for foreign affairs (1918-28)

    • Litvinov

      • Chicherin’s deputy

      • helped negotiate non-aggression Kellogg-Briand Pact 1928

      • moderate

China

63. What was Stalin’s aim in China?

    • To back the strongest side in order to create a stable ally on Russia’s Eastern front

64. Who were the 2 main political groups in China in the 1920s?

    • The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was formed in 1921

    • Guomindang (GMD) was a nationalist-revolutionary party.

65. How did Stalin view the CCP?

    • With suspicion because they interpreted Marxist ideology differently

    • they supported the peasantry more than the working class.

    • He began supporting the GMD financially

      • accepted the GMD into the comintern.

66. What were the GMD like?

    • killed tens of thousands of strikers 1926-1927

Germany

67. What were Soviet-German relations like after the Treaty of Rapallo 1922?

    • Very positive.

    • Chicherin and Stresemann, the German Foreign Secretary were keen to maintain the positive mood in Europe.

68. What were the key terms of the Treaty of Berlin?

    • No economic boycotts

    • no aggression against the other

    • financial credits for USSR from German banks

Comintern

69. When did Stalin’s view on the Comintern change?

    • 6th Comintern Congress in July 1928.

      • He changed from Socialism in One country to a more aggressive view.

      • He stated that the time for a world revolution was right.

      • Soviet control over the Comintern was tightened.

        • Communist parties in France, Germany and Italy were actively supported and their leaders invited.