Contenders for power

Question 1

Character: Stalin

Answer 1

Reasonable (though sometimes rude)
Patient
Jealous
Hard-working
Violent
Reliable

Question 2

What were Stalin’s 4 key strengths?

Answer 2

• Role as General Secretary meant he could appoint supporters to key roles in the Party
• Opponents underestimated him because he was very good at concealing his real thoughts and ambitions
• Placed himself close to Lenin in 1922-23, and claimed to know Lenin’s wishes
• Zinoviev and Kamenev allied with him to isolate Trotsky because he didn’t seem to be a threat to other contenders

Question 3

What were Stalin’s 5 key weaknesses?

Answer 3

• Not very prominent in Oct/Nov revolution or the civil war
• Colleagues saw him as ill-educated, rude and crude
• Lenin had criticised his violent methods
• Seen as boring: ‘a grey blur’ according to Menshevik Nikolai Sukhanov
• Senior Bolsheviks knew Stalin had fallen from Lenin’s favour

Question 4

Character: Trotsky

Answer 4

energetic
organised
ruthless
arrogant

Question 5

What were Trotsky’s 4 key strengths?

Answer 5

• Recognised as a hero of the Oct/Nov revolution for his leadership of the MRC and organisation of the seizure of power
• Recognised as a hero of the civil war for his role in creating and leading the army
• An inspirational speaker and intellectual; the writer of many important books on communist theory
• Known for his formiddable political skills and organisational ability

Question 6

What was Trotsky’s political affiliation?

Answer 6

the left of the Party

Question 7

What were Trotsky’s 4 key weaknesses?

Answer 7

• Arrogant and dismissive of people who weren’t as intellectual as him (badly underestimated Stalin)
• Indecisive and inconsistent (allied with Kamenev and Zinoviev after opposing them)
• Feared by many Bolsheviks who worried he might use his Red Army influence to take power
• Didn’t seriously try to build a base of followers in the Party and attacked Party bureaucracy in 1924 when he needed its help

Question 8

Character: Zinoviev

Answer 8

intelligent
imposing
vain
inconsistent
compromiser

Question 9

What was Zinoviev’s political affiliation?

Answer 9

the left of the Party

Question 10

What were Zinoviev’s 4 key strengths?

Answer 10

• An ‘Old Bolshevik’
• Had a strong power base in Leningrad, where he ran the local Party
• One of the Party’s best speechmakers, with a commanding presence
• Lenin had once called him his ‘closest and most trusted assistant’

Question 11

What were Zinoviev’s 3 key weaknesses?

Answer 11

• Opposed Lenin in 1917, arguing against the timing of the uprising and briefly leaving the Party
• Vain and prone to unpredictable mood swings
• Underestimated Stalin, too late in switching his support from Stalin to Trotsky

Question 12

Character: Kamenev

Answer 12

thoughtful
loyal
inconsistent
compromiser

Question 13

What was Kamenev’s political affiliation?

Answer 13

the left of the Party

Question 14

What were Kamenev’s 4 key strengths?

Answer 14

• ‘Old Bolshevik’
• Had helped form Party policy and was close to Lenin
• Had a strong power base in Moscow, where he ran the local Party
• An effective team player, good at reaching compromises between different people

Question 15

What were Kamenev’s 3 key weaknesses?

Answer 15

• Opposed Lenin in 1917, arguing against the timing of the uprising and briefly leaving the Party
• Viewed as Zinoviev’s sidekick, seen as lacking the ambition to be a sole leader
• Underestimated his opponents, especially Stalin

Question 16

Character: Rykov

Answer 16

Loyal, moderate, wanted to find common ground

Question 17

What were Rykov’s 3 key strengths?

Answer 17

1. Widely respected in the Party as an ‘Old Bolshevik’
2. A good administrator; he had helped implement war communism and the NEP
3. Supported by Sovnarkom; he was chosen as Deputy Chairman in 1923 and Chairman in 1924

Question 18

What were Rykov’s key weaknesses?

Answer 18

1. His policy of heavy taxation on vodka was very unpopular
2. Opposed Lenin over the timing of the revolution
3. Lack a power base; too much of a conciliatory moderate, overshadowed by Bukharin

Question 19

What was Rykov’s political affiliation?

Answer 19

the right of the Party

Question 20

Character: Bukharin

Answer 20

brilliant
very popular
eager to please
naive

Question 21

What was Bukharin’s political affiliation?

Answer 21

the right of the Party

Question 22

What were Bukharin’s 3 key strengths?

Answer 22

• Popular in the Party; close to Lenin and Trotsky; a close associate of Stalin
• Widely regarded as the best theoretician in the Party
• An expert on agriculture and economics (key issues for the Bolshevik government)

Question 23

What were Bukharin’s 3 key weaknesses?

Answer 23

• Had no power base because he was so cooperative and wanted to avoid Party in-fighting
• Popularity in the Party made him a target for Stalin
• Underestimated Stalin, left it too late to make an alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev

Question 24

Character: Tomsky

Answer 24

Plain speaker, moderate political views

Question 25

What was Tomsky’s political affiliation?

Answer 25

the right of the Party

Question 26

What were Tomsky’s 3 key strengths?

Answer 26

1. Widely respected in the Party as an ‘Old Bolshevik’, with working class origins
2. Strong base of support from being General Secretary of the Red International of the Trade Unions
3. Natural ally of moderates such as Rykov and Bukharin

Question 27

What were Tomsky’s 3 key weaknesses?

Answer 27

1. Hated Trotsky so much that he could not see the threat from Stalin
2. His power base in the trade unions made him a target for Stalin’s resentment
3. His support for the NEP was used against him by Stalin when the grain crisis of 1927 hit