rise to power Flashcards
(29 cards)
stalin’s relevance pre-1924
nicolai sukhanov 1922 - dull, grey blank
robert service - stalin was very highly regarded by lenin and played a central role in the bolshevik Party
simon sebag montefiore - stalin was an indispensable bolshevik organiser before 1917
brains behind so many of the violent campaigns that raised money for the party
stalin’s rivals
LEFT - trotsky, kamenev, zinoviev
RIGHT - bukharin, tomsky, rykov
october rev and civil war significance
stalin 1914-1917 exile in siberia
1917 march return petrograd
loyal to lennin when returned april 1917
opposed to october deserters like kamenev and zinoviev
issues with leadership struggle
1) nature of leadership
2) NEP and industrialisation debate
3) permanent revolution vs socialism in one country
nature of leadership
party members favoured collective leadership/rule by committee
civil war = state highly centralised + lenin exec decisions
now move to collective leadership > more socialist
feared dictator would take control of centralised state that developed by 1924
affected decisions made 1924-1926 > fear of trotsky
^ trotsky commander of red army and can crush opps
party members worried about unity of the party after lenin’s death
knew to stick together to turn unwilling population to socialists
need leader to not cause division between diff wings of the party
can’t turn into warring factions
TROTSKY MAIN FEAR AND OPP BASICALLY
NEP and industrialisation debate
industrialisation needed to make proletarian workers and build socialism
NEP unattractive bc growth of rich superclass, property dealing, land speculation, gambling, prostitution > not socialist
NEP issues after 1925
1925-1926 industry @ pre 1913 levels > impetus needed but argument about where to get resources
unemployment high
wages not up to rising price of consumer goods > poor and can’t get jobs
food shortages
peasants held on to produce bc money can’t buy them much
power struggle
not NEP good or bad
but when and how to end NEP
views on NEP
RIGHT WING: bukharin wanted to keep NEP
peasants richer > buy consumer goods > growth of manufacturing industry
conflict w peasants = economic collapse
LEFT WING: trotsky, z&k wanted to end NEP
rapid industrialisation
militarisation of labour
break peasant control on economy
get more grain to pay for industrialisation
war communism
civil war 1918-1920
trotsky in trenches bc econ problems of bolsheviks 1917-1924
Agriculture and industry were brought under central control
Food was seized from the peasants by armed and violent government requisition squads
Farming for profit was forbidden
Traditional village and town markets for the buying and exchange of goods were forbidden to be held
but hunger intensified and peasants angered
resistance from prev bolshevik supporters like kronstadt rising 1921
NEP features
central economic control to be relaxed
the requisitioning of grain to be abandoned and replaced by a tax in kind
the peasants to be allowed to keep their food surpluses and sell them for a profit
public markets to be restored
money to be reintroduced as a means of trading
Lenin was aware that NEP marked a retreat from the principle of state control of the economy. It
restored a mixed economy in which certain features of capitalism existed alongside socialism.
permanent revolution
trotsky believed
communist rev can’t succeed bc working class small and economy underdeveloped
need support of more industrialised european working class
help other countries stage revs
permanent rev until world communist rev
USSR > continuing rev process
society in direction of socialism
compulsory labour units like military lines
and collective farms
socialism in one country
world rev hadn’t happened and won’t in immediate future
build USSR socialist state alone
nationalism and patriotism
solve own problems and create workers’ society superior to capitalist west
world leaders
said permanent rev defeatist
trotsky not believe in russia, people, mission
flexible bc leaders can say best way of achieving socialism @ any time
stalin’s positions in party
1917 people’s commissar for nationalities > in charge of officials in regions and republics of USSR (USSR after 1922) - he wasn’t russian so helpful
1919 liason officer between politburo and orgburo > post placed him in a unique position to monitor both the Party’s policy and the Party’s personnel
1919 head of the worker’s and peasants’ inspectorate > position entitled him to oversee the work of all government departments
1922 general secretary of the communist party > he recorded and conveyed Party policy. This enabled him to build up personal files on all the members of the Party. Nothing of note happened that Stalin did not know about
soviet russia gov system
by 1924 had council of people’s commissars and secretariat
staffed and controlled by bolshevik party
by 1922 soviet russia one party state
membership essential to hold gov posts
defeat of trotsky
failure in propaganda war of 1920s
can’t persuade politburo or central com to vote for proposals
stalin delivering votes so decisive
1925 party congress vote against him > relieved as commissar for war
k&z played a part > used influence over local party orgs to ensure pro stalin anti trotsky congress gathering
kamenev and zinoviev
next rivals after trotsky
motivated by personal dislike of trotsky
bc trotsky always reminding party that they failed to support lenin in october 1917 rev
1925 z&k stated that it would require the victory of proletarian revolution in the capitalist nations in order for the Soviet Union to achieve socialism
called for the NEP to be abandoned, for restrictions to be reimposed on the peasants, and for enforced industrialisation
united opposition
z&k ideals formed basis of it
indistinguishable from trotskyism
opposition bloc
trotskyite-kamenevite-zinovievite opposition bloc 1926
stalin’s counter to opp bloc
rykov tomsky bukharin
outvoted bloc
k&z dismissed as chairmen
replaced by molotov in moscow and kirov in leningrad
trotsky expelled from politburo and central comm
trotsky exiled
1927 10 year anniversary of oct rev
tried to rally support in challenge of stalin authority
fewer members of congress than b4 sided w him > outvoted
congress accepted stalin proposal to expel trotsky from party
internal exile order in 1927
1929 total exile from USSR
Stalin’s victory over Trotsky was not primarily a matter of ability or principle. Stalin won because Trotsky lacked a power base.
trotsky EVAL
Trotsky’s superiority as a speaker and writer, and his greater intellectual gifts, counted for little when set against Stalin’s grip on the Party machine.
difficult to see how, after 1924, Trotsky could have ever mounted a serious challenge to his rival.
own particular failings not stopped him from acting at vital moments, Trotsky never had control of the political system as it operated in Soviet Russia. Politics is the art of the possible. After 1924, all the possibilities belonged to Stalin and he used them.
defeat of the right
feature of industrialisation
last stage in consolidation of power over party and USSR
end of serious attempt to limit power
late 1920s to 1953 increasingly dictatorial
rykov tomsky bukharin
loyal to stalin in outflanking trotsky and left
not as challenging as trotskyite bloc
BUT stood in the way of the industrial and agricultural schemes that he began to implement in 1928
weaknesses of the right
ideas
organisation
support
stalin exploited them
right ideas weakness
economic arguments not unsound
but late 1920s timid and unrealistic
soft line w peasants > not agree w party needs
party needed dedicated resistance to the enemies of revolution both within the USSR and outside
stalin say right guilty of underestimating crisis to party and USSR
closing ranks and keeping traditions of 1917
stalin understanding of party member mentality
majority more hard line policy like in civil war
not gnna risk rev for peasant concessions
who wouldn’t matter in a proletarian future
party of marx and lenin not be well served by rightist policies
