Stalin's rise to power

Question 1

In what year did Lenin die?

Answer 1

1924

Question 2

Who had emerged to dominate the Party in 1922-3?

Answer 2

The Triumvirate of Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin

Question 3

Whose ambitions did the Triumvirate try to block?

Answer 3

Trotsky’s

Question 4

What was Stalin responsible for within the Party in his role as General Secretary?

Answer 4

Bureaucracy - membership cards and lists and appointing people to jobs within the party

Question 5

What did Lenin write about other leading Party members in his Testament?

Answer 5

He was highly critical of them all, especially Stalin

Question 6

What did Lenin’s Testament seem to suggest Lenin wanted to happen about the leadership of the Party after his death?

Answer 6

It seemed to suggest he wanted a collective leadership

Question 7

Why did the Central Committee agree not to read Lenin’s Testament at the 13th Party Congress in 1924?

Answer 7

Because it was so critical of everyone on the committee

Question 8

What two policies did the Left of the Party support after Lenin’s death?

Answer 8

Permanent Revolution and ending the NEP

Question 9

Who was the leading figure on the Left of the Party after Lenin’s death?

Answer 9

Trotsky

Question 10

Why were other Party members worried that Trotsky might try to take control of the Party for himself?

Answer 10

Because he was in charge of the Red Army and so they feared he might use it to seize control of the Party by force

Question 11

What two policies did the Right of the Party support after Lenin’s death?

Answer 11

Continuing the NEP and ‘Socialism in One Country’

Question 12

Who was the leading figure on the Right of the Party after Lenin’s death?

Answer 12

Bukharin

Question 13

Which wing of the Party did Kamenev and Zinvoiev agree with the most?

Answer 13

Left

Question 14

What policy did Stalin support with Kamenev and Zinoviev immediately after Lenin’s death?

Answer 14

Opposing the continuation of the NEP

Question 15

In 1925, to what policy did Stalin switch his support?

Answer 15

Supporting the continuation of the NEP

Question 16

In 1928, to what policy did Stalin switch his support?

Answer 16

Opposing the continuation of the NEP

Question 17

When was Trotsky’s best chance to move against Stalin, which he failed to take?

Answer 17

13th Party Congress 1924

Question 18

What did Stalin build up through the 1920s to extend his power over the Party?

Answer 18

A group of loyal supporters on the Central Committee and Politburo

Question 19

Name Stalin’s four key loyal supporters on the Central Committee and the Politburo.

Answer 19

Molotov, Kaganovich, Voroshilov and Kirov

Question 20

When was Trotsky forced out of his position as People’s Commissar for War?

Answer 20

In a Central Committee meeting of January 1925

Question 21

When did Kamenev and Zinoviev try to move against Stalin, but failed due to a lack of support?

Answer 21

14th Party Congress of 1925

Question 22

Who were the three members of the United Opposition?

Answer 22

Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev

Question 23

Who did Stalin ally himself with in order to form the Duumvirate?

Answer 23

Bukharin

Question 24

Why did Stalin win the ‘Literary Discussion’?

Answer 24

His policy of ‘Socialism in One Country’ proved popular with Party members

Question 25

How did the Duumvirate remove the United Opposition in October 1927?

Answer 25

They won a vote on the Central Committee to remove Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky from the Central Committee

Question 26

Who was expelled from the Party in November 1927?

Answer 26

Trotsky and Zinoviev

Question 27

How much did grain procurement fall in 1927-8?

Answer 27

25%

Question 28

What did Stalin implement in order to solve the crisis in grain procurement in 1927-8?

Answer 28

The ‘Urals-Siberia’ Method - a return to grain requisitioning in these areas

Question 29

When was the First Five Year Plan announced?

Answer 29

15th Party Congress in December 1927

Question 30

What did Bukharin protest against in April 1928?

Answer 30

The ‘excesses’ of officials implementing Stalin’s policies

Question 31

What happened to Bukharin in April 1929?

Answer 31

He lost several of his posts in the Party, including his editorship of Pravda

Question 32

What happened to Bukharin in November 1929?

Answer 32

He was expelled from the Politburo