Who was the strongest contender for the leadership of the Party?

1. Who was the strongest contender for the leadership of the Party?

2. starter activity One murder is a tragedy, a million is a statistic. What does this quote tell us about Stalin’s personality?

3.  Your task • Look at the list on p.135 and choose 6 that would have been advantageous to becoming a leader of the USSR in 1924. Be prepared to explain your reasons.

4.  Your task • Study the information about Stalin on p.136 and construct a scales chart highlighting the successes and failures in his career or his character.

5.  Plenary • On balance do you think Stalin’s weaknesses were outweighed by his strengths? Write a short judgement paragraph supporting your answer.

6.  Your task • Your teacher will assign you a contender for the party leadership. You will become an expert on the strengths and weaknesses of different contenders for the party leadership. Research your own leader from the list below and then complete a table your teacher gives you. • Stalin • Trotsky • Zinoviev • Kamenev • Bukharin • Rykov • Tomsky

7. Stalin - strengths • Genuine working-class background (mother a seamstress & washerwoman/ father a cobbler) • Hardworking – won a place at seminary • Admired Lenin’s writings (as a youth) • Party activist • Fundraiser (raiding banks) • Reputation for toughness (‘man of steel’)

8. Stalin - strengths • Editor of Pravda • Opportunist – 1919, used roll as Head of Peasants’ Inspectorate to familiarise himself with workings of govt. • Careerist – rapid promotion to Orgburo, Politburo & General Sec.

9. Stalin - weaknesses • October Revolution – played little part • Antagonised leading Communists, e.g. Sverdlov & Trotsky • Reputation for ‘industrious mediocrity’, ‘a grey blur which flickered obscurely but left no trace’ (Sukhanov, 1917, died 1940 in a gulag)

10. Trotsky - strengths • Rivalled Lenin in intellect & charisma • Great orator • Popular with youth & committed Communists • Superb organiser (October Revolution, Civil War) • Commissar for War – strong military support

11. Trotsky - weaknesses • Personal weaknesses - arrogant & aloof • Lacked political skills – didn’t foster support among fellow Communist leaders • Radical & potentially divisive views • Poor public perception – seen as outsider & lacking party loyalty • Ill health (possibly malaria) – absent for key meetings & events (Lenin’s funeral)

12. Zinoviev - strengths • Longstanding Bolshevik – active since 1903 • Close to Lenin – arrived in Petrograd with Lenin, April 1917 • Party Sec. in St Petersburg – able to build powerbase • Chairman of Comintern • Member of Politburo • Good orator

13. Zinoviev - weaknesses • Opposed armed uprising in Oct. 1917 • Disagreed with Lenin about formation of new govt. – exclusion of other socialists • Lacked popular appeal – E.H.Carr, ‘weak, vain & ambitious’ • Not an intellectual

14. Kamenev - strengths • Active member of Bolshevik Party since 1905 • Worked closely with Lenin from 1907-1917 • Major contributor to party doctrine • Party Sec. in Moscow • Commissar for Foreign Trade • Member of Politburo • Moderate • E.H.Carr, ‘Intellectually superior to Stalin & Zinoviev’

15. Kamenev - weaknesses • Opposed Lenin’s April Theses • Opposed armed uprising of October 1917 • Wanted socialist coalition govt. • E. H. Carr, ‘lacked vision’

16. Bukharin - strengths • Appealed to youth • Major figure in party before 1917 • Close to Lenin – called him ‘the golden boy of the Bolshevik Party’, ‘the favourite of the whole Party’ • Contributor to Pravda • Member of Politburo • Intellectual & epicurean

17. Bukharin - weaknesses • Led opposition to Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • Criticised Lenin & Trotsky over trade union debate • Lacked political skills

18. Rykov - strengths • Working class background • Chairman of Vesenkha • Chairman of Sovnakom • Strong speaker • Supporter of NEP & opponent of War Communism

19. Rykov - weaknesses • Personal weaknesses – alcoholic • Too outspoken • Lacked political acumen

20. Tomsky - strengths • Important figure in trade union movement – active member of metalworkers’ union • Chairman of Central Council of Trade Unions • Working-class background

21. Tomsky - weaknesses • Lacked senior position within party • Opposed Lenin over trade union debate (1920)

22.  Your task Ignore what you might know about who succeeded Lenin after his death. In 1924 who was the most likely candidate. Write a judgement paragraph, using detailed factual evidence to support your answer.

23. starter activity Read the soundbites by the leadership contenders and decide who is speaking. Soundbites

24. What were the main issues in the leadership struggle?

25.  Your task • Read p.139-141. Summarise the key issues surrounding the leadership contest. Use the following headings to help structure your notes: • Nature of leadership • NEP and industrialisation • ‘Permanent Revolution’ versus ‘Socialism in One Country’

26. Nature of leadership • Collective leadership or rule by committee • Reversal of centralisation process of Civil War • Fear of dictatorship • Fear of Trotsky (Commander of Red Army, Commissar for War) • Need for a moderate candidate To what extent were Russians justified in thinking there might be a dictatorship?

27. NEP and industrialisation • Consensus on need to industrialise • Concern over negative effects of NEP – rich superclass, property dealing, land speculation, gambling, prostitution • Arguments over next stage of NEP • High unemployment • Wages out of step with price increases • Re-emergence of food shortages • Peasants beginning to hoard produce again

28. What do we mean by left and right-wing politics? How would this apply to the Communist Party? Who would be on the left and who would be on the right?

29. NEP and industrialisation • Disagreement over when & how to end NEP experiment • Trotsky, Zinoviev & Kamenev (left): end NEP, militarisation of labour, forced requistioning of grain • Bukharin, Rykov & Tomsky (right): continue NEP, develop consumer economy to encourage manufacturing industry

30. Permanent Revolution Hard-line Communism – militarisation of labour, collective farming etc Trotsky Needed international support -world Communist revolution required Socialism in one country Moderate Communism – flexible response to USSR’s needs Stalin Nationalist appeal ‘Permanent Revolution’ versus ‘Socialism in One Country’

31.  Your task In the light of your research into the key issues of the leadership contest, which of the candidates do you now think was most likely to succeed? Write a short judgement paragraph explaining your reasons using detailed, factual evidence.

32.  Your task Study chart 9C on p. 142 and list the ways Stalin built up his power base. Which was the most important?

33. Party Secretary • Controlled business of Politburo (policy making body of Communist Party) • Controlled agendas & discussions • Controlled information sent out to party members Stalin with his wife Nadya

34. Positions in Orgburo & Secretariat • Orgburo (Party administration department) • Controlled appointments within Party • Placed supporters in key positions • Made appointments & dispensed favours to regional party secretaries

35. Control of Party Organisation • Controlled selection of party delegates to annual congresses where policy decided and Central Committee chosen • Deliberately chose delegates hostile to opponents, e.g. Trotsky (1924 congress) • Stalin’s position attracted powerful supporters, e.g. Zinoviev & Kamenev

36. Control of Party Membership • Purged party of radical elements, e.g. students & soldiers • Supervised ‘Lenin Enrolment’ (1924/5) doubling membership to 1 million • New membership were non-ideological & poorly educated, drawn to Stalin’s nationalist policies

37. How did Stalin actually become leader?

38. starter activity  Your task Even today politics is defined by those who are ‘on the right’ and those who are ‘on the left’. What do these terms mean for politicians today? What do you think they meant for politicians in Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution? The House of Commons

39. Two wings of Communist Party Zinoviev Bukharin Kamenev

40. Left Wing Individuals like Zinoviev, Kamenev Liked Trotsky but didn’t want a dictatorship Liked traditional Bolshevik ideals Suspicious of NEP & return of capitalism ‘Permanent Revolution’ Right Wing Individuals like Bukharin Liked NEP Liked industrialisation & expansion of Russian economy Socialism on one country Two wings of Communist Party

41.  Your task Create a timeline showing achievements and set backs. Mark on the timeline any points at which his career might have been stopped when Lenin was alive or during the power struggle. Successes Failures

42. Stalin’s six steps to power! 1. Before Lenin’s funeral Stalin tricks Trotsky into not coming. People think Trotsky can’t be bothered to turn up. Stalin, meanwhile, makes a stirring speech praising Lenin and saying he was Lenin’s disciple. Why was it so important to be seen at Lenin’s funeral?

43. 2. May 1924, just before 13th Party Congress, Central Committee decided not to publish Lenin’s testament, as it contained criticisms of them as well as Stalin & may have overly favoured Trotsky What sorts of criticisms do you think Lenin might have made of Stalin?

44. 3. In 1924, 13th Party Congress, Zinoviev & Kamenev join forces with Stalin to defeat Trotsky. Stalin (party secretary) packs Congress with supporters. Trotsky lost the vote due to his support for ‘ban on factions’ and soon his job as Commissar for the War. Why was Commissar for War such a powerful post within the Politburo?

45. 4.1924, Zinoviev & Kamenev attack Trotsky on his support for Lenin. Trotsky publishes ‘Lessons of October’ challenging their loyalty to 1917 Revolution. Stalin sits back & watches opponents destroy each other. Stalin played a very clever political game. Why didn’t his rivals do the same?

46. 5.1926, Stalin turns on Zinoviev & Kamenev, joining forces with Bukharin and the right of the party attracted by nationalist ‘Socialism in One Country’ policy. Stalin supporters pack the Congress and Zinoviev and Kamenev lose vote of no confidence & their jobs in the Politburo. Trotsky, Kamenev & Zinoviev form ‘United Opposition’ movement and in 1927 expelled from party. Stalin played a very clever political game. Why didn’t his rivals do the same?

47. What were the main risks in expelling these men from the Communist Party? 6. 1928, Stalin attacks Bukharin and supporters of the NEP. Proposes rapid industrialisation & militarised labour (views of the left he has smashed!) Bukharin, Rykov & Tomsky out-voted, expelled from Politburo

48. By 1929, his 50th birthday, Stalin was undisputed leader of the USSR. What do you think Stalin’s next steps would be in further securing his position?

49. What happened to Trotsky?