Topic 3: The Rise and Rule of Single-Party States (USSR and Lenin/Stalin)

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Egbert Griffith
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1 Topic 3: The Rise and Rule of Single-Party States (USSR and Lenin/Stalin) Major Theme: Origins and Nature of Authoritarian and Single-Party States Conditions That Produced Single-Party States Emergence of Leaders: Aims, Ideology, Support Stalin fought other party members for control, and his coarseness and immorality nearly did him in. He fought with Trotsky for control. Trotsky was supported by Lenin and was really popular, but Stalin was more practical and ruthlessly determined. Lenin and Trotsky planned to team up and attack the bureaucracy that was building. Georgian issue- Georgia wanted to be part of the USSR, but there was division over how. Stalin supported absorbing Georgia and taking control of it, while Lenin and the Georgians wanted a more independent status. Dzerzhinsky, Stalin, and Ordzhonikidze went behind the sick Lenin s back and threatened the Georgians. This split Stalin and Lenin. Stalin abuses Krupskaya- Lenin s wife, Krupskaya, told Lenin about the goings on in the Central Committee, which angered Stalin, who was trying to avoid Lenin s radar. Under the pretext of violating doctors orders (Lenin was to rest and not stress over politics) Stalin called the Lenin s house and called Krupskaya a syphilitic whore, among other choice titles. When Lenin found out (albeit much later) he was pretty pissed and wrote a note to Stalin telling him to apologize or get the silent treatment (AKA break off relations with us ). Split Stalin and Lenin even more. 12 th Party Congress Team Lenin-Trotsky advantages 1. Lenin support (if L recovered- easily would have won, partially incapacitated/ sick-maybe, dead,-no way) 2. Power base in the army and younger party members

2 Disadvantages 1. Trotsky didn t know how to maneuver politically, little party intrigue political experience. 2. Didn t really want to fight- he worried it would destroy the party. Team Troika/ Triumvirate Zinoviev, Stalin, & Kamanev Zinoviev thought he was the party leader (threatened only by Trotsky). Supported by Stalin and Kamanev, (Z and K might have had a majority on their own, but analysis is shaky) Stalin seemed less powerful and less radical than either Zino or Kam. Had the general support of the Politburo. Even if they unified against Trotsky they did not agree on everything. --- Zinoviev and Bukharin organized a meeting to talk about Stalin s growing power - Tried to have a committee in charge of the Secretariat (instead of just Stalin)-failed because Stalin spun as an attempt to undermine the Politburo. What the 12 Party Congress did Increased seat in the CC- 27-> 40. This let Stalin bring in his supporters without the backlash of removing others. More members also made it easier to shout down or harass political opponents. It was also an idea proposed by Lenin (in the hope of diluting/ controlling the party leaders feuds), so it passed easily. Nationality Issues- Stalin took a moderate view but denounced local chauvinism as well as Russian chauvinism. Round 2 (after the summer) Troika tried to weaken Trotsky by bringing his opponents into the Revolutionary Military Soviet- led to Trotsky and Zinoviev offering to resign and going to fight in Germany- the CC forbade them to.

3 Trotsky started calling out the bureaucracy- Platform of the 46 - document written by Trotsky allies as well as a wide array of other Bolsheviks. The Document was banned and censured by the Triumvirate, but the triumvirate had to change strategies in the face of such broad base opposition. They allowed discussion in Moscow. The army, Kosomol (Leninist student group), university and most others sided with Trotsky. So the Kosomol CC was dissolved and the chief political commissar was removed fro the army (Antonov- Ovseyenko, a Trotskist). The Triumvirate took over the antibureaucratic platform by spinning their overhauls as an attack on bureaucracy. Obviously, they only took over the program in words- not practice. While they accepted some of Trotsky s ammendments, they never implemented them. Round 3-13 th Communist Party congress Trotsky attacked Kamenev and Zinoviev as abandoning an attempt at German revolution, K and Z attacked Trotsky for disobeying Lenin in the past. Lenin kicked the bucket- his Testament was read. It condemned Stalin, and could have spelled his demotion, but Zinoviev and Kamanev saved him. The CC decided to keep the document more secret, not reading it publicly, and reading it to small provincial representative groups with the disclaimers of Lenin being sick and Stalin having proved satisfactory. Stalin submitted a resignation as General Secretary, but it was rejected. Stalin gained more and more support- Molotov- one of the more educated Stalinists (he had gone to high school and 1 year of college) Gave an air of solidarity and pre-revolutionary credentials. Kaganovich- poor son of a shoe tanner, never involved in party politics before Stalin, just as a low-leve organizer. Others as well, all ignoring the more theoretical arguments of Bukharin

4 (right) and Trotsky (left) for simpler Stalinist doctrine. Stalin did not have the popularity of Trotsky or Zinoviev, but he did have the organization they didn t- he controlled most important bureaus. Alliance shift list 1. Triumvirate v Trotsky -Trotsky had no support other than dying Lenin 2. Stalin+Bukharin+Rykov Right v Zinoviev+Kamanev Left - Left did not see Stalin coming an realized it too late. 3. Stalin+Bukharin+Rykov Right v Zinoviev+ Kamanev+ Trotskyites -Weakened byprevious Stalin attacks, did not have enough people. Permanently destroyed Trotsky and Kamanev 4. Stalin v Bukharin+ Rykov right -When Stalin had a Politburo majority they say he was creating a police State. Did not see Stalin s treachery until it was too late. Stalin was better at politics- the others could not organize or plan as effectively and were trapped in intellectual lala land Totalitarianism: the Aim and the Extent to Which it was Achieved Historiography Robert conquest thinks that Stalin came to power by sheer luck- Lenin died before he could eliminate Stalin. Major Theme: Establishment of Authoritarian and Single-Party States Methods: Force Stalin gained power from behind the scenes, slowly ousting Trotsky and eventually exiling him. (textbook) Stalin succeeded because the people he betrayed did not realize his true nature until it was too late.

5 Methods: Legal Form of Government, (Left & Right Wing) Ideology Personality cults- Stalin embalmed Lenin (against the wishes of his widow) and gave membership to a ton of people in a Lenin Levy, which diluted the old party and gave Stalin more members. Renaming cities after political figures (like a million Stalin s) Leningrad, Stalingrad, 6 Stalinos, Zinvievsk, etc. Dogmatism- the Party became less intellectual and more crude- Stalin took advantage of this to gain supporters who did not understand Trotsky s intellectual Marxism. Nature, Extent and Treatment of Opposition Previous Bolshavik strongholds like factories began to strike. Lenin responded with violence, as did Stalin. The proletariat as an urban class did not really exist any more- people moved back to towns. Opposition groups attacked the Party as distanced from the people. Worker s Opposition led by Shlyapnikov criticized the Party, but its mebers could not really be punished outside of expulsion from the party. Debates- really rude and uncivil, Stalinists had numbers but not smarts. They mostly pulled doctrinal maneuvers to justify their actions and argued to crush opponents, not decide the best political theory. Trotsky was discredited as not having been a big part of the October revolution. Stalin was part of a committee that never met, but lied and said it was super-duper important to the revolution and Trotsky had done nothing. Stalin also developed Socialism in one country which abandoned immediate focus on worldwide revolution. This was not in line with Marxist theory and was thus attacked by Trotskyites, but accepted by new, less intellectual party members. Stalin took a moderate line, leaving super radicalism to Zinoviev and

6 kamanev- they tried to remove Trotsky from the Poliburo, Stalin just had T resign as war Commissar. Historiography Stalin had multiple moderate positions that allowed him to gain support as he gained power. When he had enough power, he took over completely and exterminated the opposition instead of being fairly reconciliatory like he had been. Major Theme: Domestic Policies and Impact Structure and Organization of Government and Administration Political Policies Economic Policies Social Policies Religious Policies Role of Education Role of the Arts Role of Media, Propaganda Status of Women Treatment of Religious Groups and Minorities Historiography Extremely controlled- the Russian CC (Central Committee) used threats and force to maintain its power, especially over smaller CC s (like Georgia)

Emergence of Josef Stalin. By Mr. Baker

Emergence of Josef Stalin. By Mr. Baker Emergence of Josef Stalin By Mr. Baker Upbringing Stalin was born the son of a poor shoe repairer and a washer-woman He learned Russian while attending a church school and attended Tiflis Theological Seminary