Stalin's rise to power, his policies and how he consolidated his grip on power.
CONDITIONS AND RISE TO POWER
Rise to power
- When Lenin died in January 1924, the question on who would be his successor was still unanswered.
- Initially, Stalin’s chances seemed remote especially in view of Lenin’s Testament and its codicil, which were read out at a meeting of the Party Central Committee.
- However, the other party members agreed that Stalin had improved his reputation during the course of 1923 and therefore voted to put aside the recommendations of the codicil.
- Meanwhile, Kamenev and Zinoviev came to the conclusion that Trotsky was the main threat to the Party’s stability thus paving the way for Stalin’s succession effectively.
- They collaborated with Stalin, with a power sharing Triumvirate emerging, with Stalin remaining in his post of General Secretary.
- Indeed, Stalin’s total control of the party in 1929 can be attributed to three main phases:
- Between 1923 and 1925, a major split between the Triumvirate and Trotsky emerged, expressed in ideological debate between ‘Permanent revolution’ and ‘Socialism in one country’.
- Stalin was far less deeply committed to the economic principles of the ‘right-wing’ strategy than Trotsky was to the ‘left’, his motive being the political isolation of Trotsky.
- In this he succeeded as in 1925 at the 14th Party Congress he received overwhelming support, though not from Kamenev and Zinoviev.
- Trotsky’s political days were over and thus Stalin’s biggest threat to his political power was defeated.
- The second stage was the disposal of Kamenev and Zinoviev, occurring in 1925 and 1927.
- Stalin was not one to share power for long and he aligned himself with the most obvious ‘rightist’ elements within the party, including Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky.
- The party conference of 1927 gave its approval to ‘socialism in one country’ and denounced ‘permanent revolution’.
- Trotsky was expelled from the Politburo, along with Kamenev and Zinoviev. He was exiled from Russia in 1929 while both Kamenev and Zinoviev perished in the purges of 1930.
- The third stage was predictable and involved the elimination of Bukharin and the rest of the right, accomplished by 1929.
- Stalin began to implement his own, hardened economic ideas with the total transformation of industry at the expense of the peasantry-the programme of Trotsky, in effect, minus the spreading of revolution to the rest of Europe.
- This was strongly opposed by Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky and they became more outspoken as Stalin gradually introduced measures against the wealthy peasantry, or “kulaks”.
- Stalin accused them of plotting against the party’s agreed strategy and forced them to resign from the Politburo.
So why was he successful?
- Stalin seemed to be the least impressive of all the candidates, having been totally eclipsed by Trotsky in the October revolution and having never gained the friendship or confidence of Lenin.
- However he was seriously underestimated as he had skills that whilst being less obvious, were very deadly.
- He was able to put across a primitive appeal- to Russian self-reliance, even isolationism. This provided a solution to one of Stalin’s major problems- his intellectual inferiority to most of his contemporaries.
- However, with the collapse of communism in Europe, Stalin’s Slavic background could be seen as strength rather than a deficiency.
- He seemed to have the best qualification to move Russia away from any ideological or economic dependence on the West.
- Among Stalin’s political advantages was his ability to manoeuvre between factions. He avoided permanent commitments and loyalties to any grouping, as is shown by his treatment of Kamenev and Zinoviev, and then of Bukharin.
- At the same time, he always posed as a moderate, often a centrist, which increased his chance of being misjudged or underestimated by his opponents.
- Indeed, opponents were unlikely to be aware that they were in any real danger until Stalin had emerged from his ‘moderate’ cover to launch a deadly offensive.
