starter activity

1
? starter activity
Stalin Lenin never sat together for this photo.
It was remastered in photo lab at a later date.
Why would anyone have gone to such trouble?
2
How siginificant was Lenins contribution to
history?
3
? Your task

• Read p.126-8. Imagine you are going to give a ppt
  presentation on the death of Lenin. List the
  bullet points and paste in suitable images to
  illustrate your talk. Use the following as
  headings for your slides
• The relationship between Lenin Stalin (1921-24)
• Events surrounding Lenins funeral (1924)
• The cult of Lenin (1918-)

4
The relationship between Lenin Stalin (1921-24)

• Lenin withdrew from public life (from late
  1921-March 1923)
• Tensions between Lenin Stalin, e.g. abuse of
  power in Georgia Soviet Republics
• Lenin wrote Letter to the Party Congress aka
  Lenins testament
• Tensions between Lenins wife, Krupskaya Stalin

A major stroke in March 1923 left Lenin without
the power of speech. Why was this especially
damaging for someone like Lenin?
5
? Your task

• Read the extract from Lenins testament (p.127)
  and list the criticisms of Stalin and the
  positive comments about other members of the
  party.
• Why do you think Lenin produced this document?

6
Events surrounding Lenins funeral (1924)

• Widespread mourning shops business closed,
  images of Lenin draped in red black
• 3.5m filed past Lenins coffin
• Stalin stage-managed funeral, e.g. discouraged
  Trotsky from attending, gave a speech at funeral

Why do you think so many ordinary Russians wished
to see Lenins body lying in state?
7
? Your task

• Read sources 8.2, and 8.6 and look at source 8.3.
  List the ways in which Stalin tried to use
  Lenins funeral to his own advantage.
• How cynical were Stalins efforts, or do you
  think he genuinely admired Lenin?

8
The cult of Lenin (1918-)

• Cult of Lenin a new religion to replace Russian
  Orthodoxy
• Lenins relations appealed for simple funeral
• Lenins body embalmed
• Lenins brain sliced into 30,000 fragments
• Lenin memorabilia, e.g. posters, matchboxes,
  Leningrad (aka Petrograd)

Where is Lenin now?
9
? Your task

• Read p.129-133 and create a scales chart
  identifying his strengths and weaknesses of his
  personality and achievements.
• If you can, find out about the attitudes of
  Russian people to Lenin today. Write an obituary
  for Lenin, from the point of view of a
  traditional supporter of the Bolsheviks. Now
  highlight and annotate the aspects of his life
  that modernisers within the party would criticise
  and explain why.

10
? starter activity
If Gordon Brown wishes to become the next PM what
does he need to do to ensure he is successful?
11
Who was the strongest contender for the
leadership of the Party?
12
? 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

13
Stalin - strengths

• Genuine working-class background (mother a
  seamstress washerwoman/ father a cobbler)
• Hardworking won a place at seminary
• Admired Lenins writings (as a youth)
• Party activist
• Fundraiser (raiding banks)
• Reputation for toughness (man of steel)

14
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.

15
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)

16
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

17
Trotsky - weaknesses

• Personal weaknesses - arrogant aloof
• Lacked political skills didnt 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 (Lenins funeral)

18
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

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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

20
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

21
Kamenev - weaknesses

• Opposed Lenins April Theses
• Opposed armed uprising of October 1917
• Wanted socialist coalition govt.
• E. H. Carr, lacked vision

22
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

23
Bukharin - weaknesses

• Led opposition to Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• Criticised Lenin Trotsky over trade union
  debate
• Lacked political skills

24
Rykov - strengths

• Working class background
• Chairman of Vesenkha
• Chairman of Sovnakom
• Strong speaker
• Supporter of NEP opponent of War Communism

25
Rykov - weaknesses

• Personal weaknesses alcoholic
• Too outspoken
• Lacked political acumen

26
Tomsky - strengths

• Important figure in trade union movement active
  member of metalworkers union
• Chairman of Central Council of Trade Unions
• Working-class background

27
Tomsky - weaknesses

• Lacked senior position within party
• Opposed Lenin over trade union debate (1920)

28
? 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.

29
Read the soundbites by the leadership contenders
and decide who is speaking.
? starter activity
Soundbites
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What were the main issues in the leadership
struggle?
31
? 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

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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?
33
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
• Reemergence of food shortages
• Peasants beginning to hoard produce again

34
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?
35
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

36
Permanent Revolution versus Socialism in One
Country

• 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 USSRs
  needs
• Stalin
• Nationalist appeal

37
? 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.

38
? Your task

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

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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
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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

41
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)
• Stalins position attracted powerful supporters,
  e.g. Zinoviev Kamenev

42
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 Stalins nationalist policies

43
How did Stalin actually become leader?
44
? Your task
? starter activity

• 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
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Two wings of Communist Party
Zinoviev
Bukharin
Kamenev
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Two wings of Communist Party

• Left Wing
• Individuals like Zinoviev, Kamenev
• Liked Trotsky but didnt 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

47
? 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
48
Stalins six steps to power!

• 1. Before Lenins funeral Stalin tricks Trotsky
  into not coming. People think Trotsky cant be
  bothered to turn up. Stalin, meanwhile, makes a
  stirring speech praising Lenin and saying he was
  Lenins disciple.

Why was it so important to be seen at Lenins
funeral?
49

• 2. May 1924, just before 13th Party Congress,
  Central Committee decided not to publish Lenins
  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?
50

• 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?
51

• 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
didnt his rivals do the same?
52

• 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
didnt his rivals do the same?
53
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

54

• By 1929, his 50th birthday, Stalin was
  undisputed leader of the USSR.

What do you think Stalins next steps would be in
further securing his position?
55
What happened to Trotsky?
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(No Transcript)
57
? Discussion

• Do you think Trotsky was partly to blame for his
  own death?

58
? Your task

• Read the sources 9.3-9.10 and identify reasons
  they provide as to why Stalin eventually became
  leader. Use the table below to guide you.

59
? Your task

• List the reasons why Stalin succeeded to the
  leadership of the party and the reasons why
  Trotsky failed.
• What evidence would you use to support these
  judgements?
• Write an essay entitled, Why did Stalin rather
  than Trotsky emerge as the leader of the USSR in
  1929.