Why did it take so long for Stalin to emerge as leader of the USSR?

• Marxism as a philosophy was never likely to create a united party under one leader.
  • Marx had been vague over the issues of:
    • Policy:
      • He never provided a strict timescale or method for the realisation of communism
        • So many different interpretations
    • Power:
      • The whole concept of a “single leader” ran counter to communist theory
        • So difficult for anyone to take control.
• In practice, the Bolshevik party was therefore never united.
  • Policy: Lots of different ideas from different figures:
    • (a) General points:
      • Trotsky
        • only joined in August 1917 after being a Menshevik
      • Bukharin
        • had come out in violent opposition to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty (which was only ratified by the Politburo when Lenin threatened his resignation)
      • Stalin
        • had treated national minorities in what Lenin thought was a brutal fashion and had insulted Lenin’s wife
      • Zinoviev and Kamenev
        • had questioned the wisdom of Lenin’s decision to launch a revolution in 1917
    • (b) Economic points:
      • War Communism
        • – supported by Trotsky and the “Platform of 46” - is ideologically sound, but politically disastrous – leading to famine and near economic collapse.
      • NEP
        • – supported by Bukharin – is politically pragmatic, but therefore ideologically more suspect (“the first sign of the degeneration of Bolshevism” – Trotsky).
    • (c) Results
      • Ban on internal party factions by Lenin (1922)
        • prevented these divisions from being openly debated and resolved, making it even less likely that a clear successor could emerge after Lenin’s death.
      • Key Quote
        • “Lenin tried his best to keep the two wings of the party together by refusing to make clear whether the NEP was a short-term tactical retreat or represented a radical rethinking of communism, but this merely postponed rather than avoided internal party conflict” (RJT).
  • Power: Lenin’s idea of a “dedicated revolutionary elite” was frowned on by Democratic Centralists and Workers' Opposition. So his Testament calls for an expansion of the CC to dilute the influence of key individuals, each of whom he suggested was unable to rule alone:
    • Trotsky
      • “He has displayed excessive self-assurance and shown preoccupation with the purely administrative side of the work”
      • Only joined party in 1917
      • Feared by many as being Bonapartist
    • Kamenev and Zinoviev
      • “The October episode with Zinoviev and Kamenev was, of course, no accident…”
    • Bukharin
      • “his theoretical views can be classified as fully Marxist only with great reserve, for there is something scholastic about him (he has never made a study of dialectics and, I think, never fully understood it).”
    • As a result the Politburo choose to ‘bury’ the document altogether and the issue of a succession is left hanging in the air
• So, when Lenin died, both power and policy in the party was evenly split, making it difficult for a leader to emerge.
  • Stalin was General Secretary, and but in itself this was not enough to seize control.
    • Left
      • Policy
        • “Massive industrialisation and collectivisation to accelerate World Revolution”
      • Power Bases
        • Trotsky –Minister of War
        • Zinoviev – Chairman of Petrograd Soviet
        • Kamenev – Chair of Moscow Soviet
    • Right
      • Policy
        • “Moderate industrialisation and agricultural reform to secure Socialism in one Country”
      • Power Bases
        • Bukharin – Editor of Pravda
        • Rykov – Chair of Sovnarkom
        • Tomsky – Trade Union Chief
• Moreover, Stalin deliberately sank into the shadows, playing a clever waiting game rather than rush into a seizure of power.
  • None of them regard Stalin as a worthy successor
    • to Trotsky he was a “Grey Blur…the party’s most eminent mediocrity”
  • Uses posts of General Secretary and Commissar for nationalities to appoint people to key positions
    • e.g. Molotov, Kaganovich, Mikoyan
  • Does not rush his game, but methodically plays each side off against the other:
    • Destroys Trotsky – using Kamenev and Zinoviev
    • Destroys Kamenev and Zinoviev – using Bukharin
    • Destroys Bukharin – using the party apparatus
  • Only when it was too late did Bukharin recognise the threat posed by Stalin
    • ("[Stalin is] an unprincipled intriguer who subordinates everything to his appetite for power. At any given moment he will change his theories in order to get rid of someone").