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Opposition from individuals and cliques (The Removal of Bukharin (Tomsky…
Opposition from individuals and cliques
"Inside" opposition during Lenin's rule
During Lenin's stewardship, there were a number of occasions when internal disagreement threatened to derail the revolutionary movement
After the overthrow of the Provisional Government in 1917, a number of prominent Bolsheviks called for a coalition
Lenin bullied his Bolshevik colleagues into rejecting an alliance
Kamenev
Zinoviev
Rykov
The signing of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk was opposed by the left, with Lenin countering any opponents by saying the war would soon be over
The adoption of War Communism was considered as harsh by some party members during the Civil War
Lenin conceded to pressure and introduced his NEP
This furthered Bolshevik divisions
The Left felt it was a betrayal of revolutionary principles
The right favoured his temporary concession towards capitalism
The lead-up to the power struggle
Lenin's failing health before before 1924 started a power struggle. There were three key developments before Lenin's death in January 1924
A clique called the Triumvirate was instigated within the Politburo, consisting of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin. It's purpose was to combat the growing influence of Trotsky (to stop him succeeding Lenin)
In December 1922 Lenin provided his Political Testament; a document which criticised the personal attributes and achievements of many leading Bolsheviks
Stalin recieved heavy criticism for how he ran
Rabkrin
and his role in the 1921
Georgian Affair
By January 1924, Stalin had worked himself into a position of power by holding various political posts. Stalin was:
"
the only leader who was simultaneously a member of the Politburo, Orgburo, Secretariat and Central Committee. In addition, he could look back on almost seven years' experience of military commissions and jobs in the state's embryonic administrative apparatus
The power struggle
After Lenin's death, a certain amount of manoeuvring for power occurred, which highlighted the factions that still existed inside the party
Leading Bolsheviks disagreed over 3 key points:
There was much dispute between left and right Bolsheviks over whether there should be a continuation of the NEP
Many demanded that a more openly democratic form of government should be adopted
The link between ideology and the future of communism caused much consternation. The left (Trotsky), continued to press for a permanent revolution, whilst the Right emphasised the need for socialism in one country
Stalin displayed skill in manipulating debates and individuals to consolidate his position, paving his way to a personal dictatorship
Stalin's split with Zinoviev and Kamenev
The Troika successful discredited Trotsky, who was replaced as commissar for war in January 1925
Kamenev and Zinoviev became concerned with Stalin's plan for dealing with peasants and his foreign policy
They attacked Stalin, but this resulted in the two of them being removed as secretaries of their local parties
The Politburo was simultaneously expanded and reinforced with Stalinists
The United Opposition Group
Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev responded by forming the United Opposition group
Their opposition to the NEP and demands for more 'free speech' were treated with contempt
They were all excluded from the Politburo
In 1927, Trotsky was expelled from the party, then exiled to Kazakhstan, then in January 1929 he was completely exiled from the USSR
The proposals for collectivisation
Stalin's proposals for collectivisation, including renewed grain requesitioning, were opposed by those on the right because it resembled War Communism
Bukharin was particularly vocal in expressing his concerns
As a result of joining forces with Kamenev, was branded a factionalist
The Removal of Bukharin
In 1929, Bukharin was ousted from his positions as president of
Comintern
, editor of
Pravda
and member of the Politburo
Tomsky
and
Rykov
also suffered demotions
With both the left and the right removed from key jobs, Stalin was free to continue with proceedings
Stalin simply gained the agreement of core loyal party members, to remove the 'critics'
This was similar to how the Tsar's dealt with inside opposition
Following the removals, both Collectivisation and a series of
Five Year Plans
were implemented with a great deal of speed
Stalin's dominant position did not end criticism, but 1929 was the year that marks the point where it is difficult to distinguish the difference between real and imaginary challenges to his authority
The purges
Throughout the 1930's there was a change of policy
Instead of the critics being removed from the posts/demoted, the critics were instead removed from the party altogether
"thorough cleansing, and was used quite naturally to describe the periodic weeding out from party membership of those characters deemed unfit. From this small beginning the word came to describe a monstrous process of arbitrary arrests, fake trials, mass executions, and forced labour camps, which the weak and unlucky could not survive"
The purges were characterised by:
Party members who failed to implement collectivisation effectively, or who disagreed with Stalin's attempt to 'liquidate the
kulaks
as a class', lost their party card
Reduced the membership of the party by a tenth
During the mid-1930's, the party shed a further third of its members who were seen to be resisting the pace of collectivisation and industrialisation
From the mid-1930's, some prominent Politburo members were exiled or executed after being called 'oppositionists'. By 1939,
Kirov, Kossior, Ordhonikze, Kuibyshev, Rudzuki
were all dead
By the beginning of the Second World War, Stalin's paranoia over those he believed to be challenging his authority had receded
Any internal opposition to Stalin was eliminated and not just displaced.
In this sense, internal opposition was more limited in scope and achievement during the Stalinist era than at any other time in the period 1855-1964
The Tsarist opposition from individuals and cliques
The Tsars favoured removing opponents and dissidents from their post
This punishment often led to the individual remaining loyal to the autocracy
Sergei Witte, the finance minister from 1892 to 1903, was unexpectedly demoted to chairman of ministers
This did not dissuade him however from accepting the more important role of prime minister from 1905 to 1906