Y10: 3-3. Power Struggle – continued

Today you are going to:

• See why Stalin (and not Trotsky) emerged as Soviet leader
• complete 4-mark exam questions about the power struggle that occurred after Lenin’s death

1.

By 1929, Stalin emerged as the sole leader of the USSR!

How did he manage to do so?

Remember the relevant dates!

2.

Stalin played off L vs R in the politburo to eliminate his rivals!

How?

By first siding with the Left, and then siding with the Right!

Once Stalin eliminated rivals for power on the Left, he worked to replace these Politburo members with Party members who owed their loyalty to him, Stalin.

Stalin then worked to eliminate the Right, and replace all these Politburo members with Party members who owed their loyalty to him too.

This is how Stalin was able to play off the Leftists and the Rightists in the Politburo… Stalin was able to systematically replace the old Politburo members with people who were loyal to himself.

3.

One can summarize Stalin’s rise to power in the following way:

4.

The video below gives a short overview as to why Stalin, and not Trotsky, succeeded Lenin.

Why Stalin, and not Trotsky? (1:11 minutes long)

5.

The table on “How Stalin achieved power” and also the information about “Why did Stalin and not Trotsky emerge as leader?” , p.25.

6.

You should be able to answer any of the questions below. Do you have difficulties with any of them?

For now, answer questions 1, 3 and 4.

7.

Stalin vs. Trotsky In Under 128 Seconds. (2:08 minutes long)

Why didn’t Trotsky take over the USSR after Lenin? (3:27 minutes long)

Power Struggle Between Stalin and Trotsky. (4:10 minutes long)

8.

Lenin’s Testament – Article:

“Lenin’s Testament is the name given to a document dictated by Vladimir Lenin in the final weeks of 1922 and the first week of 1923. In the testament, Lenin proposed changes to the structure of the Soviet governing bodies. Sensing his impending death, he also gave criticism of Bolshevik leaders Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky, Bukharin, Pyatakov and Stalin. He warned of the possibility of a split developing in the party leadership between Trotsky and Stalin if proper measures were not taken to prevent it. In a post-script he also suggested Joseph Stalin be removed from his position as General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party’s Central Committee.

Scholars have actively discussed the circumstances surrounding the creation of the testament and how these circumstances may have impacted the document. These include Lenin’s conflict with Stalin and his declining physical health, deteriorating mental state, and emotional frustration with his condition.

Lenin wanted the testament to be read out at the 12th Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to be held in April 1923. However, after Lenin’s third stroke in March 1923 that left him paralyzed and unable to speak, the testament was kept secret by his wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, in the hope of Lenin’s eventual recovery. She possessed four copies while Maria Ulyanova, Lenin’s sister, had one. It was only after Lenin’s death, on January 21, 1924, that she turned the document over to the Communist Party Central Committee Secretariat and asked for it to be made available to the delegates of the 13th Party Congress in May 1924. Krupskaya wanted the document circulated as widely as possible, in hopes of humiliating Stalin.”

It was only in 1956 that “the document was finally published officially by the Soviet government. The original letter is in a museum dedicated to Lenin.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin%27s_Testament

AND:

Read p.26-27

AND:

(This is just for interests’ sake, as Malinovsky was mentioned in one of the extension videos. )

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