The struggle for Power

Overview – Bolsheviks in power1917- 1924

• 1917-1918 – establishment– First day: Lenin ends the war with Germany. This

later becomes the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.– Gives land to the peasants which wins a considerable

support base for the Bolsheviks– Established the Cheka: December 1917. Political

police force to find and repress the political enemies of the Bolshevik Party.

– Censored the press to control what was said about Russia and the party.

Civil war 1918-1921• Bolsheviks are now the Communist Party.• At war with opponents by the summer of 1918:

– Whites: re-establish the monarchy. – Greens: Peasant force fighting a guerrilla war for a democratic

version of socialism (influenced by the Socialist Revolutionaries)– National minorities: seeking independence– Foreign help: Britain, France & the US want Russia to keep

fighting so try to help the Whites.• Trotsky was in charge of the Red Army and was

particularly good in this role – personally taking control when necessary.

War Communism

• Necessary to survive the Civil War• Aimed towards increasing industrial production

AND establishing a communist system.• Work and military service is made compulsory so

to ensure the arm and industry continues to operate.

• Requisitioned food from the peasants.• Brought about famine, started another war and

ruled by terror.

New Economic Policy

• 1921 – Civil War has been won. • Sailors of Kronstadt (Bolshevik’s traditional allies)

threatened revolt unless War Communism was ended.• Lenin:– Ordered the Red Army to attack Kronstadt – slaughter of

10,000 sailors. – Ended War Communism. At the Party’s Tenth Party

Congress introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP)• Limited form of capitalism• Supposed to be temporary

NEP cont.

• Legalised private trade• Ended requisitioning and replaced it with a tax,

which allowed him to take the grain anyway. • Re-introduced money• This was not communism. Lenin faced down his

critics by arguing that it was necessary to help the regime to survive.

• Lenin & the Bolsheviks still retained an iron grip on power.

The Soviet StateSovnarkom (Council of People’s Commissars

All-Russian Congress of Soviets

Local Soviets

The Russian People

1. After the Russian Revolution the power was transferred to the Russian People.

2. In each region or town the people elected representatives to the local Soviets (council)

3. Each Soviet then elected representatives to the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. This was supposed to by the highest authority and the main decision-making body.

4. However, the All-Russian Congress of Soviet met only rarely so delegated authority to Sovnarkom – a council of members of the congress (like the UK Government)

The Communist Party

Politburo

The Central Committee

Party Congress

Local Party

Communist party

members

Local Party

Communist Party

members

Local Party

Communist Party

Members

• The Party was organised in cells.• The Cells elected members to the

Party Congress.• The Party Congress elected the Central

Committee, which was supposed to be the leading party body.

• As the Central Committee had around c. 70 members, it was difficult to meet and make decisions so the Central Committee elected the Politburo.

• The Politburo met around twice a week and decided policy on behalf of the regime.

• The Secretariat looked after the business of the Party.

The Communist Party

• The Communist Party soon began to take over most of the functions of the State

• The Politburo soon took over the functions and power of Sovnarkom.

• No other parties were permitted• Lenin was the most powerful figure in the state.

He controlled the different factions who, without his influence would be constantly fighting each other.

The death of Lenin

• Lenin died in 1924• His influence had kept the Party and some very strong

personalities together• Lenin didn’t choose a successor but, knowing that he

would die soon, he formulated his ‘Letter to congress’ or ‘Lenin’s Testament’ as it is better known.– This pointed out the dangers of a split in the Party.– He also considered the strengths and weaknesses of the

leading Members of the party.– He discussed Trotsky, Stalin and Bukharin.

Main contenders for power

• Trotsky• Stalin• Bukharin• Zinoviev• Kamenev

(see profiles on these individuals)

The powerbases of the contenders

• The power of these men to get others to do their bidding came from official positions in the Party and the government.

• These allowed candidates to build and mobilise support and use government resources to achieve their own ends.

Party positions – Chairman of the Central Committee

• The Politburo decided matters of policy and issues instructions to be followed by the rest of the Party.

• After 1918 the Politburo (which had less than 10 members0 was the government of Russia.

• All of the contenders had a seat on the Politburo, but Bukharin didn’t have a vote.

• Kamenev became Chairman of the Central Committee after Lenin’s death.

• Very influential as the Central Committee elected members to the Politburo.

Party positions – General Secretary • The Secretariat put the decision of the Politburo into

practice., • Lenin had created the post of General secretary a the 11th

Party Congress in 1922. This was the head of the Secretariat.• Stalin, with his organisational capabilities was the obvious

choice. • From here, he had control over the different branches of the

bureaucracy. • He could also interpret and implement the decisions of the

Politburo – which was actually very dependant on the Secretariat

• He could also appoint his supporters to positions in the Party as he was in charge of the recruitment, appointment and promotion of Party members.

Party positions – Head of the Central Control Commission

• Stalin was also head of the Central Control Commission.

• This was set up by Lenin in 1921 to get rid of corruption in the Party.

• In this role, he had the power to investigate and discipline Party members. He could also expel member who were suspected of disagreeing with him ideologically.

• This made members ensure that they obeyed Stalin.

Party positions – The Comintern

• This had been set up by Lenin to encourage and coordinate Marxist revolution in other countries. This made the Head of the Comintern a very important appointment.

• Zinoviev had held this position since 1919.• This boosted his status and authority within

the Party

Party positions – the Party groups

• The Communist Party was organised into local Party groups.

• Zinoviev was head of the Petrograd Soviet• Kamenev was in charge of the Moscow Soviet• This could have allowed them to build support

in important cities, but Kamenev was a poor organiser and failed to earn the respect of the Moscow Soviet

Party Position – Party theorist• Bukharin held this unofficial role.• His book The ABC of Communism was the Party’s ideological

handbook.• From1917, he was editor of the Communists’ most

important newspapers – Pravda and Communist. He also had responsibility for all city newspapers.

• This gave him influence over Party opinion and allowed him to deny opponents access to the press.

• He was also responsible for Communist educational academies, which were design to educate future Party workers ideological.

Government positions – Sovnarkom

• This was the ministerial committee at the head of the Soviet government.

• Both Stalin and Trotsky were in the Sovnarkom.• Trotsky was Head of the Red Army – this was a heroic role

and won him the admiration of young Party members, but made senior members jealous.

• Stalin is Sovnarkom was Commissar for Nationalities. He was in charge of overseeing the affairs of all non-Russians within the USSR (c. 50% of the population) and was responsible for communicating with senior officials throughout the USSR. This gave him a lot of influence

Government positions – Sovnarkom cont.

• Lenin was Chair of Sovnarkom, with Kamenev as his deputy at first.

• Lenin did offer deputy to Trotsky in 1922, but he refused it.

• While Lenin was ill, Kamenev was acting Chair of Sovnarkom, essentially Head of the Government.

• Neither Zinoviev nor Bukharin were on Sovnarkom under Lenin

Government positions – Sovnarkom cont.

• 1919 Sovnarkom was extended to include the position of Commissar of the Worker’s and Peasant's Inspectorate.

• The Workers’ and Peasant's Inspectorate (also know as ‘Rabkrin’ was in charge of finding corruption amongst government workers.

• Stalin was again given the power to investigate and expel people working for the government (remember, he could already do this in the Party as Head of the Central Control Commission)

• This ensured even more power was concentrated in his hands – both in the power structure of the Party and in the power structure of the Government.

Conclusion• There was no obvious successor at the time of Lenin’s death.• The government passed to the ‘Triumvirate’ – an alliance of

Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev. • While Kamenev took Lenin’s position as Chair of the Politburo,

but Zinoviev was seen as the unofficial head of the Triumvirate.• The Triumvirate only really existed to oppose Trotsky, who was

the obvious choice as Lenin’s successor.• The real power of the Triumvirate lay with Stalin and his Political

and Governmental positions. He operated behind the scenes so that few in the Party recognised how much power he really had.

• In the late 1920s Trotsky predicted that Bukharin would soon be that main challenge to Stalin