Stalin

Single Party States

Josef Stalin (1880-1953)historical reference

• Revolution of 1917 brings Bolsheviks to power in Russia• Russian Civil War ended 1921 led Lenin to adopt New Economic Plan-

– partial step toward capitalism– split left and right of party

• 1921 ban on factions (opposition parties in the soviets)– Lenin argued this was only a temporary ban– Stalin will use this ban to accuse his rivals

• 1922-Lenin becomes ill—personal rivalries rise among potential successors-members of Politburo-Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin

• 1922 Stalin appointed general secretary of the Communist party and able to appoint and dismiss Communist party officers

• 1922 Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev form triumvirate to block Trotsky from rising

• 1923 Lenin adds a Postscript to his testament recommending Stalin’s removal

Key Stages in Stalin’s Power Struggle

• Stage 1-Early moves against Trotsky 1923-24– 12th Congress triumvirate isolates Trotsky– Stalin reelected Stalin general secretary

(appointment power) and elected Central Committee –only 3/40 were Trotsky supporters

– Oct 1923 Trotsky formed Left Opposition against triumvirate but Stalin isolated and condemned Trotsky

– When Lenin died, Stalin gave Trotsky the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral which raised suspicion against Trotsky when he was absent

Key Stages in Stalin’s Power

Struggle• Stage 2-Defeat of the Left Opposition, 1924-27– Lenin’s widow revealed Lenin’s testament, but

Kamenev and Zinoviev persuaded Central Committee not to act—thinking they had the upper hand on Stalin

– 1924-Trotsky published Lessons of October which revealed how close he was to Lenin and how Zinoviev and Kamenev opposed Lenin often• Stalin not mentioned• Trotsky inadvertently strengthened Stalin’s position by

omission

Stage 2 continued 1924-27• Divisions within Triumvirate over NEP

– NEP caused split—Stalin removed from office supporters of Kamenev• Zinoviev and Kamenev became left• Bukharin right

– Stalin ensured majority of Central Committee supported him and Bukharin• Stalin accused Zinoviev of Trotskyism• Zinoviev lost control of Leningrad party

• Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev formed United Opposition with the aid of Lenin’s widow (Nadya Krupskaya)– Stalin’s control of party allowed him to ban their meetings– Stalin accused them of breaking the 1921 ban on factions & Zinoviev removed from Politburo– When Trotsky’s supported published Lenin’s testament in New York Times Central Committed

expelled Trotsky from Politburo– June 1927 Stalin tried to have Trotsky & Zinoviev expelled from Central Committee

• He failed—***Stalin is not in complete control yet***• However by Nov 1927 both expelled from Communist Party, Kamenev expelled from Central Committee

– Kamenev & Zinoviev feared split of Communist Party which led them to stop opposition to Stalin—United Opposition over

• Jan 1928-Trotsky deported to Chinese border along with others

Key Stages in Stalin’s Power Struggle• Stage 3-Defeat of the Right,

1927-29– 1927-bread shortages and riots led

Stalin to initiate new left course which led to rift with Bukharin (Wanted to continue NEP)

– Some of Trotsky’s former supporters joined Stalin against Bukharin

– Stalin expelled Trotsky from Russia– Stalin accused Bukharin of

“factionalism” and was removed as editor of Pravda and 1929 removed from Politburo

Why did Stalin emerge as leader of USSR?

• Power Politics– Deliberate and skillful manipulation of differences

among Bolshevik leaders– Weakness and mistakes of contenders• K & Z weak willed• B too committed to NEP• Lenin too late, too sick• Trotsky-intellectual outsider, miscalculated Stalin and

could not build own faction

• Structuralists explanations-Stalin a product of Russian history and the administration system set up after 1917– Just a ruler of the long tsarist tradition– Civil War which led to appointment power rather than

elections—appointment grew, enabling Stalin to gain power “Circular Flow of power” Robert Daniels

– Revolution and Civil War led to displacement and death of militant industrial workers who had been Bolshevik’s main supporters—replaced by peasant workers who were less likely to support Bolshevik policies

– Replace Bolsheviks with former tsarist bureaucrats

Why did Stalin emerge as leader of USSR?

• Ideological Explanations-genuine political differences among contenders esp over NEP– Left really thought NEP would lead to return to capitalism– Right thought USSR overwhelmingly agrarian and backward and

while industry was in crisis the NEP was essential• Right overlooked conflicts between kulaks and nepmen (traders who

grew wealthy from NEP)

– Stalin seen as center—bulk of party wanted stability• Stalin’s continuation of NEP and Socialism in One Country safer than

Trotsky’s continuous revolution• Stalin’s change of course to end NEP was a real response to crisis

• Trotsky argued the state was undermined by Russian backwardness and growing political apathy of working class which allowed conservatives to come to power

Why did Stalin emerge as leader of USSR?

Stalin’s Ideology• Since 1917-Russia based on Marxism/Leninism– Lenin a Marxist• Based on International/Continuous Revolution

– Bolsheviks hoped to hold power long enough to inspire other workers to revolt so could support Soviets—encouraging in Germany 1918-20

– By 1923 no one else had created communist state

• Did he begin too early before there was an established industrial proletariat?

– Stalin was a practical bureaucrat rather than thinker• Stalin contributed as editor of party newspaper Pravda-

learning to use propaganda • 1922 appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party—

boring administrative role

Stalin shifts ideology to Socialism in One Country

• Post Lenin’s death, Stalin used some ideology-esp against Trotsky- to eliminate his rivals– Socialism in one country –Stalin revealed in 1924-no Bolshevik had used this term

before!• Peace and stability despite isolationism• Argued Continuous Revolution would anger surrounding capitalist states• Many members of Communist part post 1924 were peasants with no experience with

Bolshevik ideology• Stalin appointed only those who supported him and removed those traditional Bolsheviks

like Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev (Old Guard Bolsheviks)

– vs continuous revolution- • While Lenin and most Bolsheviks supported this, post Lenin’s death, Trotsky was leader of

this ideology• Stalin accused Trotsky of lack of faith in Russians—accusing Trotsky of disloyalty by

following traditional ideology—show shift away from Trotsky

– Used Propaganda to create an ideological rift between Lenin and Trotsky, hide his own disagreements with Lenin, and keep hidden Lenin’s Postscript to Testament

Nature of Stalinist State

• By 1929 Soviet Russia was a dictatorship– At least of the Party-but maybe not Stalin yet

• Marx used term “Dictatorship of the Proletariat” – as meaning a dominance of the working class based on the ownership of the

factors of production – Not a harsh and repressive regime– At Paris Commune 1871- that after a revolution there should be a withering away

of the state (an ideas shared with anarchists)

• Stalin does not fulfill Marx’s goals-Party controlled Russia-increasing importance of committees like Politburo and General Secretary—Stalin sat on 4 main bodies of party

– Stalin utilized numerous aspects of tsarist Russia• Autocracy• Orthodox ideology replacing religion• National community—Socialism in Once Country—isolation

– Cult of personality—Stalin as a superman

Stalin’s state post 1945

• Stalin national hero after defeating Hitler-aids cult of personality

• Promoted self to Generalissimo (Supreme Commander)– George Zhukov (General who led liberation of Eastern Europe and

Berlin) and other high ranking officers lost their positions– 1945-53 virtually no promotions to higher ranks of army

• Did away with Politburo and Central Committee-did not meet post 1947

• Zhdanovshchina- – Andrei Zhdanov launched campaign to purify ideology– Divided scientists and writers into bourgeois and socialists

• Leningrad Affair--Purged Leningrad Party arresting 1000+

Establishment of Stalin’s Rule• Stalin’s insecurities 1930s

– Purges took place before Stalin – 1930s while removed from office some of Stalin’s previous rivals still had supporters

esp Bukharin– Central Committee had numerous critics of Stalin

• Ryutin Affair-1932—– Ryutin, a rightist, called for:

• end of forced collectivization• rehabilitation of oppositionists including Trotsky• and dismissal of Stalin

– Ryutin, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 17 others tried and expelled from Central Committee– Stalin wanted them executed-but Politburo refused- **Stalin did not have complete

control yet**• 17th Party Congress 1934- opposition to Stalin continued

– Kirov asked to replace Stalin but he refused– Congress abolished General Secretary so Stalin and Kirov, Kaganovich and Zhdanov (3

secretaries) all equal—• Some favored above Stalin? Kirov votes from all 1200 delegates but Stalin only 900• did Stalin allow this to share responsibility for the economic crisis?

• Kirov Affair sparks purges-1934– Kirov doubted the pace of industrialization and

Stalin’s methods of disciplining the Party– Kirov assassinated-Stalin claimed it was an attempt to

overthrow him and the party• Organized by Leningrad Opposition Center-linked to Trotsky

and the United Opposition• NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs) under

Yagoda given broad power to arrest, try and execute• Over next few weeks 1000s of party members arrested

including Kamenev & Zinoviev• 12 important members of NKVD in Leningrad arrested too• 1000s of “bourgeoisie elements” arrested

– By 1935, purges subsiding but 1936 escalate again

Establishment of Stalin’s Rule

Great Purge 1936

• Show Trials- – begins Great purge—

• public trials in which leading communists were accused of plotting against Stalin and USSR• Interrogation methods included: sleep deprivation, continued questioning and beatings

which led to many bizarre confessions• Supervised by Yagoda who was replaced by Ezhov

– Trial of Sixteen 1936-• Trotsky-Zinovievist conspiracy• Zinoviev, Kamenev, + 14 more executed

– Trial of Seventeen Jan 1937-• Plotting with Trotsky to carry out assassinations• Post trial Stalin, Molotov and Ezhov accuse Bukharin of Trotskyism and he is arrested

– Trial of Twenty-One March 1938• Last and biggest of show trials• Buhkarin accused of membership in Trotsky’s Rightist Bloc• Buhkarin never confessed

Great Terror replaced Great Purge• Ezhovshchina- when Ezhov in charge of NKVD height of Great

Terror 1937-38• Spread beyond major cities and Party members to

administrators, specialists, RR workers and engineers– Moscow set quota for each region – Many sent to gulag-forced labor camps

• Spread to Red Army-by end of 1938 executed– 3/5 Red Army marshals– 14/16 top commanders– All 8 Admirals– 35,000 or 50% of officer corps executed or imprisoned

• Spread to ordinary Russian who denounced others to avoid suspicion or settle scores

End of Great Terror 1938• Ezhov replaced by Beria as head of NKVD

– 18th Party Conference • Stalin and Zhdanov announced threat was over and “mass cleansings” no longer

needed• Stalin even admitted some “mistakes” had been made

– 1939 Ezhov accused of being British agent and executed• Stalin continued to arrest, imprison or execute potential rivals just not

as large scale • 1990-KGB archives showed nearly 2 million victims

Explaining the Great Purge & Terror• Totalitarian Theory– Focus on Stalin as

dictator– Maintenance of

power– Attempt to keep coup

d'état– Trotsky • believed way to

provide scapegoats for the economic crisis• Stalin’s isolation

• Revisionist Theory• More recent ideas• Genuine opposition that

was a potential threat to Stalin• Real threat of Trotsky –

Zinoviev threat• yet # victims too big

• Local party bosses took matters beyond Stalin’s intentions-local rivalries

Other Methods Stalin used to establish and maintain power

• Censorship and propaganda– Stalin linked himself to Lenin– Removed opponents from photographs– Cult of Personality- portrayed as father

of the nation• Artists, writers and film directors made to

produce works glorifying Stalin• Children esp targeted through school• Post WWII portrayed as one who saved

Soviet Union

Domestic Economic Policy• Originally Stalin rejected industrialization (while Trotsky supported

it) in favor of the– NEP and Smychka- economic link between the town & countryside workers

and peasants which was key to the NEP • By 1925 Stalin begins to shift away from NEP

– 1927 Party Congress still supporting NEP-though Stalin stressing foreign threats and need for heavy industry

– 1927-28- grain crisis in agriculture persuaded Stalin the NEP should be abolished leading to split with Bukharin

• Post 1928- efforts focused on two interrelated areas– Industry –

• calling for higher production goals than left thought possible• Make up for 50 to 100 years of backwardness in just 10 years

– Agriculture

Industrialization- 5 Year Plans

• First Five Year Plan- 1928-32– Concentration on heavy industries: coal, iron,

steel, oil, & machine production– Production goal: overall increase 300%,

electricity 600%, light industry double– Significant achievements which transformed

Soviet economy• Crisis Year-1932-33– Costs higher than expected, too many resources

to move on existing RRs, housing shortages, high employee turnover

– Agricultural collectivization lead to food shortages

• Second 5 Year Plan- 1933-37– Increases on First plan– 34-36 successful years

• Stakhanovite Movement– Increase in labor productivity– Aleksei Stakhanov- miner dug out huge amount of coal in one shift

(102 tons vs normal 7 tons)• Led to increase in targets as workers urged to follow example• Model workers received bonuses or perks

– Most food rationing over with worst effects of collectivization over• Third 5 Year Plan-1938-42

– Purges affect labor esp engineers, managers and experts– With rising Germany increased defense building– Disrupted by invasion of German

Industrialization- 5 Year Plans

Agriculture• 1924-26-

– NEP led to small increases in agricultural production but state collecting only 50% of expected

– Emergency measures-taxes on kulaks and grain seizures– Led to problems in industry to feed urban populations

• 1928– Bukharin wants to increase grain prices and end forcible measures but Stalin

does not want money going to kulaks– Poor harvests, low prices leads to grain rationing

• 1929 – end of NEP

• state seized grain and closed free markets (forcible Ural-Siberian method)• State officials deported and confiscated the property of any peasant who did not hand

over grain quota (sometimes 30% of yield)

– Stalin did away with Bukharin and launched forced collectivization and called for kulaks to be “liquidated as a class”• Kulak-Stalin’s definition-peasant with two horses and four cows

Collectivization of Agriculture

• Mass Collectivization 1930– Stepped up violence against kulaks– Richer peasants often destroyed their crops and

livestock rather than hand over to local kolkhoz (collective farm)

– 150,000 people forced to migrate to poorer ground to north and east

– By 1930 58% of peasant households had been collectivized but with much resistance

– Politburo called a halt and returned to voluntary collectivization- by Oct 1930 only 20% of households collectivized

Collectivization of Agriculture 1930-37

• Temporary retreat from collectivization- but by 1937, 90% collectivized

• Famine 1932-33– Began in Ukraine with drought– Worst famine in Russian history-hard to assess number

because Purges and Terror going on at same time• Post 1933 – agriculture slowly recovered—by 1935 finally surpassed pre-

collectivization production– Livestock did not reach pre-collectivization levels until 1953

Impact on Workers• To meet high targets, new work practices introduced

– Uninterrupted week- continuous work week- factories organized on shifts so operating continuously—4 days on and one off

– Criminalized late arrival at work or missed days—caused many to change jobs frequently

• Rushed pace of industrialization-drastically reduced living standards– Food and housing shortages

• Ended unemployment, joint family income rose• Peasants working in factories had improved living conditions• Women worked in factories equally with men• Workers benefitted from increased education from 1929 especially in

technical skills• Gulags relieved some labor shortages

– Ex-kulaks– Those purged– 2.5 million deported to gulags 1930-31

Impact of Collectivization

• Resistance by kulaks caused severe grain shortages needed to feed urban workers

• Worst famine in Russian history 1932-33– Historians disagree on number of deaths—

from 3.5-7 million• Orthodox view—collectivization shifted

resources to 5 Year Plans allowing industrialization

• Revisionists view-economic disaster

Women in Stalin’s Russia

• New Family Code 1926– Maintain rights of 1920--legalized abortion, equality in divorce– Extend rights of women in marriage, try to oppose traditional practices

esp in Islamic areas, education open to all, state nurseries• Stalin took back some rights-

– Promote family values and increase population, made divorce more difficult, restricted abortion, tax exemptions for larger families

– By WWII- divorce even more difficult, medals to women with many kids– Women benefitted from new welfare programs-free health services,

accident insurance, expansion of state kindergartens, continued equal education

– Opened employment areas-no longer restricted to ag, texiles and service• encouraged to participate in Soviet economy so that by 1939 79% of doctors were

women• Though higher admin jobs still limited to men

Stalin and Religion• Under Czars Russian orthodox church supreme• Bolsheviks saw religion as enforcing a class based society

– Post Nov Revolution religion not a threat and allowed to continue but lands confiscated, church and state separated

– 1921- religious instruction to those under 18 prohibited– 1927 Orthodox church granted official recognition if stay out of politics and be loyal to

soviet regime• Stalin began anti-religious campaign

– 1929 worship restricted to registered congregations– 1930- church leaders banned from conducting religious services-those who resisted

sent to gulags– 1932-uninterruped work week introduced partly to prevent church attendance– 1936 Constitution made pro-religious propaganda illegal– Islamic areas of USSR-banned Sharia courts, frequency of prayers, Muslim women

granted equality, veils prohibited, pilgrimages to Mecca prohibited 1935– Yet Stalin inconsistent-priests regained right to vote 1936, ‘37 Orthodox church

recognized, ‘43 Position of patriarch of church reestablished– ‘47 reopened churches

• However, Russians continued to be religious -1937 census showed 57% as believers

Ethnic Minorities• Under Czar –multinational state• Bolsheviks-

– Campaigned against Great Russian Chauvinism (tsarist law that forced European Russian language on all)—native languages encouraged and some self determination granted

– Allowed all major groups even Jews• Stalin’s central control included greater assimilation

– create Soviet identity (Great Russian Nationalist?) in language, education

– Stalin divided Central Asia into 5 regions to weaken Turkish loyalties

– Moved 3.3 non-Russians

Jews in Stalin’s state

• Persecuted under Czars• 1917

– all anti-Semitic laws abolished- many early Bolsheviks (including Trotsky) were Jewish

– Like all religions, Judaism opposed, Yiddish acceptable lang not Hebrew

• Under Stalin– Jews assimilate into Russian industry– But anti-Jewish prejudices rise again and many purged but

because subversives– Jewish pop in gulags under represented – Post WWII-emigration to Israel prohibited

Education and the Arts• Spread of education—free,

comprehensive, coeducational-tailored to needs of state– Weaken religion– Train industrial workforce– Stalin made school more

rigorous• Arts– Lenin & Trotsky encouraged

avant-garde art provided not counter-revolutionary

– Stalin tightened controls-all of which to support Stalin