Development of Stalinist dictatorship

• •At this point, Trotsky was in exile in Moscow and wrote a book called Revolution Betrayed in 1936.•In it, he said that Stalin’s rise to power rested on a vast “administrative pyramid” of 5/6 million Party officials.•He said that this bureaucracy needed to be swept away by a new proletarian revolution and that Stalin was just another dictator keeping the people of Russia under his control.


  Interlude
• •In 1940, Trotsky was placed on trial in a show trial (even though he was in Mexico), declared guilty of treason and condemned to death.•Early in the morning of May 24th 1940, a group of 20 gunmen attacked Trotsky’s home in Mexico (which was a walled compound). They were beaten back by Trotsky’s bodyguards.


  Trotsky and show trial
• •3 months later, Frank Jacson arrived at the compound, the boyfriend of one of Trotsky’s associates, Sylvia Ageloff. He had an essay paper that he wanted Trotsky to read in one hand, and his raincoat draped over his other.•When he got into the study with Trotsky, he pulled out an ice-pick from under his coat and hit Trotsky in the head, the hit that would kill him.•Frank Jacson wasn’t Frank Jacson. His name was Ramon Mercader, a Spanish Communist sent by Stalin to assassinate Trotsky. When he got out of prison, he received the Hero of the Soviet Union award.


  How did Trotsky die
• •The USSR became a federation of 11 Soviet republics. •The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was replaced by a new Supreme Soviet made up of the “Soviet of the Union” and the “Soviet of Nationalities”.•Each republic had its own supreme Soviet.


  Pros of 1936 constitution
• •Local autonomy was promised to ethnic groups and support for national cultures and languages was promised.•It promised elections every 4 years and the right to vote for everyone over 18, including the former elite who had previously been banned from voting.•It was accompanied by an extensive statement of civil rights, including freedom from arbitrary arrest and the right to free speech.


  Pros of 1936 constitution
• •The promised rights were largely ignored.•The central government controlled the budgets of the republic meaning they had to follow what the centre said and had little independence.•Even though republics were technically allowed to leave, when Georgia tried to go in 1951, the leaders were “purged”.•Elections were not contested, it was only the Communist Party allowed, so the vote was just to confirm a choice of representative.•The Supreme Soviet only met twice a year for a few days at a time. This meant the decisions were made by Stalin. 


  Cons of 1936 constitution
• Key difference is that Lenin’s constitution centralises things around the Party and Sovnarkom.

  Stalin centralises things around himself. Which segues nicely into the cult of personality for our next objective. 


  What is the key difference between the 3 consitutions
• • The structures established by Lenin – rule by one party and centralised control – were perpetuated and extended by Stalin who asserted an increasingly dominant personal influence.
  • The Communist Party continued to dominate state institutions. They had set up parallel structures at most levels and many of the key government officials were also members of the Party and trusted members of the nomenklatura.
  • Stalin increasingly wanted the Party to reflect his wishes and so he called Part congresses less and less frequently – none at all were summoned between 1939 and 1952.
• ·         As General Secretary, Stalin controlled appointments to the Party apparat (the administrative system of the Party). The apparatchiki controlled appointments to the trusted nomenklatura, meaning Stalin commanded a vast patronage network over all the important positions in Soviet society.


  How did Stalin manage to use his patronage to gain power
• ·         Stalin chose to work with personally selected committees, rather than working with the full Politburo. He also used his powers of appointment to build up Party membership and develop an elaborate bureaucracy of loyal servants.


  How did Stalin develop his patronage
• ·         Drafted by Bukharin in 1936 and Stalin claimed it was “the most democratic in the world”.

  ·         It proclaimed the USSR to be a federation of 11 Soviet Republics. The All-Russian Congress of Soviets was replaced by a new Supreme Soviet made up of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities. Each republic also had its own supreme soviet.


  Background of the 1936 constitution
• ·         The constitution promised local autonomy to ethnic groups and support for national cultures and languages.

  ·         It promised 4-yearly elections with the right to vote for all over 18, including the “former people”(the old elites who had no place in the new Russia) who had previously been deprived of voting rights.

  ·         It included an extensive statement of civil rights, including freedom from arbitrary arrest and the right to free speech.


  promises of 1936 constitution
• ·         It looked democratic but its main intention might have been to impress foreign countries.

  ·         In practice, the promised rights were largely ignored, and the central control over the republic’s budgets ensured the primacy of union laws and little real regional independence. Although the constitution acknowledged the right of any union republic to leave the union, when Party leaders in Georgia allegedly planned secession in 1951, they were purged.


  what was the 1936 constitution really like
• ·         Elections were also not contested so the right to vote was merely just affirming a choice of representative.

  The Supreme Soviet also only met for a few days twice a year. “The body provided more of a sense of participation than any actual involvement in policy making. It was viewed by the Party as a forum for imparting decisions back to the localities rather than for electors to present their views to the centre.”


  what was the 1936 constitution really like part 2
• ·         Stalin consciously developed his cult of personality througn propaganda. He made himself look like Lenin’s true disciple: “Stalin is the Lenin of today”. Portraits showed a continuous line from Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin. Stalin was portrayed as the “mighty leader”, “father of the nation”, “universal genius” and “shining sun of humanity”.


  how did stalin develop his cult of personality
• He published The History of the All-Union Community Party (known as the “Short Course”) as the main historical textbook for all educational instiutions in 1938. In this book, Stalin played the major role in the October Revolution, while Trotsky and other old Bolsheviks were either sidelines of portrayed as “enemies of the people”. Photographs were doctored to remove Stalin’s enemies and show Stalin at Lenin’s side. The book had sold 34 million copies in the Soviet Union by 1948.


  When did stalin's cult of personality become fully established
• ·         Adulation for Stalin was on a scale of intensity rarely seen before. “Just as the peasantry had once shown unwavering loyalty to their Tsar, who could do no wrong, so Stalin was seen as a Father to his people. Indeed he has been referred to as the ‘Red Tsar’.”

  ·         He was regarded as a God-like figure who could do no wrong (any problems within the system were the fault of lesser officials) and his portrait was carried and displayed in the manner of a religious icon.


  Stalin as the new tsar