Russia

• Historians have often pointed to the trend of Lenin centralising power in his own hands as evidence that he was a dictator
• Moscow found it extremely difficult to extend its full control to the most distant provinces where local officials continued to exercise power without too much central intervention
• Recent research has shed a different light on the process of centralisation. While not denying the trend towards authoritarianism, historians such as Robert Service (1997) have drawn attention to the attitudes of local party members who, in the chaos of the early years of the regime, actively welcomed greater direction from above
• During the civil war, local party members were desperate for support
• Party bureaucracy


  A vast party bureaucracy grew, with the Bolshevik Party (now renamed the Communist Party) being much bigger by 1921 than in 1917
• Nomenklatura system


  A system of drawing up lists of approved party employees suitable for certain jobs from which appointments could be made, to ensure the development of a more committed communist bureaucracy
• By 1924, the membership of the Communist Party had reached about one million and this entailed a large organisation peopled by administrators who were beginning to form a class in itself with its own values and attitudes
• These attitudes tended to be self-serving rather than aimed at benefiting the industrial proletariat
• Tactics used by the Bolsheviks to extend control over outlying regions

  1. Sending in Red Army forces

  2. Encouraging local Bolsheviks to stage unrest by organising mass demonstrations and street violence
• Soviet Constitution of 1924


  An important step in the centralisation of power in the Soviet state, confirming the power of the Communist Party in the state but giving some representation to Party members from each of the republics
• The name 'Union of Soviet Socialist Republics' (USSR) emphasised the fact that this was formally a federal system, but in practice it tightened the authority of the Communist Party based in Moscow
• Russia made up 90 percent of the land-area and 72 percent of the population of the new state, and nearly three-quarters of the Communist Party were Russian
• Cheka


  The secret police formed in December 1917 to deal with counterrevolution, sabotage and other crimes, which also dealt with enemies within the Party and was responsible for up to 200,000 executions between 1917 and 1923
• OGPU

  The All-Union State Political Administration that replaced the Cheka in 1922, with its activities brought under greater state supervision but continuing the function of the Cheka
• Intimidation and purges were needed to maintain discipline and order in the rapidly expanding Communist Party, with about one-third of the Party being purged under Lenin
• The use of terror continued after the civil war, indicating a lack of confidence by Bolsheviks in their hold on power
• Central control did not always extend to remote areas, with government often being chaotic and providing opportunities for a local mafia of Bolsheviks and black marketeers to defy Party orders from Moscow
• There was debate within the Party, with Kamenev and Zinoviev opposing Lenin's decision to launch the Revolution in 1917, and debates over the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918 and the introduction of the New Economic Policy in 1921
• The role of the trade unions was a source of much debate within the Party, with a Workers Opposition group favoring a greater role for the trade unions
• Chistka


  The periodic purges of Party members that occurred under Lenin, which were non-violent and involved those deemed to have the Party membership withdrawn
• Black marketeer


  Those who sold goods, often at inflated prices, particularly common during times of shortage
• In 1922, Joseph Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the Party, with part of his role being to keep an eye on potential opposition in the Party
• Powers of the General Secretary


  As head of the Party secretariat, the General Secretary had access to a vast range of information and personal files on Party members, which could be used against rivals
• General Secretary of the Party

  Position Stalin took in 1922, which others had turned down as being too boring and unlikely to further one's career
• Stalin recognised that developments under Lenin's leadership had made the main focus of power the Party rather than the government
• General Secretary


  Head of the Party secretariat, responsible for the day-to-day running of the Party
• General Secretary


  • Co-ordinated work across all Party departments and had access to a vast range of information
  • Had access to over 26,000 personal files on Party members, a useful source of information that could be used against rivals
  • Was responsible for deciding the agenda of Party meetings, a useful tool for restricting the issues that could be debated
• Stalin's position was further enhanced by the launching of the Lenin Enrolment between 1923 and 1925, which aimed to increase the number of industrial workers in the Party ranks
• New Party members from the Lenin Enrolment

  Largely poorly educated and politically naive, saw the Party as a source of employment and other privileges, and their retention of these privileges depended on loyalty to those who had allowed them into the Party
• As General Secretary, Stalin was responsible for supervising the Lenin Enrolment
• Stalin's position as General Secretary


  • Gave him the right to appoint people to Party positions, providing him with a tool to promote his own supporters to key positions
  • As time went on, more and more party officials were loyal to Stalin, and the post of General Secretary gave him considerable powers of patronage
• Those who opposed Stalin were removed from the Politburo and replaced by people such as Vyacheslav Molotov, Mikhail Kalinin, and Kliment Voroshilov, all cronies of Stalin
• Sergei Kirov was made head of the Party in Leningrad in 1926 when Stalin wanted a loyal supporter to replace the out-of-favour Zinoviev
• Party Congresses became dominated by people who owed their positions and loyalty to Stalin
• Lenin may have created the Party structure, but it was Stalin who was able to use it to his full advantage
• Some Party members nicknamed Stalin 'Comrade Card-Index' as a reference to his willingness to undertake routine administrative tasks
• Nikolai Sukhanov referred to Stalin as the 'grey blur', a good administrator but someone who lacked personality
• These comments may seem like criticisms of Stalin's qualities, but it meant that Stalin could build up his power largely unnoticed
• The struggle for power after the death of Lenin had been played out between the members of the Politburo
• Leon Trotsky, considered by many Bolsheviks to be the obvious successor, was often arrogant and was not really a team player, which did little to endear him to his fellow Bolsheviks