Stalin

• Communist Government under Stalin

  • Elimination of opponents.
  • Purges of the 1930s.
  • Stalin's Power over Party and State.
• Elimination of opponents under Stalin

  • Ideological orthodoxy; 'socialism in one country'; Collectivisation and industrialisation.
  • Stalin's rivals; Trotsky viewed as power-hungry, fought with Lenin in 1906, only joined Party in 1917; Zinoviev seen as a true Leninist (his handwriting was similar), aided Stalin by hiding Lenin's final testament; Bukharin was Head of Pravda, known for support of NEP and WW1.
  • Party Membership; 1924 Lenin Enrolment sees 124k working class members.
  • Stalin's Patronage System; 'Apparatchiks'; 1/3 of Party Congress appointed by Stalin; Role as Gen Sec, Rabkrin, CenComm.
• Purges of the 1930s

  • Causes; internal opposition within Politburo from Kirov such as Ryutin execution; economic problems - Stalin blames 'wreckers' for failures of 5YP; Congress of Victors sees Kirov receive 1225 votes versus Stalin's 927.
  • Great Terror; Show Trials such as Trial of 16 in 1936 against Zinoviev and Kamenev, Trial of 17 in 1937 against Trotsky, and Trial of 21 in 1938 against Bukharin; 95% of victims were party leaders aged 30-45; Secret Trials such as the Marshals Trial saw 3 out of 5 Marshals executed and 37K officers purged.
• Stalin's Power over Party and State

  • WW2; end mass terror and released purged officers; state power grew as state ministers made decisions; Politburo role changed and began to co-ordinate state and CPSU; Stalin creates State Defence Committee and Stavka.
  • Competition between party and state; constant power shifts, in 1930s Politburo had power, during WW2 the GKO had power, After WW2 the Council of Ministers held power; made Zhdanov (Beria's rival) Party Supervisor of NKVD
  • Post-War Terror; testing loyalty of Molotov; Leningrad Affair.
  • Soviet Constitution of 1936.