Whole of paper 1

• Lenin's Testament


  Lenin wrote a testament to be read after his death
• Lenin's assessment of key figures

  • Trotsky: Brilliant but too arrogant
  • Stalin: Believed he was abusing his position as General Secretary
  • Bukharin: Popular but did not fully understand Marxism
  • Zinoviev and Kamenev: Had not supported the October Revolution
• Trotsky


  • Born to a wealthy Jewish farming family in Ukraine, the favourite to succeed Lenin, planned the October Revolution and led the Red Army in the Civil War, disliked by many older party members as he was arrogant, his position as head of the Red Army made people fear he would want to be a dictator, only became a Bolshevik in 1917 so people mistrusted this
• Stalin


  • Born in Georgia and had a tough childhood in poverty, clever at making political allies and enjoyed running government departments, known to be rude and aggressive to people he disliked, often used ideas of others as his own, wanted the USSR to focus on socialism in one country, played a minor role in the October Revolution, by 1928 had removed all of his opponents and was in complete control
• Kamenev


  • Active Bolshevik from 1905, major contributor to party doctrine, he and Zinoviev had opposed the April Theses on ideological grounds, supported rapid industrialisation and the ending of the NEP
• Zinoviev


  • Active in the Bolshevik Party since 1903, good orator but not intellectual, opposed the armed uprising of October 1917, in favour of rapid industrialisation and the end of the NEP, not popular, seen as vain, incompetent, and cowardly
• Bukharin


  • Joined the party in 1906, popular politician, described by Lenin as the 'golden boy', convinced the NEP was the way forward
• How Stalin gained power in Russia

  1. He had important positions within the party which helped to gain support

  2. In 1919, he was the Liaison Officer between the Politburo and Ogburo

  3. He had been the Head of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate

  4. In 1922, he became the General Secretary of the Party, giving him access to the personal files of 26,000 party members and the ability to appoint his own supporters as party officials

  5. The launching of the Lenin Enrolment between 1923 and 1925 helped Stalin, as over 500,000 poorly educated workers were recruited to the party who saw the party as a source of employment and depended on loyalty to Stalin

  6. Stalin tricked Trotsky over Lenin's funeral, making Trotsky look bad

  7. Leading Communists chose to make Lenin's Testament hidden from the public, which said Stalin was 'too rude' and should be removed

  8. Stalin's ideas of 'Socialism in One Country' were more popular than Trotsky's 'permanent revolution'
• Weaknesses and mistakes of opponents

  • Trotsky: Unpopular due to arrogance, failed to attend Lenin's funeral
  • Zinoviev and Kamenev: Proved to be poor politicians, miscalculated by entering into an alliance against Trotsky
  • Bukharin: Lacked the political skill needed to fight Stalin
• Defeat of Trotsky


  1. In 1924, at the Party Congress, Zinoviev and Kamenev joined forces with Stalin against Trotsky

  2. Zinoviev and Kamenev steadily destroyed Trotsky's reputation

  3. At the Party Congress, Trotsky's ideas for rapid industrialisation were rejected

  4. In 1925, Trotsky lost his job as Commissar for War, meaning he no longer posed a threat to Stalin
• Defeat of Kamenev and Zinoviev

  1. Between 1924 and 1926, Stalin, Kamenev, and Zinoviev ruled the USSR

  2. Stalin allied with groups on the right of the party to remove them

  3. He put forward his Socialism in One Country policy and pretended to support the NEP

  4. Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev formed the United Opposition but Stalin's supporters packed the 1927 Party Conference so won all the important votes

  5. Kamenev and Zinoviev lost their jobs on the Politburo and were expelled from the party in 1927

  6. Trotsky refused to back down and was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1929
• Defeat of Bukharin


  1. Stalin turned on the right-wing of the party, attacking the NEP and removing Bukharin and right wingers from their posts in government

  2. He gave orders for grain to be violently seized from the peasants, ending cooperation with them

  3. Stalin ensured that Bukharin lost all of his most important government posts
• By 1929, Stalin had defeated opposition from the left and the right, and was free to put his own policies into practice without opposition
• Why did Stalin make the Great Turn?

  To increase military strength, to achieve self-sufficiency, to increase grain supplies, to move towards a socialist society, to establish his credentials, to improve standards of living
• Why did Stalin introduce the Five Year Plans?


  Economic reasons - Russia was still far behind other nations, fear of invasion, ideological reasons - to appeal to workers, political reasons - to divide his opponents and increase his authority
• What improvements were needed?


  • Fuel (coal, oil, and electricity)
  • Raw materials (Iron, steel, chemicals, and textiles)
  • Machinery (Transport and farming)
  • Agriculture (Needed to feed the workers and selling off the excess would finance the changes)
• When were the plans introduced?


  Plan 1: 1928 - 1932 - aimed to expand heavy industry, Plan 2: 1933 - 1937 - concentrated on making machines, Plan 3: 1938 - 1941 - aimed to produce goods like cameras and radios
• The First Five Year Plan

  In 1928, Gosplan set up the first Five Year Plan with very ambitious targets, in 1929 Stalin decided targets had to be met by 1931
• Positives of the First Five Year Plan

  • Number of industrial workers doubled
  • Whole cities were built around new industrial complexes
  • New roads, railways, and canals were built
  • Stalin brought advisors from other countries to help develop industry
  • Ford Motor Company helped the Soviet car industry produce 140,000 cars in 1932
  • Stalin introduced single managers to run state enterprises and factories
• Negatives of the First Five Year Plan


  • Many targets were unrealistic and not met
  • Factories struggled to obtain the necessary raw materials
  • There was a lack of skilled workers
  • There was a decline in living and working conditions
• The Second Five Year Plan


  Showed more concern with improving efficiency and quality, focused on heavy industry and communications
• Positives of the Second Five Year Plan


  • Railways developed to link cities and industrial centres
  • Industries like chemicals and metallurgy grew enormously
  • Some consumer goods were produced
  • Big advances in heavy industry and chemicals
  • New transport schemes e.g. Moscow Metro and Moscow Canal
• Negatives of the Second Five Year Plan


  • Little investment in consumer industries
  • No improvements in living standards
• The Third Five Year Plan


  Focus on armaments, halted by the German invasion of the USSR in 1941
• Positives of the Third Five Year Plan


  • Gave more attention to producing weapons
  • One-third of government investment was spent on defence, meaning a powerful defence industry
  • Nine new aircraft factories were established
• Negatives of the Third Five Year Plan


  • The purges led to arrests of experienced factory managers and Gosplan officials
  • Nazi invasion of the USSR in June 1941 cut the plan short
• Production under the Five Year Plans increased significantly across key industries
• Stakhanovites


  Workers that exceeded production targets were entitled to better housing, free holidays, and medals, but this was often exaggerated propaganda
• Successes and failures of the Five Year Plans

  • Strengths: Focus on heavy industry, huge industrial complexes built, growth in electricity, coal, iron, machine tools, transport and communications
  • Weaknesses: Decline in consumer industries, many targets not met, lack of skilled workers, purges hampered the third plan, consumer goods still lagging
• Impact on workers


  • Enthusiasm at first, support for attack on bourgeoisie specialists, growth of proletarian intelligentsia, loyal workers rewarded, but high turnover, skill shortages, untrained workers damaged machinery
• Impact on women


  • 10m women entered the workforce, dominated some professions like medicine and teaching, but paid less and less likely to be promoted
• There was enthusiasm at first
• There was support for the attack on bourgeoisie specialists
• Growth of the proletarian intelligentsia with highly developed technical skills
• Loyal workers could do well through courses, pay, and prospects
• Those who exceeded targets were rewarded
• By the end of the First Five Year Plan, half the labour force were peasants who often moved if they could find a better deal
• In the coal industry, workers moved three times a year on average
• Managers competed for skilled workers
• Skill shortages