power struggle

• General Secretary


  Position Stalin held in the party administration from 1922
• Orgburo and Secretaria


  Positions Stalin held in the party administration
• The positions Stalin held gave him enormous power over the policy and personnel of the party, even before Lenin died
• Stalin's rival did not realise the power Stalin had and underestimated him
• Ban on factions in 1921


  Potentially a devastating weapon in the hands of the man who could control votes at party congresses
• Stalin tricked Trotsky into not turning up for Lenin's funeral, severely damaging Trotsky's reputation and political prestige
• Stalin made the most of the funeral, setting himself up as Lenin's disciple, the person who would carry on Lenin's work
• Krupskaya gave Lenin's secret testament to the Central Committee in May 1924 just before the Thirteenth Party Congress
• If Lenin's secret testament was read out to the congress, it would have spelt the end of Stalin's career
• Zinoviev and Kamenev urged that Lenin's secret testament should not become general knowledge, probably because it was not very flattering about them and their opposition to Lenin in 1917, and they thought Stalin presented no real threat to them or the party and they wanted Stalin's help in defeating Trotsky
• Trotsky remained silent, unwilling to become involved, which was a major mistake on his part and was to cost him dearly later
• At the Thirteenth Congress in 1924, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin, now effectively a triumvirate leading the party, presented party policy
• Trotsky criticised the party for becoming bureaucratic and less democratic
• Despite making brilliant speeches, Trotsky was easily defeated in the votes because the congress was packed with 'well-instructed Stalinist delegates' as well as the powerful blocs controlled by Zinoviev and Kamenev
• Trotsky could have appealed to supporters inside and outside the party, but he had approved the 'ban on factions' in 1921 and was unwilling to cause splits in the party
• In 1924, Zinoviev and Kamenev mounted a vicious campaign against Trotsky, questioning his loyalty and raising his opposition to Lenin before 1917
• Trotsky retaliated by attacking Zinoviev and Kamenev in Lessons of October, in which he criticised their unwillingness to back Lenin in the 1917 revolution
• Stalin stayed in the background, happy to see the left wing tearing itself apart while he continued to build his power base
• Zinoviev and Kamenev allowed Stalin to bring more of his supporters into key positions in the party organisation, forming the majorities on committees and at conferences
• In 1925, Stalin's policy of "Socialism in One Country' proved very popular with party members, attracting the right wing of the party because it seemed to fit in with the NEP- their own route to socialism
• A new alliance emerged between Stalin in the centre of the party and Bukharin on the right, supporting NEP and cooperation with the peasants
• At the Fourteenth Party Congress in 1925, Zinoviev and Kamenev attacked Stalin, calling for a vote of no confidence in him, the ending of the NEP and a tough line against the peasants
• But Stalin's control of the party machine was now so complete that Zinoviev and Kamenev gave him little trouble, as they lost every vote because Stalin had control of the delegates
• In 1926, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky joined to form a 'United Opposition' and made a direct appeal to the party masses and the workers, trying to organise demonstrations in Moscow
• As a result, all three lost their positions of power and in 1927 were expelled from the party
• In 1928, Stalin turned against the NEP and attacked the right wing of the party, now advocating rapid industrialisation and the use of force to make the peasants co-operate - the very policies of the left that he had just smashed
• Bukharin mounted a strong defence of the NEP but at the congress of 1929 found himself outvoted by Stalin's supporters, who were joined by those on the left who supported the anti-NEP line
• Bukharin and the other right-wing leaders, Rykov and Tomsky, were removed from the Politburo and other party bodies