The new face of the “dictatorship of the proletariat”
In parallel with the transition to the NEPU in 1921, a number of measures for the “emergency” governance of the country that had developed during the civil war were abolished. In 1921, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee united all revolutionary tribunals into one - the Supreme Revolutionary Tribunal. In 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee reformed the Cheka, entrusting its functions to the NKVD, for which it created the State Political Administration (GPU, headed by F.E. Dzerzhinsky). Locally, instead of emergency commissions, political departments (political departments) were created. Soviet legislation was codified. In 1922, a unified judicial system was created: the people's court, the provincial court, and the Supreme Court of the Republic. Judges and people's assessors were elected.
It should be noted that the dictatorial character of the Soviet state did not weaken. The dictatorship of the proletariat was expressed, first of all, in the absolute power of the Bolshevik Party, which was not reflected in the Constitution. In August 1922, the XII Conference of the RCP(b) recognized all anti-Bolshevik parties and movements as “anti-Soviet”, i.e. anti-state. They were subject to final defeat. At the same time, a show trial was held of the right-wing Socialist Revolutionary Party, accused of sabotage and terror against the leaders of the Communist Party and the Soviet state during the civil war.
The repressive role of the Soviet state was also manifested in the resolution of the GPU on the expulsion from Petrograd, Moscow, Kyiv and other centers of the country of a number of prominent scientists, writers, and specialists in the national economy. Those intellectuals who abandoned their previous political views, the Bolsheviks attracted to public service, work in the national economy. Former “enemies of the people” welcomed the NEP in their own way, believing that it was transferring Russia onto a capitalist path of development. The “Smena Vekhites”, cadet emigrant professors who published the collection and magazine “Smena Vekh” in Prague and Paris (Yu.V. Klyuchnikov, N.V. Ustryalov, G.L. Kidretsov, etc.) spoke openly about this.
However, the decline of the NEP was marked by the first major show trial of old specialists (engineers, technicians) - the “Shakhty Trial” (Moscow, 1928). At the trial chaired by A.Ya. Vyshinsky, 5 death sentences were imposed. The Shakhty trial marked the beginning of a campaign of persecution of old specialists and replacing them with new nominees. Immediately after the trial, at least 2 thousand technical specialists were arrested and accused of “sabotage.”
Formation of the USSR 1922Collapse in 1917-1918 single, centralized Russian state was replaced by a unification movement, which led to the formation of the USSR in 1922. During the civil war on the outskirts of the former Russian Empire several Soviet republics, which developed not within the RSFSR, but next to it. In June 1919 they created a military alliance. After the defeat of Soviet power in the Baltic states (spring-summer 1919), it remained within the framework of the three Slavic Soviet republics. In 1920-1921 Three Transcaucasian Soviet republics joined this union. At the same time, through the conclusion of bilateral treaties, the military alliance was supplemented by an economic alliance. According to the agreements, the people's commissariats and national economic councils were united, and a unified monetary system was introduced. In 1922, during the period of the international economic conference in Genoa, a diplomatic union of the republics was formed. In the same year, the economic and state unification of the Transcaucasian republics - Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan - took place into the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (TSFSR).
The Communist Party became the cementing force of the unification movement. Republican communist parties, created in 1918-1920, existed as regional organizations of the unified RCP (b). Party unity was complemented by the unity of the trade unions.
To develop a plan for the unification of all Soviet republics, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) created a special commission in August 1922, headed by V.V. Kuibyshev. The commission came to the conclusion that it was necessary to create a state union of socialist republics by including them in the RSFSR with autonomous rights. This decision was based on a project drawn up Secretary General Central Committee (since April 1922) by J.V. Stalin and called the “autonomization plan”. Lenin, having found out that “autonomization” was not supported by 3 of the 6 republics, proposed a plan for a union of equal republics: not in the RSFSR, but together with it, the socialist republics are included “in new union, a new federation." Stalin regarded Lenin's position as “national liberalism,” but did not openly object.
On December 29, 1922, a conference of plenipotentiary delegations of the Union republics took place in Moscow. She approved the draft Declaration and Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. December 30, 1922 in Moscow indoors Bolshoi Theater took place I All-Union Congress Soviets. The Congress approved the Declaration and the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR. He also elected the USSR Central Executive Committee (USSR Central Executive Committee).
Constitution of the USSR 1924The unification movement of the Soviet republics, which went through the stages of military, economic, diplomatic and state union, ended with the stage of the constitutional formation of the USSR (January 1923 - January 1924). At this stage, the Constitution of the USSR was developed and approved, the government of the USSR and the second chamber of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR were created.
In January 1923, constitutional commissions were created in the union republics. The main result of their work was the proposal to create, along with the chamber of class representation in the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, chambers of “national representation”. In January 1924, the Congresses of Soviets of the Union Republics ratified the Constitution of the USSR. On January 31, 1924, the Second Congress of Soviets of the USSR finally approved it. The congress decided to perpetuate the memory of Lenin by renaming the city of three revolutions, Petrograd, to Leningrad. At the same time, A.I. was elected to the post of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. Rykov.
The Constitution of the USSR of 1924 repeated the main provisions of the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, and was also supplemented by a section on the national-state structure of the new state. It proclaimed the principles of building a union multinational state: voluntary, equal association of sovereign republics, their right to secede from the USSR. The Constitution of the USSR of 1924, like the Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918, had a pronounced class character and consolidated the provisions of the dictatorship of the proletariat on the territory of all union republics. The Constitution established state emblem, flag and capital of the USSR - Moscow. Anthem Soviet Union became "International".
Intra-party struggleThe serious illness and death of V.I. Lenin (01/21/1924) aggravated internal party struggle for leadership and determination of the “general course” of USSR policy.
In mid-December 1922, V.I. Lenin suffered a stroke, which forced him to finally withdraw from direct politics. The Party Central Committee decided to “isolate” the party leader from work in the interests of his health. But Lenin achieved that he was allowed to dictate his diary. Over the course of two and a half months, five articles and several letters were dictated, known as the “Political Testament of V.I. Lenin.” Lenin stated that the bet on European socialist revolution, with which the Bolsheviks linked their victory, did not materialize. Under these conditions, he proposed using the full power of the state in order to catch up industrially developed countries, creating modern heavy industry. In addition, Lenin proposed a number of internal party measures: firstly, to remove Stalin from the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee because of his negative personal qualities (rudeness, capriciousness, disloyalty) and put in this post a person who would not abuse “immense power”; secondly, to increase the composition of the party Central Committee several times at the expense of workers “from the bench”, in order to prevent the party headquarters from being split by individual leaders (“leaders”), primarily Trotsky and Stalin; thirdly, strengthen control over the activities of the top party leadership, incl. and the Secretary General by combining party and workers' control.
After Lenin's death, a struggle began within the leadership of the RCP (b). Back in the fall of 1923, L.D. Trotsky criticized the bureaucracy of the party and state apparatus, which, in his opinion, nested in the implanted I.V. Stalin's system of “appointment”, i.e. in the appointment of managers from above. Trotsky proposed choosing them “from below.” He also pointed to two sources of replenishment of the party's ranks - party cells in enterprises and student youth. Trotsky was supported by several dozen party leaders. During the party discussion, Trotsky was accused of factionalism and striving for individual power. When in the fall of 1924
Trotsky, in the article “Lessons of October,” highlighted his special role in the revolution of 1917, having put forward the concept of “two leaders” (he and Lenin), he was removed from the important posts of chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council and the People's Commissariat of Military Affairs, and his supporters were sent to the provinces for re-education.
At the beginning of 1924, the “Leninist call” to the party was announced, during which more than 240 thousand people joined the party. By the XIII Congress of the RCP(b) (May 1924), the number of the party exceeded 735 thousand people. At the congress, Lenin's proposal to remove Stalin from the post of General Secretary was discussed. It was rejected. Stalin's resignation was also not satisfied.
After the congress, Stalin showed himself to be an outstanding organizer, who was able to quickly concentrate and retain immense power in his hands. At the end of 1924 - beginning of 1925. he put forward the thesis about the possibility of building socialism in one single country - the USSR. He argued that under the conditions of a “capitalist encirclement” in the USSR it was possible to build socialism “basically.” The complete victory of socialism will become possible with the support of the Western European proletariat, i.e. "world revolution". The “new opposition” led by G. Zinoviev and L. Kamenev spoke out against Stalin’s thesis, regarding it as “national Bolshevism”, a betrayal of proletarian internationalism and the world revolution. At the same time, the opposition condemned the NEP as a retreat before capitalism in town and countryside. She named N. Bukharin as the main ideologist of the “retreat to the right.” At the XIV Party Congress (December 1925), the “new opposition” was defeated. The delegates supported Stalin, and Stalin supported Bukharin. G.E. Zinoviev was removed from all posts - chairman of the Executive Committee of the Comintern, head of the Leningrad party organization, chairman of the Leningrad Council, and removed from the Politburo of the Central Committee. Since 1926, S.M. Kirov, an active supporter of Stalin, became the first secretary of the Leningrad Provincial Committee.
In 1926, Zinoviev and Kamenev were supported by the “romantic of the world revolution” Trotsky - a “Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc” was formed. The bloc included many representatives of the old Bolshevik guard: N. Muralov, Kh. Rakovsky, I. Smilga, G. Pyatakov, N. Krupskaya, V. Antonov-Ovseenko, M. Lashevich and others. The opposition opposed Stalin’s thesis, believing that he betrays not only the world, but also the Russian revolution to please the home-grown “NEPmen”. The left oppositionists proposed restructuring the NEP, placing emphasis on heavy industry, increasing taxation in the countryside, and thereby holding back the approaches to the world revolution. They insisted on the fight against bureaucracy in personnel policy (“appointment”) and freedom of discussion. In 1927, when they started talking about intimacy new war, the oppositionists were supported by wide sections of the military and students. They made their “last battle” on the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, organizing parallel demonstrations in the capitals that opposed the official ones. The opposition leaders were accused of trying to split the party and trying to create an underground anti-Bolshevik party. Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and others were expelled from the party. At the beginning of 1928, some of the oppositionists, led by Trotsky, were exiled to Alma-Ata. A year later, Trotsky was expelled from the USSR on charges of counter-revolutionary activities. Zinoviev and Kamenev admitted their “mistakes” and were reinstated in the party (1928).
The “ultra-left” suffered defeat in the twenties. In 1928 - 1929 The “rightists” also suffered defeat - N. Bukharin, A. Rykov, M. Tomsky, who opposed emergency methods of grain procurement ("emergency"), the exploitation of the countryside, the liquidation of the kulaks, and the curtailment of the NEP. All of them lost leadership positions in the party, government, trade unions, and Comintern. They were accused of collaborating with the bourgeoisie and implanting capitalism in the countryside. On his 50th birthday (December 1929), J.V. Stalin became the sole leader of the Communist Party and the Soviet state.
History of internal party struggle in the 20s. occupied a central place in the political life of the country; issues of socio-economic development, personal interests and ambitions were intertwined. It resulted in the problem of leadership in the political and ideological field and began even before the death of V.I. Lenin. It can hardly be considered only in the context of a personal struggle for power. Its course was influenced by many circumstances of domestic and international life.
The NEP gave rise to many contradictions and problems. A significant part of the communists and some segments of the population perceived the NEP as a surrender of positions, a return to social injustice. Opposition to NEP immediately arose. Oppositions also arose within the NEP course. Heated discussions took place on key issues of socio-economic and political development. They became a kind of cover for the struggle for leadership. Different political forces in the RCP (b) understood the NEP in different ways. N.I. Bukharin proposed to consider the NEP as a long process of “growing into socialism,” while a significant part of the communists considered the NEP as a means of maintaining power until the start of the world revolution.
It is known that during the NEP years the nomenklatura was intensively formed and gained strength. Its interests conflicted with the interests of the old political elite. This intensified the struggle among the leaders. I.V. Stalin, who did a lot to create the nomenklatura and enjoyed its support, had a greater chance of gaining the upper hand in the struggle for power. The nomenclature was thus created by I.V. Stalin, who at that time was not one of the most famous Bolshevik leaders. In the party, as its ranks grew (in 1921 it numbered 732 thousand people, in 1927 - already 1.3 million), a split appeared between the mass of ordinary members and the leadership elite.
The leading levers of control remained in the hands of the “old Bolshevik guard.” She was accustomed to discussions, putting forward her proposals for resolving emerging problems, which often did not coincide with the course adopted at the top. Meanwhile, the bureaucratization of Soviet society and the party led to a limitation of intra-party democracy, which intensified the struggle.
The international situation also affected the internal party struggle. The stabilization of capitalism and the economic rise in the West made hopes for a world revolution groundless. The “German October”, which was so expected and sought to be supported, did not take place in 1923. This was perceived extremely painfully in the party and became a kind of impetus for L.D.’s speech. Trotsky with criticism of the majority of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).
Thus, the main factors that influenced the development of the internal party struggle were: different visions of the theory and practice of socialist construction; different understanding of the problems of socio-economic and political development of the country; the interests of the nomenklatura, which did not coincide with the interests of the old Bolshevik elite; the curtailment of internal party democracy due to the bureaucratization of the party; international situation, first of all, the delay of the world revolution; personal interests and ambitions in the struggle for leadership in the party and country.
Internal party struggle in the 20s. went through a number of stages:
The 1st occurred in 1923-1924, when L.D. spoke out against the majority of the Central Committee and its leadership group (I.V. Stalin, L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev). Trotsky and his supporters; The 2nd resulted in a discussion in 1925 with the “new opposition” led by G.E. Zinoviev and L.B. Kamenev, 3rd - this is the fight against the United Left Opposition (Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc) in 1926-1927, when L.D. united. Trotsky, G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev, G.Ya. Sokolnikov, L.G. Shlyapnikov and others; The 4th (last) occurred in 1928-1929. and represented the struggle of the Stalinist group in the Central Committee (I.V. Stalin, V.V. Kuibyshev, V.M. Molotov, K.E. Voroshilov, Ya.E. Rudzutak, etc.) against the right opposition (N.I. Bukharin, A.I. Rykov, M.P. Tomsky) to Stalin’s course to curtail the NEP.
In the 20s The internal party struggle did not stop. It is known how heated the discussion about trade unions was on the eve of the transition to the NEP. V.I. Lenin saw in such battles the danger of a split in the party.
At the 10th Congress of the RCP(b), he achieved the adoption of the resolution “On Party Unity,” which prohibited factions and groupings under threat of expulsion from the party. However, this did not save her from internal party conflicts and struggles. They were generated by the search for ways to develop a new state and rivalry between leaders. The struggle was intense when discussing the issue of mutual relations between the republics and the search for a model for creating a single union state - the USSR. Centralist and separatist currents in the party collided. It took the intervention of V.I. Lenin, to prevent extremes. This was in 1922. The following year, 1923, the struggle of L.D. unfolded. Trotsky and his like-minded people against the majority of the Central Committee of the RCP (b).
Disease V.I. Lenin aggravated the situation among the party elite. The question of V.I.’s successor has become relevant. Lenin. IN recent years sick in his life, almost completely isolated from outside world, V.I. Lenin dictated his letters and articles to his secretaries for several minutes a day.
They express concern about the situation in the country and the party, comprehend the revolution and the path traveled, and propose a number of measures to improve the party state apparatus. The sick leader sought to put his thoughts on paper, help stabilize the situation in the country and the party, and outline prospects further development. However, the thoughts of the leader of the revolution did not find adequate support in the top party leadership. Meanwhile, at the top of the Bolshevik Party the struggle for the role of Lenin’s “heir” intensified.
In the “Letter to the Congress,” dictated in December 1922 - early January 1923, V.I. Lenin gave characteristics to six figures from his circle (L.D. Trotsky, L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev, N.I. Bukharin, Yu.L. Pyatakov, I.V. Stalin). He paid special attention to “two outstanding leaders” - I.V. Stalin and L.D. Trotsky, whose relationship could lead to undesirable consequences.
At the end of V.I.’s life Lenin began to be concerned about the personal qualities of I.V. Stalin, his rudeness, intolerance towards his comrades. In his “Letter to the Congress,” he recommended that he be removed from the post of General Secretary (I.V. Stalin became General Secretary in April 1922), noting that in this position I.V. Stalin has concentrated immense power in his hands and is unlikely to be able to use it well.
The party became increasingly “bureaucratic”, this led to the curtailment of internal party democracy. Anti-bureaucratic sentiments within the party grew. Their spokesman was L.D. Trotsky. In October 1923, he accused the Central Committee of establishing a “dictatorship of the apparatus”; he saw the reasons for the sales crisis of 1923 in the unsystematic nature of economic decisions, in neglect of party democracy, and insisted on a “dictatorship of industry” over agriculture. He was supported by the old Bolsheviks. They sent the so-called “platform of 46” to the Central Committee (it was signed by E.A. Preobrazhensky, L.P. Serebryakov, A.S. Bubnov, Yu.L. Pyatakov, etc.), where they wrote about the “crisis of the party”, about gap between the top and the rank and file, the economic crisis was blamed on the “majority faction of the Politburo.” Then the Politburo showed tolerance and took into account the proposals of the opposition. But L.D. Trotsky did not calm down. In December 1923, he published 4 articles in Pravda under common name The New Deal, which continued to criticize the party apparatus, accused it of bureaucratic and ideological degeneration. He pins his hopes on young people, workers and students, offering to fill the ranks of the party at their expense. In it he sees the future of the party, and therefore the fate of the country. L.D. Trotsky called youth “the barometer of the party.”
The fight against Trotskyism began. L.D. himself aggravated it. Trotsky, publishing the brochure “Lessons of October” in October 1924, in which he emphasized his role in the revolution. He believed that the revolution had been betrayed by the “right” and criticized L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev, hinted at their mistakes during the days of the revolution.
Trotsky is for the assault, for the need to move forward through breakthroughs, contrary to the laws of history. It turned out that all members and candidate members of the Politburo (G.E. Zinoviev, L.B. Kamenev, A.I. Rykov, I.V. Stalin, M.P. Tomsky, M.I. Kalinin, V.M. Molotov, YaZ. Rudzutak) united against Trotsky. The leading role was played by the non-statutory troika: G.E. Zinoviev - L.B. Kamenev - I.V. Stalin (in the terminology of Western historians - “triumvirate”). They ensured that the “Letter to the Congress” was not read at the XIII Party Congress, which took place shortly after the death of V.I. Lenin.
The delegations were familiarized with its contents, recommending that I.V. be left. Stalin as General Secretary, and the proposal of V.I. Lenin to keep secret. I.V.’s statement was also not accepted. Stalin's resignation. His position has strengthened. The defeat of Trotskyism took place at the XIII Party Conference. It was condemned as a petty-bourgeois deviation from Marxism. Supporters of L.D. Trotsky were removed from their posts and sent to the periphery.
Position of L.D. Trotsky was also condemned at the January (1925) plenum of the Central Committee. L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev demanded that he be expelled from the party. Trotsky was removed from the posts of People's Commissar of Military Affairs and Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, received a minor economic post, but still remained an authoritative leader.
The "triumvirate" did not last long. Calculations by L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev that I.V. Stalin will be an obedient instrument in their hands, they were not justified. He did not intend to share power with them.
Moreover, he began a campaign to discredit them.
Meanwhile, internal party discussions entered a new phase. If earlier the struggle was for the purity of Leninism from bourgeois opportunism and revisionism, now discussions have turned to the prospects for the socio-economic and political development of the country. The restoration of industry was completed. The question arose in which direction the country would develop further. The international situation has changed. The stabilization of capitalism was obvious; it made hopes for a world revolution illusory.
Considering these circumstances, I.V. Stalin moves away from the concept of world revolution, takes up the idea of the possibility of building socialism in one country and plans to implement it. In the fall of 1925, G.E. spoke out against the theory of the victory of socialism in one country. Zinoviev. In the book “Leninism” he criticized the views of I.V. Stalin, argued that building socialism in the USSR is possible only with the victory of the revolution in Europe and America. This was a step towards L.D. Trotsky, support for his conclusions about the impossibility of the victory of socialism in the USSR without a world revolution. According to the “Statement 4x” (L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev, G.Ya. Sokolnikov, N.K. Krupskaya), sent to the Central Committee, an open discussion began in the party on controversial issues. Before the XIV Party Congress (December 1925) L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev and their supporters united in the so-called “new opposition”, which arose out of dissatisfaction with the NEP. Its center was Leningrad, whose party organization was headed by L.B. Zinoviev. He opposed the campaign carried out in 1924-1925. policy towards the peasantry, considering it a “concession to the kulaks.”
The oppositionists were against the decision of the Central Committee to remove the discontent of the peasants through development market relations in the agricultural sector of the economy (reduction in prices for manufactured goods, land tax, expansion of land lease, hiring of labor, etc.), that is, they were against the peasants becoming more prosperous, they saw a kulak danger in this.
At the XIV Party Congress (December 1925), the “new opposition” suffered a crushing defeat.
Supporters of V.I. Stalin appeared at the congress as a united majority. Only the Leningrad delegates were on the side of the “new opposition”.
In January 1926 G.E. Zinoviev was removed from his post as head of the Leningrad party organization.
However, the opposition itself was not finished. In the spring of 1926 L.D. Trotsky and his former opponents L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev created the United Left Opposition, opposing the Stalinist majority in the party. It is also known as the “Trotskyist-Zinoviev bloc.” The bloc consisted mostly of representatives of the “old party guard” - the Bolshevik elite of the older generation. Heated disputes within the party continued. There was no longer any debate about the need for industrialization. Disputes were about methods, rates of industrialization, and sources of accumulation. Two approaches have emerged. The left, led by Trotsky, called for “super-industrialization”; the right, led by Bukharin, advocated more gradual changes. The left was in favor of transferring funds from agriculture to industry through tax policy, an unequal exchange between city and countryside. L.D. Trotsky proposed imposing an “industrial tribute” on the village. The left considered the countryside the main source of funds for the development of industry and proposed raising workers' wages by increasing taxes on the Nepman in the city and the kulak in the countryside. In fact, it was a program to curtail the NEP. Note that it has been carried out since the late 20s. V.I. began Stalin. In the meantime, he, together with the rightists (N.I. Bukharin, A.I. Rykov, M.P. Tomsky) rejected it, defending the principles of the NEP. The left opposition also opposed the growing bureaucracy. One of its slogans is “Against the NEPman, the kulak and the bureaucrat.” She also advocated for internal party democracy. However, uniting former opponents into one bloc did not help. Based on the nomenclature, V.I. In those years, Stalin increasingly acted using apparatus methods, intrigues, and instruments of power. The leaders of the left opposition were accused of factionalism and removed from their posts. L.B. Kamenev was removed from the Politburo, G.E. Zinoviev was removed from the leadership of the Comintern. Members of the left opposition began to be expelled from the party, arrested, and expelled. They were pushed towards underground methods of struggle. The “Trotskyist-Zinovievsky bloc” took this path: meetings were held in private apartments, printing houses were created; illegally, under the signature “Bolshevik-Leninists - opposition to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)”, they printed and posted leaflets. On November 7, 1927, on the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, they held demonstrations in Moscow and Leningrad under their slogans. After this L.D. Trotsky and G.E. Zinoviev was expelled from the party, L.B. Kamenev and Kh.G. Rakovsky - from the Central Committee. At the XV Party Congress, another 93 prominent opposition figures were expelled from the party. At the congress there was a real persecution of the opposition: they were not allowed to speak, their words were drowned out by shouts and insults. Soon some of those expelled, including L.B. Kamenev, G.E. Zinoviev and 20 other people “repented” and were reinstated in the party in 1928. Unshakable L.D. Trotsky, along with 30 of his associates, was sent into exile in Alma-Ata in mid-January 1928. In 1929, he was expelled from the USSR, accused of counter-revolutionary activities. August 20, 1940 in Mexico L.D. Trotsky was killed by a Soviet state security agent, the Spaniard Rayon Mercader, who later received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
After the defeat of the left opposition, the Stalinist leadership borrowed its program of “over-industrialization” and the curtailment of NEP and began to implement it. Through the policy of low grain prices, it hoped to withdraw funds from the countryside for the needs of industrialization. But the peasants did not want to give grain to the state at prices that were unfavorable to them. In the winter of 1927-1928. A grain procurement crisis broke out. In the fall of 1927, 128 million poods of grain were missing. Cities and the army were under threat of famine, and grain export plans collapsed. It was necessary to introduce a card system for the distribution of food in cities in 1928. It was decided to take bread from the peasants by force, using emergency measures. This caused resistance from the peasants, and uprisings occurred in a number of places.
This policy intensified the right opposition represented by its leaders N.I. Bukharin, A.I. Rykova, M.P. Tomsky. They advocated continuing the development of the country on the basis of the NEP, for the abolition of emergency measures, for solving grain difficulties with economic measures, by increasing purchase prices for grain, increasing assistance to the farms of the poor and middle peasants, increasing state grain reserves, even purchasing grain abroad.
They were against accelerated industrialization and the policy of repression; stood for the preservation of class peace in the country; believed that Stalin's policies could lead to peasant unrest. The fight against the right deviation developed as an anti-NEP campaign. Everyone who adhered to the principles of NEP was considered right. Its main ideologist was N.I. Bukharin, therefore the fight against the right deviation became a fight against him.
The defeat of the right occurred at the April joint expanded plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission in 1929. Realizing his doom, N.I. Bukharin, in his speech at the plenum, sharply negative characterization the course pursued by the Stalinist leadership, outlined its consequences. He called the grandiose plans for the socialist transformation of society not plans, but “ literary works", emphasizing that industrialization cannot be carried out while the country is ruined and agriculture is collapsing, and emergency measures, according to him, mean the end of the NEP. N.I. Bukharin accused the Stalinist apparatus of military-feudal exploitation of the peasantry. The ominous thesis of I.V. Stalin's idea of the intensification of the class struggle as we move towards socialism, which he put forward in 1928 to justify repression, he called “idiotic, illiterate police.”
The plenum condemned the right deviation by 300 votes to 13. The party leadership as a whole turned out to be pro-Stalinist. The fight ended in victory for I.V. Stalin. The plenum was filmed by N.I. Bukharin from the post of editor of the newspaper Pravda and head of the Comintern; M.P. Tomsky was removed from the leadership of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions. In November 1929 N.I. Bukharin was expelled from the Politburo. A.I. Rykov remained chairman of the Council of People's Commissars and a member of the Politburo until December 1929. At the 16th party conference, the right deviation was called openly capitulatory, a merciless war was declared on it, which resulted in outright persecution of the right. At the November (1929) plenum of the Central Committee, belonging to the right deviation was recognized as incompatible with being a member of the party. For short term 149 thousand people were expelled from the party (mainly on charges of right-wing deviation). Apparently, such a number of communists were in favor of maintaining the NEP.
The Stalinist leadership consolidated its victory with the party purge of 1929-1930, during which 170 thousand people (more than 1/10 of its composition) were expelled from the party. A significant part of them are representatives of the left and right opposition.
The struggle of the Bukharin and Stalin groups - last stage intra-party struggle in the 20s. Its difference from the previous ones is that the fate of millions of peasants (80% of the population) literally depended on the outcome of this confrontation. The fight ended in the defeat of N.I. Bukharin. This predetermined the final departure from NEP and opened the way for complete collectivization.
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Early 20s made significant changes to the top echelon of the ruling party. For five years the leader was V.I. Lenin, whose leadership was recognized even by the most ambitious Bolshevik leaders: L.D. Trotsky, I.V. Stalin, L.B. Kamenev and G.E. Zinoviev. Lenin came to the conclusion: maintaining party unity is the most important guarantee of building socialism. Therefore, at the X Congress he achieved the adoption of a decision “On Party Unity”. This decision prohibited the creation of factions within the party. In fact, this was a decisive step towards the elimination of intra-party democracy, which subsequently led to the establishment of Stalin’s regime of personal power.
The struggle between the leaders for power in the party and the state began already in 1923, since Lenin was paralyzed in the spring. Intra-party struggle of the 20s. went through several stages:
The first stage lasted from the autumn of 1923 to the beginning of 1925. The most ambitious leaders of the party, Trotsky and Zinoviev (he was supported by Kamenev and Stalin), saw themselves as the sole successors of Lenin. In the fall of 1923, Trotsky, a member of the Politburo and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, discovered that senior officials loyal to him were being removed from their positions. This personnel policy was pursued by Stalin, who, using the powers of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), sought to concentrate the management of the party in its central bodies. This situation prompted Trotsky to accuse the party elite - Politburo members Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin - of “bureaucracy”: he criticized the system of appointing leaders “from above” introduced by Stalin and proposed electing them “from below”. The fight against Trotsky united three Politburo members Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin (“troika”). The “sales crisis” and the search for ways out of it caused a heated debate within the party and intensified the struggle for power. The discussion revolved around two main questions: economic policy and democratization of the party. To get out of the crisis, Trotsky proposed to start industrialization, financing it by increasing the taxation of peasants, the “troika” supported his opponent N.I. Bukharin, who advocated weakening the tax pressure on peasants in order to create conditions for the rise of the agricultural sector. The troika also accused Trotsky and his supporters, called the “left opposition,” of trying to set one part of the party against another, this accusation was very serious, since in the eyes of ordinary party members, an attempt to split it was perceived as a very dangerous violation of Lenin’s covenants. Trotsky was defeated. In January 1925 he was removed from his posts
The second stage covered the period from spring to the end of 1925. The transition of the “sales crisis” into a “commodity famine” and the disruption of grain procurements in 1925 due to the peasants’ refusal to transport most of the grain to the market convinced Kamenev and Zinoviev that Bukharin’s views were wrong, they actually shared Trotsky's views. Stalin, for his part, supported Bukharin, who believed in the possibility of building socialism in the isolated USSR. Zinoviev and Kamenev regarded Stalin's views as a betrayal of the Marxist idea of world revolution and the principles of proletarian internationalism. During the discussion, Stalin and his circle, like Bukharin, accused Kamenev and Zinoviev of “capitulation” and a departure from Leninism. The majority of the party supported Stalin and Bukharin, since recognizing the correctness of the views of Kamenev and Zinoviev about the impossibility of building socialism in one country meant losing the basis and goal of the policy of the Bolshevik Party.
The third stage lasted from the spring of 1926 to the end of 1927. The situation in the country has become more complicated. The peasants began to insist on creating their own peasant party. In April 1926, the Trotsky group and the Kamenev-Zinoviev group merged. This group accused Stalin of betraying the ideals of the revolution to please the “NEPmen”, of supporting the rich peasantry, of pursuing a policy leading to the degeneration of the dictatorship of the proletariat into the dictatorship of the party bureaucracy, to the victory of the bureaucracy over the working class. Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev proposed to begin forced industrialization. Stalin sharply criticized the views of the “united left opposition,” perceiving it as a serious threat to his power. During the struggle, Stalin won another victory. Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev were expelled from the Politburo and exiled to other cities.
The fourth stage lasted from the spring of 1928 to the spring of 1929. Stalin decided to confiscate the “surplus” from the kulaks who refused to sell them at low purchase prices. But it was not possible to obtain the required amount of grain. In the spring of 1928, Stalin proposed to begin confiscating the “surplus” from the middle peasants. Bukharin and his views on the NEP opposed this. Stalin removed from the party and state leadership last group leaders whom he considered rivals in the struggle for power. Bukharin was removed from the Politburo
For five years, at the top of the party-state pyramid there was a recognized leader - V.I. Lenin, whose leadership was recognized even by the most ambitious Bolshevik leaders: “L.D. Trotsky, "I.V. Stalin, "L.B. Kamenev "G.E. Zinoviev. Relying on his unshakable authority, Lenin pursued a fairly consistent economic course. Internal party struggle in the 20s.
In December 1922, Lenin's health condition deteriorated sharply. At the insistence of doctors, he moved to Gorki, a summer cottage near Moscow. Between attacks of illness, Lenin dictated letters and articles, setting out in them his thoughts on the further development of the country and the tasks of the party. They were dictated to them: - “Pages from the diary”, - “About cooperation”, - “How can we reorganize the Rabkrin”, - “About our revolution”, etc. Internal party struggle in the 20s.
In his “Letter to the Congress,” Lenin described six prominent members of the party’s Central Committee, on whose relationship the unity of the party depended. “Comrade Stalin, having become General Secretary (April 1922 - Author), concentrated immense power in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be able to use this power carefully enough... Stalin is too rude, and this shortcoming, quite tolerable in the environment and in communication between us communists, becomes intolerant in the position of general secretary. Therefore, I suggest that my comrades consider a way to move Stalin from this place and appoint another person to this place...” Trotsky was described as a man suffering from "... self-confidence and excessive enthusiasm for the purely administrative side of things." "Letter to the Congress"
1. The main reasons for the internal party struggle were: 2. The struggle for leadership in the party 3. Disagreements within the party leadership on the issues of: - further development of the country’s economy. – development of the country’s political system (worker and party democracy, bureaucracy, style and methods of leadership) Intra-party struggle in the 20s
The most ambitious leaders of the party, Trotsky and Zinoviev (he was supported by Kamenev and Stalin), saw themselves as the sole successors of Lenin. In the fall of 1923, Trotsky, a member of the Politburo and chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR, discovered that personally loyal leadership workers in the party and state apparatus were being “scrubbed” and removed from their positions. This personnel policy was carried out by Trotsky’s opponents, primarily Stalin, who, using the powers of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), sought to concentrate the management of the party in its central bodies - the Central Committee, the Politburo and others. The first stage lasted from the autumn of 1923 to the beginning of 1925.
This situation prompted Trotsky to accuse the party elite - Politburo members Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin - of “bureaucracy”: he demanded an end to “secretary bureaucracy”, sharply criticized the system of appointing leaders “from above” introduced by Stalin and proposed electing them “from below”. To combat bureaucratization, he publicly proposed “relying on student youth as the most reliable barometer of the party.” On the other hand, in the work “Lessons of October” published in the fall of 1924, Trotsky emphasized his role in the success of the October Revolution and recalled the episode with Zinoviev’s “strikebreaking”. The first stage lasted from the autumn of 1923 to the beginning of 1925.
1st period of intra-party struggle (gg) Trotsky against: Stalin Kamenev Zinoviev Rykov Tomsky
1st stage, gg – the struggle of the “left opposition” led by Trotsky against the bureaucratization of the party apparatus, the degeneration of old party cadres (condemned as a “petty-bourgeois deviation”); the main characters are Trotsky, Stalin, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Rykov, Tomsky, Bukharin; Stage II, gg. Stalin's break with Zinoviev and Kamenev; the creation of a “new opposition” led by Zinoviev and Kamenev, which opposed Stalin’s autocracy and lost the fight; main characters Stalin, Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky; III stage, gg. the creation of a Trotskyist-Zinoviev opposition bloc, whose supporters proposed accelerating industrialization at the expense of the peasantry, but the main task was seen as removing Stalin from the post of General Secretary of the Party Central Committee; the opposition also lost the fight; the main participants were Stalin, Bukharin, Rykov, Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Preobrazhensky. IV stage, gg. the struggle of the so-called “right deviationists” (Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky, etc.) against Stalin’s use of emergency measures in the economy, against forced collectivization; the political coup in November 1929, the consolidation of Stalin's power in the Politburo and the beginning of his transformation into a dictator; rejection of the NEP; the main characters are Stalin, Molotov, Voroshilov, Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky. Historians identify 4 stages of internal party struggle in the 1920s:
Industrialization is the process of creating large-scale machine production in all sectors of agriculture, and primarily in industry. Goals of industrialization in the USSR: Elimination of technical and economic backwardness Achieving economic independence Bringing a technical basis to the backward agriculture Development of new industries Creation of a powerful military-industrial complex (MIC)
Features of industrialization in the USSR The main source of accumulation is the pumping of funds from the countryside and the labor enthusiasm of the Soviet people Development of production of means of production is the main direction of industrialization Militarization of the economy, creation of a powerful military-industrial complex High rates of industrialization Industrialization
Sources of funds for industrialization: 1. Income received from agriculture (the main source) 2. Increasing prices, taxes, and especially from NEPman 3. State loans from the population 4. Sales artistic values 5. Income from light industry 6. Profit of the state monopoly on foreign trade 7. “Gulagov” economy Industrialization
Periodization of industrialization: gg - XIV Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (December 1925) - reconstruction and re-equipment of old enterprises - Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (November 29, 1928) - accelerated pace of industrial construction industrial enterprises Group "A" Industrialization
Economic and social consequences of industrialization: PositiveNegative Achieving economic independence Over-centralization of the economy, restriction of the market. Transformation of the USSR into a powerful Industrial agrarian power Lagging of light industry and the agricultural sector Strengthening the country's defense capability, creating a powerful military-industrial complex Slowing down the development of production of consumer goods Bringing a technical base to agriculture Expanding measures of non-economic coercion Development of new industries, construction of new plants and factories Stimulating extensive development economy, movement towards environmental disaster
In the mid-20s, the problem of industrialization came to the fore. This was explained by the need: to create industrial socialism, achieve economic independence of the country, strengthen its defense capability. Stalin, taking advantage of the next crisis of the NEP, announced the “offensive of socialism” along the entire front.” The accelerated development of basic industries (fuel and raw materials, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, etc.) on which the general state of the economy depended came to the fore. 1. Reasons for industrialization. Cultural property intended for sale abroad.
In the West, industrialization was carried out at the expense of funds received from the development of agriculture and light industry. But in the USSR there was no time to implement this approach. Therefore, industrialization was carried out through the plunder of the village and the sale abroad of raw materials, bread, cultural values. In conditions of limited resources, the leadership moved to their centralized distribution and to the planning of the entire economy. 1. Reasons for industrialization. American equipment
In 1927, the development of the 1st five-year plan began. In 1929, it was approved. It was envisaged to increase industrial production by 180%, agricultural production by 55%. Heavy industry was to develop at a faster pace - 230% in 5 years . Stalin at this time put forward the idea of the “Great Leap Forward” - in order to catch up with the West in 5-10 years, which had gone ahead in its industrial development by years. 2. The first five-year plan. Ya. Romas. Morning of the First Five-Year Plan.
Millions of people responded to Stalin’s call with enthusiasm. It was not possible to fulfill the five-year plan, but a huge step forward was made in the industrialization of the country. Heavy industry production increased 2.8 times, industrial giants, the Dnieper Hydroelectric Power Plant, were built , Magnitka, Stalingrad and Kharkov tractor plants, Turksib, aviation, chemical electrical industries, etc. appeared. The USSR reduced the import of foreign equipment 2. First Five-Year Plan. Dneproges dam.
The enormous scale of economic transformation required huge amount labor force. In 1930, the last labor exchange was closed in the USSR. But the bulk of the workers were unskilled. To solve this problem, higher and secondary specialized educational institutions were opened in the USSR, evening faculties and technical colleges were opened. For 5 years, 130 thousand specialists were trained, mainly from workers 3. Social aspects of the 1st Five-Year Plan. Announcements about the recruitment of workers.
3. Social aspects of the 1st Five-Year Plan. At the same time, there were shortcomings in the social sphere—the already low wages was eaten up by taxes, rising prices and inflation. The repressions launched by Stalin against his opponents led to the creation of the Main Directorate of Camps (GULAG) in 1930. The cheap labor of prisoners made it possible to carry out such grandiose projects - projects such as the construction of the White Sea Canal and the Moscow-Volga Canal. V. Denis. N. Dolgorukov. 1st Five Year Plan.
In 1932, having announced the success of the 1st Five-Year Plan, Stalin noted that there was now no need to “spur the country” and the 2nd Five-Year Plan provided for a decrease in the growth rate of industrial output from 30 up to 16%, while the growth of light industry was supposed to be higher than the growth of heavy industry. The plan provided for the creation of supporting industrial bases in the Urals, Siberia, Central Asia. 4.Second Five-Year Plan. N.Doglorukov. Propaganda poster.
Fulfillment of the tasks of the 2nd Five-Year Plan led to the transformation of the USSR from an agricultural country into a powerful industrial power. Industry growth was 2.2 times. 80% of the increase was achieved due to newly built enterprises. The country was able to overcome the 10-year period outlined by Stalin through incredible efforts, and the USSR took first place in Europe in terms of industrial production. 4.Second Five-Year Plan. G. Ordzhonikidze. People's Commissar of Heavy Engineering.
The 2nd Five-Year Plan did not lead to an increase in the standard of living of the population. Food cards were abolished, but the general price level increased. Workers were forced to sign up for government loans. Housing conditions did not improve, as the number of residents in cities grew. At this time, the Stakhanov movement arose. In 1935, A. Stakhanov exceeded the coal production norm by 14 times. His initiative spread to other industries. Stakhanovites received up to 2,000 rubles a month and received awards. 5.Stakhanov movement. A. Stakhanov. in the mine
This led to stratification in society. Soon production standards were increased by 20% and the salaries of the bulk of workers fell. They often changed jobs and violated labor discipline. In response, work books, necessary for hiring, the amount of social benefits was made dependent on continuous work experience in one place. In the 30s. These measures were further tightened. 5.Stakhanov movement. Stakhanovites: M. Mazai, N. Izotov, P. Krivonos, A. Busygin, P. Angelina, E. Vinogradova.
In terms of industrial growth rates, the USSR overtook Tsarist Russia by almost 3 times. It took 2nd place in the world in terms of overall indicators and was a leader in the growth rate of industrial production. The USSR became economically independent from the West, which at that time, like our country, was at the stage of industrialization society. But these successes were achieved due to overstrain of the economy and its disproportionate development, to the detriment of light industry and agriculture. 6. Results of the 1st five-year plans. P. Sokolov-Skalya. The train is coming!
After Vladimir Lenin’s departure from activities in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), a process of redistribution of power began, which in domestic historiography was called “intra-party struggle in the USSR in the 20s.”
Brief background to the internal party struggle
The victory of the small but united communist party was akin to defeat. The popularity of the authorities fell, peasants took up arms, and workers left the cities. When famine began in the country, it was clear that the discontent of the people could lead to the overthrow of the ruling party. Lenin then tried different methods, spoke about the possibility of returning to the practice of terror, and approved the plan to destroy the opposition. The internal party struggle in the 20s began even before the death of the leader of the world proletariat, and even Lenin’s “Letter to the Congress” (testament) did not put an end to the redistribution of power.
The main contenders for the role of successor
By the beginning of the civil struggle, the health of the leader of the world proletariat was seriously undermined. The reasons for the internal party struggle in the 1920s were already known. After all, someone will have to become the new ideologist and leader of the young state.
Already since 1920, a severe headache did not allow Lenin to work normally. In 1922, he finally retired. In March 1923, he suffered a stroke (his third), so Lenin actually remained out of his mind. In his “Testament” he did not name a successor, but identified several Bolshevik leaders. They turned out to be Stalin, Bukharin, Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Pyatakov. Along with the advantages of politicians, the leader also pointed out their shortcomings. In the eyes of contemporaries, the most likely replacement could be Trotsky. In practice, he became the second person in the country in the years Civil War. Trotsky's services to the Communist Party are also undoubted.
Another possible successor is G.E. Zinoviev was a “disciple of Lenin” and one of the people closest to the leader. But Zinoviev at one time opposed the October Revolution. Although Lenin himself later said that this episode should not be blamed on him.
Stalin, who, as we know, managed to emerge victorious from the internal party struggle in the 20s and 30s, was not very well known in comparison with Trotsky. But at the same time, Stalin was confidently among the leaders of Bolshevism. His rapid ascent to the heights of power began after the end of the war. If for Trotsky, for example, organizing the army was his calling, then for Stalin such a calling was organizing the state apparatus of the young state. In the internal party struggle for power in the 1920s, he was distinguished by extreme caution.
For a long time N.I. remained one of the main ideologists of the Communist Party. Bukharin. He was the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pravda, and co-authored with Preobrazhensky the ABC of Communism. In his “testament” Lenin directly called him “the favorite of the party.” For many years, Bukharin remained only a candidate for the Central Committee and, as many contemporaries believed, had no chance in the internal party struggle in the 20s.
The same was the position of Bukharin's closest supporters - Tomsky, who headed the trade unions, and Rykov, who after the death of the leader received the main post of the Council of People's Commissars.
Stages of redistribution of power in the USSR
According to the emeritus professor of Russian history at Harvard University, the internal party struggle in the 1920s went through stages of concentration of real power in an increasingly narrow group of high-ranking politicians. First, powers transferred from the Central Committee to the Politburo. Then - from the Politbruro to the so-called troika (Stalin - Zinoviev - Kamenev). Finally, the sole rule of Joseph Stalin was established.
The table “Internal Party Struggle in the 1920s” with the main opponents and causes of disputes will also help you navigate the stages.
The split of the party and the fight against the “workers’ opposition”
The split in the ranks of the Bolsheviks began even before Lenin's death. The Bolshevik Party in the early 20s of the last century consisted primarily of representatives of the radical intelligentsia, while it positioned itself as a “worker” party. In the first composition of the Council of People's Commissars there were only two workers (Shlyapnikov and Nogin), and three were nobles. The number of workers in the Communist Party exceeded 50% only in 1923. This was preceded by a general purge of 1922-1923, during which the number of the RCP (b) was significantly reduced.
Settlement of relations between Moscow and the outskirts
After the problem with the “workers’ opposition,” the question arose of regulating relations between the central government and the national outskirts. Stalin, who was concerned with nationalities, then failed to advance his “autonomization” project. Under pressure from Lenin, another law was adopted - the project of the Union of Republics, according to which all national entities received their own state symbols (within the one-party system, all these attributes of statehood were purely decorative).
"Troika" (Zinoviev - Kamenev - Stalin)
The “troika” was formed after Vladimir Lenin’s third stroke. For a short time, Zinoviev managed to become the de facto leader of both the Communist Party and the state as a whole. The Troika launched a large-scale struggle against Trotsky, who at that time was considered one of the most likely successors to the leader and was dangerous, since it was in his hands that the army was in his hands.
The group of Trotsky's supporters in the Central Committee became smaller and smaller, Zinoviev and Stalin actually isolated him from party work. On the eve of the XIII Party Congress, he also lost the pre-congress discussion. Taking advantage of the temporary split between Zinoviev and Stalin, Trotsky began a “literary discussion,” but lost that too.
Intra-party struggle 1923-1924
A romantic ideal of a revolutionary and second-in-command in the state was created around Trotsky, so he expectedly decided to rely on ideological slogans. But Trotsky never managed to win over the majority in the party, although he was very popular among students. Under the influence of Trotsky, the so-called “seven” took shape. There was talk then about the danger of a military coup.
The emergence of the anti-Trotskyist “seven”
Immediately after Lenin's death, several political groups formed, each of which hoped to concentrate all power in its hands. The internal party struggle was just beginning in the 1920s. Groups of “Trotskyists”, “Zinovievites”, “Stalinists” and “Bukharinists” emerged. The Troika united with Bukharin, Tomsky and Rykov, as well as Kuibyshev, who was only a candidate member of the Politburo, forming the Seven. Everyone's solution critical issues was transferred from the Central Committee to the “seven”. The de facto leader of the Seven was Zinoviev.
Announcement of "Lenin's will" in 1924
For the first time, “Letters to the Congress” (Lenin’s so-called “testament”) was read out on May 21, 1924. Lenin advised removing Stalin from the post of General Secretary, identified the main leaders, but did not name his successor. In fact, the publication of the document was not beneficial to any of the persons mentioned in it. But Stalin’s career was saved by Zinoviev, who assured that “the fears of the leader of the world proletariat regarding Comrade Stalin were not confirmed.” By majority vote, it was decided to leave Stalin as Secretary General.
Trotsky's crushing defeat
The next stage of the internal party struggle in the 20s was the defeat of Trotsky. He was left not just in the minority, but practically alone, and in addition, he was persecuted. In the presidium of the congress, the opposition, in fact, was represented only by Trotsky. He found something to answer, but the party did not support the speech. Moreover, some deputies accused Trotsky of promoting the slogan “beat the old people.”
The first split in the “troika” (Zinoviev - Kamenev - Stalin)
Stalin, unlike Trotsky or Zinoviev, had no interest in political strife. The split between the comrades occurred against the backdrop of Kamenev’s incorrect mention. Stalin began a fairly aggressive attack on his own allies immediately after the defeat of their common rival, Trotsky. But Zinoviev, more experienced in the art of oratory, was able to get the statements of the future head of state recognized as erroneous. Stalin decided to form a political alliance with Bukharin.
“Literary discussion” in the fall of 1924
Trotsky considered the split in the “troika” to be a good time for a counter-offensive. The internal party struggle in the 1920s did not stop for a day. He published “Lessons of October,” where he reminded everyone of his role as one of the organizers of the revolution. Bukharin also joined the “literary discussion”, followed by the publications of Stalin and Zinoviev. But as a result, Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky only mutually denigrated each other. Stalin took a neutral position, defending Trotsky from Zinoviev’s attacks, and Zinoviev from Trotsky’s aggression.
"Lenin's call" and the mass character of the party
Lenin maintained a relatively small number of party members (and after the general purge, the number of party members was almost halved), but after his death the course was radically changed. The Communist Party began to transform from a small group into a mass organization. During the “Leninist conscription,” workers were recruited into the party directly “from the machine.” The number of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) reached 1.674 million people by the 30th year, i.e. increased by 2.5 times. Most of them were individuals who hoped to make a party career. Moreover, the educational level has fallen catastrophically. Now only 0.06% of the members of the CPSU(b) had higher education, and the number of deputies with party experience decreased to 2%. In reality, this meant the loss of real power.
Stalin vs Bukharin
In 1925, the “seven” broke up, Stalin teamed up with the so-called “rightists” (Tomsky, Rykov and Bukharin), but not for long. In 1928, the mood changed dramatically. Against the backdrop of failures in foreign policy, the country was gripped by panic, which Stalin took advantage of for the final defeat of the “left”. The congress, which for the first time stated that the party had no opposition, took place in 1934. Then all former oppositionists had the opportunity to “confess their mistakes” and be accepted into the party again. Then with flattering speeches addressed to Rykov, Tomsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Preobrazhensky and others.
Results and consequences of the internal party struggle
The results of the internal party struggle in the 1920s were clearly outlined by 1929. By remaining in the position of General Secretary, which under Lenin was exclusively technical, Stalin was able to concentrate all power in his hands. Thus, since 1929, a one-man Stalinist regime was established in the USSR. In short, the internal party struggle in the 1920s was won by those who were able to skillfully manipulate public opinion and systematically establish control over the entire party apparatus.