The Struggle for Power: Key Players
Joseph Stalin
Background
* Born into a family of Georgian peasants in Gori in 1879 * Educated in a local religious school because his parents wanted him to become a priest. * Continued his spiritual education in Tbilisi upon leaving the seminary and converted to Marxism * Joined the Communist Party in 1902, and in 1912 he was made a member of the Central Committee. * Throughout this time, he was continually in trouble with the police, and was eventually exiled to Siberia, from which he escaped 5 times.
Position(s)
* General Secretary * Controlled the Politburo agenda * Selected delegates for the Party Congresss * Controlled promotions and appointments within the party. * Head of Rabkrin * Controlled party discipline

Revolutionary Record * Was a committee member during the October Revolution and the years that followed * Saw himself as a military tactician and refused to accept Trotsky’s authrotiy during the Civil War. * Never distinguished himself as a revolutionary hero during this period, but in spite of this, by 1921, his presence on many senior committees secured him a position at the highest level of government.
Relationship with Lenin * First meeting occurred in 1905. * In the period prior to the Oct. Rev, Lenin came to rely on Stalin’s administration ability and loyalty. * Prior to Lenin’s illness, Stalin was careful to back him on controversial issues. * Once Lenin became ill Stalin began to oppose him. * Lenin was highly critical of Stalin in his Testament, particually following a disagreement between Stalin and Lenin’s wife. * Lenin expressed concern that Stalin had concentrated an enourmous power in his hand, and did not always use it wisely. As a result, he demanded that the other senior members of the party think about a way of removing Stalin and finding someone more tolerant, loyal, polite and considerate to the comrades and less capricious to take his place. * Lenin’s disapproval of Stalin is also evident in his last essay Better Fewer, But Better which was highly critical of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspectorate, of which Stalin was the Head. * However, he also recognised that, along with Trotsky, he was one of the most able figures of the Central Committee.
Appeal within the party * Appeal was threefold. * He had the power to advance the careers of those within the Communist Party machine as a result of his many bureaucratic positions. * Unlike Bukharin and Trotksy he appeared to be the voice fo calm moderation. * He was prepared to appeal to the national pride of those he sought to lead.
Significance
* He could influence what was discussed at Politburo meetings * He could fill the Party Congress with his supporters * He had the power to reward those who were loyal to him.

Leon Trotsky (who thinks you’re hotsky)
Background
* Born in 1979 to a relatively well-off Jewish family of independent farmers * At the turn of the century, he joined a revolutionary group, but was soon exiled to Siberia because of his political radicalism. * In 1902, following a daring escape, he joined Lenin and other Marxists in London.
Position(s)
* Head of the Red Army
Revolutionary Record * Reputation as a revolutionary was established in the 1905 Revolution. * He was a leading figure in the short-lived St. Petersburg Soviet of November 1905 which organised a general strike amongst the St Petersburg workers. * In 1917 his reputation won support for the Communists during the crucial period in which the October Revolution was planned. * Trotsky masterminded the Communist seizure of power and was subsequently responsible for consolidating Communist rule, through his leadership and restructuring the Red Army during the Civil War of 1918-1921.
Relationship with Lenin * Early relationship was turbulent and in 1903 he sides with the Mensheviks, rejecting Lenin’s belief in a disciplined, secretive, professional political party. These struggles continued until 1917. * When he returned to Russia in 1917, he joined the Communists and was able to work closely with Lenin. * Throughout the Civil War, Lenin and Trotsky also saw eye-to-eye over the controversial issue of restoring discipline to the Red Army. * In government, Trotsky acted as Lenin’s principal lieutenant and Lenin was happy to proclaim that there was no better Communist. * Lenin singled Trotsky out as the most able man in the present Central committee in his Testament * However, he also noted Trotsky’s “far too reaching self-confidence”, a character trait that others saw as arrogance.
Appeal within the Party * Trotsky’s revolutionary heroism in 1905, 1917 and during the Civil War won him the support of many young Communists and students as well as the loyalty of the Red Army. * However, he was not a typical Communist and therefore he had many enemies within the Party. * Trotsky’s time in exile had made him one of the most “western” of the Party leadership and was also the most urban. * In a country that was predominantly rural and was increasingly proud of its national identity this alienated Trotsky from many within the Party. * Finally, many of the party resented the way in which Trotsky had Lenin’s trust as well as important positions within the government, despite joining the party late.
Significance
* He was seen as a threat because Party members thought he might use the army to seize power. * He gained the loyalty of members of the army, some of whom we also members of the party. * However, many members of the army were not members of the party, and therefore could not attend the party congress.

Bukharin
Background
* Born in 1888, Bukharin was the youngest of Lenin’s potential heirs. * His parents were teachers, and he joined the Communists in 1906, organising a strike in a boot factory in the same year. * Having been arrested and imprisoned for revolutionary activity many times, he escaped from Russia in 1910 and met Lenin in exile 2 years later.
Position(s)
* Head of the Media * Editor of Pravda
Revolutionary Record * One of the leading lights in the Moscow Communist Party during 1917, and following the October Revolution, his radicalism inspired his compatriots to seize power in Moscow. * During the Civil War, Bukharin’s revolutionary zeal was evident in his publications for Pravda and his work encouraging German communists to rise up and seize power in their own country.
Relationship with Lenin * Admired Lenin – in 1916, he wrote to Lenin, “I have the greatest respect for you and look on you as my revolutionary teacher and love you”. * Lenin in return referred to Bukharin as the “golden boy” of the Communist Party. * Often at ideological loggerheads. * Following the Rev, Bukharin headed the first Communist opposition group, who criticised Lenin’s policy of peace with Germany. * At the end of the Civil War, Bukharin abandoned his early radicalism and embraced Lenin’s New Economic Policy. * In his Testament, Lenin recognised that Bukharin was “favourite of the whole Party” and also stated that he was the most able force amongst the youngest of the party. * However Lenin had serious reservations about Bukharin’s skills as a theorist, stating that his theoretical views can only with the very greatest doubt be viewed as fully Marxist. This criticism was highly significant because the Communist party believed passionately tht the correct throery was essential if they were to change the world.
Appeal within the party * Lenin famously remarked that Bukharin was the favourite of the whole party. His appeal was such that in 1921 a foreign visitor to Moscow claimed that Bukharin was “named in Russia as the eventual successor to Lenin”. * Bukharin’s reputation for “honesty, fairness and incorruptibility” no doubt explain this attraction.
Significance
* He could publish his own views and criticise those of others.
Zinoviev
Background * Born in 1883 and was the son of a Jewish dairy farmer * Home schooled and as a result was the least educated of the Communist leaders. * Joined the communists in 1903 and following his arrest in 1907 for revolutionary activities, he was exiled to Switzerland, where he became Lenin’s latest collaborator.
Position(s)
* Head of the Petrograd Party
Revolutionary Record * Short on revolutionary heroism. * In October 1917, he opposed the planned coup. * During the Civil War he remained in Petrograd’s most luxurious hotel, far away from the fighting.
Relationship with Lenin * Worked with Lenin on a number of books and pamphlets, and returned to Russia with him in April 1917. * Friendship was evident fromt eh fact that Zinoviev then accompanied Lenin into hiding in mid-17. * Their relationship was so close that Trotsky claimed that Zinoviev even adopted his own handwriting. * Following their return to Russia, they disagreed on two crucial issues. * He argued against the imminent Communist seizure of power. * Following the seizure of power, he suggested that the Communists should share power with other socialist parties. * In spite of this, once he dropped his opposition, Zinoviev returned to his position as one of Lenin’s most loyal henchmen. * It was Zinoviev’s disloyalty and lack of vision that Lenin remembered in his testament – “I will only remind you that the October episode of Zinoviev and Kamenev was not, of course, accidental”
Appeal within the party * Least appealing of the contenders. * Was a good speaker when the crowd was with him * His vanity, naked ambition and obvious political failings led many in the party to express their open contempt for hom.
Significance
* Had the loyalty of a large section of the party.
Kamenev
Background * Born in 1883 and was the only potential party leader who had a working-class background. * Revolutionary career began in 1900 when he was expelled from school for subversive activity. He was arrested and exiled in 1902 and quickly joined Lenin in Paris. * He returned to Russia to work for the Communists amongst the working class and was exiled twice more, finally joining Stalin in exile in Siberia. * Kamenev’s first wife was Trotsky’s sister.
Position(s)
* Head of the Moscow party
Revolutionary Record * Better known for caution than for revolutionary passion. * Following his return to Petrograd in March 1917, he disagreed with Lenin on several issues of strategy, opposing the April Theses, the October Revolution and the creation of an all-Communist government. * In addition, he played no notable part in the civil war.
Relationship with Lenin * Kamenev was Lenin’s closest friend and collaboration prior to 1917 after Zinoviev. * However during ’17 he was one of the most senior Communists to oppose the central thrust of Lenin’s vision. * Following the revolution, Kamenev was reconciled with lenin and they remained close during Lenin’s final years. * In his testament, Lenin bracketed Kamenev and Zinoviev, reminding his readers of their disloyalty in the crucial months of 1917.
Appeal within the party * Had little personal ambition and therefore saw no need to consolidate his support base. * In contrast to Zinoviev, he was something of an intellectual, but an uninspiring public speaker. * He had a reputation for compromise and for giving up easily in the face of opposition.
Significance
* Had the loyalty of a large section of the party.