The Power Struggle.
- Created by: georgiarp
- Created on: 31-05-18 23:46
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- The Power Struggle.
- Lenin's Testament
- A letter made by Lenin that was meant to be read out after his death at the Party congress
- An assessment of his colleagues showing their true colours and their faults which he tried to expose
- Stalin
- Was very centred, would not chose whether he was left or right until he saw who was winning
- He was feared by many as he was known to be violent and crude
- He was a new Bolshevik, so many thought that it would be easy to simply overstate him when they felt they could, they were wrong many Old Bolsheviks underestimated him
- He only played a minor role in the Rev of 1917, unlike other contenders like Trotsky, which mean he had no experience to back himself
- Trotsky
- +Played major roles in the Civil War and the 1917 Revolution, people were always very impressed with his skills
- +A brilliant intellectual and theorist, who was inspiring in his speeches
- +Great organisational, political and authoritarian skills
- -He was prone to sudden illnesses, so fell ill at critical moments
- -Many old Bolsheviks were weary of him, they feared that he would use his Red Army to seize control of power
- -He was arrogant and was rude to those who he thought were less clever than himself
- He could be indecisive and made serious errors of judgement, as shown when attacking the Party bureaucracy in 1924
- Kamenev
- + a skilful politician and good with people, he was closely linked to Zinoviev and the 2 acted as a partnership.
- +When Lenin became ill, he trusted Kamenev with many of his personal papers
- +He had a strong power base in Moscow, where he ran the local party.
- + He was able to smooth out difficulties and had the ability to get things done
- -He gained a rep for inconsistency by switching alliances between Stalin and Trotsky
- -He was too soft and lacked the drive to be a leader, he seriously underestimated Stalin
- Zinoviev
- +One of the parties best speechmakers, as an Old Bolshevik many people gave him respect for his contribution to the Rev
- Lenin called him his "closest and most trusted assistant"
- +His role as party boss in Leningrad gave him a strong political base
- -He opposed Lenin at the time of the Bolshevik Coup, which was always held against him
- -He seriously underestimated Stalin, he and Kamenev left it too late before switching their support to Trotsky
- Bukharin
- +He was both impressive and likeable, a brilliant intellectual and theoretician.
- +Lenin called him the darling of the party
- -He could be naive and lack the capacity of a leader
- +He was popular and close to Lenin, he was friends with Trotsky but also a close associate of Stalin
- -He had no power base as he tried to maintain good relations with everyone
- -He underestimated Stalin and made tactical mistakes, he made an alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev too late.
- Rykov
- -Although he was close to Lenin he often disagreed with him and the radicals
- +he was widely respected for his experience since the early days of the rev
- +He managed the switch to the NEP from War communism
- -He was overshadowed by Bukharin and his greater abilities
- -He placed a tax on Vodka which caused great opposition
- He underestimated stalin and worked too late
- Tomsky
- +a long associate with the Trade Unions, His role as chief spokesman for TU gave him a strong political power base.
- +He was a natural ally for other leaders
- -His intense hostility towards Trotsky blinded him to the danger of Stalin
- -His power base in the TU made him the perfect target for stalin
- -His NEP support was used against him in the 1927 Grain crisis
- Lenin's Testament
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