Lenin's legacy and Stalin's rise up to 1929

In May 1924 Lenin's widow released Lenin's last testament to the Centeral Committee shortly berfore the 13th Party Congress. Zinoviev an Kamenev argue gainst its publication and Trotsky decideds not to get involved. In his last testemant Lenin failed to mention a successor but gave a critical opinion of othe mebers of th politburo. He was particularly critical of Stalin, partly because of the Georgian affair and because Stalin had insulted Lenins wife and he suggested that members of the party should think about a way of removing Stalin from his post. The testement was never read in public as intended, since the centeral committee decided among themselves to surpress it.

Stalin gave Trotsky the wrong date for Lenins funeral so he was absent, leaving Stalin to give the funeral oration.

A trimulative alliance was formed between Zinoviev, Kamenenv and Stalin as the former seeks help to block Trotsky who seems most likely to succeed. Although Zinoviev and Kamenev share similar left wing views on economic policy Trotsky, they fear him because of his army support, arrogance and uncompromising personality. 

Economic troubles caused divisions within the Bolshevik party. The Workers opposition was set up under Shiyapkinikov and Kollantai and argued for greater worker control and the removal of managers and military discipline in factories. They strongly opposed those in the party that wanted to continue and intensify War Communism i.e. Trotsky.

In February, 1917, Zinoviev was elected Chairman of the Council of Commissars of the Petrograd Workers' Commune. The following month he became Chairman of the Council of Commissars of the Union of Communes of the Northern Region. At the First World Congress of the Comintern in March, 1919, he was elected chairman of the Executive Committee.

The term nomenklatura was often used in the USSR throughout the Stalin and post-Stalin periods to designate members of Soviet officialdom. The term was not generally known in the West until the 1960s. Members of the nomenklatura included Communist Party officials (particularly Party secretaries at any level of the Party organization), government officials, and senior officers in the Soviet armed forces who were Party members. Almost all members were, in fact, Communist Party members. At a minimum, the Party controlled access to nomenklatura jobs. Most often the term was used to describe full-time professional Party officials, also known as apparatchiki, since mere rank-and-file Party members did not hold important executive posts.

The Lenin Enrolment was an effort from 1923 to 1925 to enroll more of the proletariat into the Communist party and incite them to become active in party affairs.

The General Secretary position allowed Stalin to control the party membership, meaning he could appoint new members loyal to himself, whilst replacing existing members that were loyal to others, allowing him to undermine his rivals power bases within the government. By the end of the first stage of the power struggle in 1925, Stalin had Trotsky removed at the Commissar for War, and had ousted him from the Politburo meaning he was no longer in a position of power and influence sufficient to challenge for the party leadership, thus highlighting how Stalin was able to use his position to defeat one of his main rivals. On top of this, he could place loyalist in key positions. 

Trotsky held to the line that the Russians should be working to stir up revolution elsewhere and that there should be 'continuos revolution' until a truly socialist society was created. Stalin, on the other hand, by 1924 adopted the more pragmatic view that there could be 'socialism in one country' and that efforts should be concentrated on building a 'workers paradise' in the Soviet Union as an example to the rest of the world. This less orthodox attitude appealed to those who favoured stability and feared the continuos revolutionary turmoil that Trotsky appeared to be advocating.

The left was represented by Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky favoured abandobing the NEP, the right Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky supported its continuance. Stalin fluctated from a left eaning position to a temporary support for the right and the continuance of the NEP between 1925 and 1928  and back again to the left thereafter. 

December 1922 - alliance formed with Zinoviev and Kamenev against Trotsky

April 1923 - follwing election at the 12th part congress, there are only 3 supporters of Trotsky's in the Centeral Committee.

January 1924 - Lenin dies and Stalin walks in front at his funeral

May 1924 - Lenins last testament is released but not published 

November 1924 - Trotsky's speech in favour of democracy is defeated by Stalinist delegates and Z/K blocs in Congress

January 1925 - Trotsky publisged 'lessons of October' showing how Z + K opposed Lenin on a number of issues.

December 1925 - Trotsky is forced from his position as commissar for war.

July 1926 - Stalin supported Bukharin on the right. Z + K called for a vote of no confidence in Stalin

November 1926 - Z + K join Trotsky in the United Opposition

January 1928 - Trotsky is deported, Stalin announced new left leaning economic policies that were against the ideas of those on the right such as Bukharin

September 1928 - Stalin accused Bukharin and Trotsky of factionalism after they discussed forming an alliance

February 1929 - Stalin has Trotsky sent to Constantinople

April 1929 - Bukharin is removed from his post as editor of the Pravada

November 1929 - Bukharin and his supporters are removed from the politburo (Rykov and Tomsky)

December 1929 - Stalin celbrated his 50th birthday as undisputed Soviet leader

The fourth international was the Communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, or Trotskyists, with the declared goal of helping the working class bring about socialism and work toward international communism. The Fourth International was established in France in 1938: Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union, considered the Comintern or Third International to have become "lost to" Stalinism and incapable of leading the international working class to political power.^[1] Thus, Trotskyists founded their own, competing "Fourth International".

Zinovienv and Kamenev joined Trotsky inthe left wing 'united opposition', trying to appeal to the masses and organising demostrations in Mosocw. Stalin accused them of factionalism and Zinoviev was removed from the Politburo. Zinoviev and Trotsky were expelled from the Communist Party and Kamenev was removed from the Centeral Committee, which lead to the collapse of the United opposition.