The Communist Party & Government

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The Communist Party

After Stalin had sidelined his opponents and taken power, he strengthened his hold on the Communist Party.

Stalin's opponents

Although the left of the party was united by the end of 1925, it was not able to challenge Stalin.
Zinoviev and Trotsky had had too many public disagreements to allow the basic level of agreement between them on economic issues to shine through.

1926 Central Committee plenum

At the 1926 Central Committee plenum, the United Opposition (Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev) would not attack the General Secretariat.
In 1927, the united Opposition started to attack Stalin's policy of 'Socialism in One Country'.
- They blamed it for economic failures.

Party expulsions

The United Opposition members were expelled from the party for their opposition.
This took place at the Fifteenth Party Congress in December 1927.

Five Year Plans

Stalin had the Congress reaffirm the New Economic Policy.
He also laid the grounds for the Five Year Plans.
- This was so he could present the Five Year Plans as a gradual change, when it fact they were a radical move away from the New Economic Policy.

Communist Party divisions

There was a still a divide between Bukharin and others who believed in the NEP.
The majority under Stalin believed that the NEP strayed too far from Marxism.
- Stalin had now completed his move from a supporter of Lenin's NEP to striking his own path.

1The End of Tsardom

1.1Russia's Economy & Society

1.1.1Industrialisation

1.1.2Living & Working Conditions

1.2Nicholas II's Autocracy & the Court

1.2.1Growth of Revolutionary Opposition

1.2.2The 1905 Revolution & the October Manifesto

1.2.3Reforming Russia Before 1914 - Stolypin

1.2.4The Duma & Political Stalemate

1.3The First World War

1.3.1The Impact of Military Defeats

1.3.2Social & Economic Effects of WW1

1.3.3Romanov Unpopularity

1.3.4The Tsar's Abdication

1.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - The End of Tsardom

2Lenin's New Society

2.1The Provisional Government

2.1.1The Failure of the Government

2.1.2Social & Economic Problems

2.1.3Lenin & Trotsky

2.1.4The Growth of the Bolsheviks

2.1.5The October / November Revolution

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - The Provisional Government

2.2The Impact of Lenin's Dictatorship

2.2.1The End of the First World War

2.2.2The Cheka

2.2.3Red Terror & Centralisation

2.2.4The Civil War & The Red Army

2.2.5Propaganda

2.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Early Bolshevism & the Civil War

2.3Social & Economic Developments

2.3.1War Communism

2.3.2The Kronstadt Rising

2.3.3The New Economic Policy (NEP)

2.3.4The Achievements of Lenin & Trotsky

2.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Social & Economic Developments

3Stalin's USSR

3.1Stalin the Dictator

3.1.1The Power Struggle to Succeed Lenin

3.1.2The Communist Party & Government

3.1.3The Terror & the Purges

3.1.4The Secret Police

3.1.5Cult of Personality

3.1.6Propaganda & Censorship under Stalin

3.1.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Stalin's Dictatorship

3.2Stalin's Modernisation of the USSR

3.2.1Collectivisation

3.2.2Five Year Plans

3.2.3Social & Economic Consequences

3.2.4Social & Economic Consequences 2

3.2.5The Extent of Modernisation

3.3Impact of the Second World War

3.3.1Stalin's Wartime Leadership

3.3.2Political, Economic & Social Consequences of War

3.3.3Top Grade AO2/3 - Modernisation of the USSR

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