Stalin & the Communist Party

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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 Leadership Struggle, 1924-1929

1.1Struggle for Power 1924-28

1.1.1Stalin & his Rivals

1.1.2The End of Lenin & Stalin

1.1.3Stalin & the Communist Party

2Five Year Plans & Collectivisation

2.1Changes in Industry

2.1.1Industrialisation & Gosplan

2.2Agriculture & Collectivisation

2.2.1Five Year Plans & Grain Hoarding

2.2.2Collectivisation

2.2.3Kulaks

3Purges, Show Trials & The Cult of Stalin

3.1The Use of Terror in the 1930s

3.1.1Purges

3.1.2NKVD

3.1.3Show Trials

3.1.4Labour Camps

3.2Propaganda & Censorship

3.2.1Art & Religion Under Stalin

3.2.2Media & the Cult of Stalin

3.2.3The Cult of Stalin

3.2.4History

4Life in the Soviet Union, 1924-1941

4.1Life in the Soviet Union

4.1.1Living Conditions & Ethnic Minorities in the USSR

5The Second World War, 1941-1953

5.1USSR in the War

5.1.11941-1942

5.1.21943-1945

5.2Stalin & WW2

5.2.1Stalin's Popularity

5.2.2Post-War Consolidation

5.3Post-War Recovery

5.3.1Economic Recovery

5.3.2The USSR by 1953

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