On January 21, 1924, Lenin, the founder and great leader of the Soviet Union, died of a stroke in the village of Gorky at the age of 54. Lenin's death cast a shadow over the nascent state, the industrial and agricultural modernization of the Soviet Union was just beginning, and the remnants of Tsarist Russia and the bourgeoisie lurked in anticipation of the day when the Bolsheviks would be expelled and returned to power.
Within the Bolsheviks, too, there were many factions and open and covert rivalries. However, during Lenin's lifetime, these leaders were able to unite and contribute to nation-building.
But now, with Lenin's death and the loss of restraint among the factional leaders, once-hidden struggles have surfaced, and political storms are sweeping the country.
Lenin's heir, everyone knows Stalin, but perhaps less well known is that Stalin was the winner of the internal struggle in the USSR after Lenin's death. In that war without gunpowder, Stalin defeated his rivals through a series of tactics, and finally became the final winner in this political wrestling between the winner and the loser.
Therefore, today, let us look back at history, go back to that special era of change, and uncover the mystery of Stalin's successful ascension.
After Lenin's death, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was divided into four main factions: the Leningrad faction, the party affairs department, the Council of People's Commissars and the Trotsky faction.
The leader of the Leningrad faction was Kamenev, who was known for his eloquence, a master of propaganda and a top orator within the CPSU, and a right-hand man of Lenin's revolution that year.
As a revolutionary hero, Kamenev was the chairman of the Soviet Congress (Soviet), influencing the direction of Soviet policy. If the Leningrad faction is the meritorious patriarch of the great teacher, then the party department is the pro-life faction cultivated by Lenin himself.
The main representatives of the party department were two generals: Sverdlov and Kamenev of the Leningrad faction. Sverdlov, who was in charge of personnel management and promotion, was a staunch communist fighter who spent twelve years of his revolutionary career in prison and exile, excelled in political work, and was the first real head of state in the Soviet Union.
In terms of qualifications and ability, Sverdlov is the best candidate for the second generation of the Soviet Union.
Although Sverdlov's strong will was not weakened by his long imprisonment, his physical condition gradually deteriorated, and he eventually died in 1919. After his death, his colleague in the Department of Party Affairs, Stalin, came to prominence.
Although Stalin was in charge of political work and logistics during Sverdlov's lifetime, and was the second-in-command of the party department, the financial work he was responsible for was a very difficult task.
After all, after working as an accountant for a long time, it is easy to offend people. In addition, Stalin was older, the same age as Lenin and other first-generation leaders, and his long hours of accounting work made him almost unremarkable.
He could not help but feel dissatisfied when he saw the young Bolsheviks become Lenin's right and left men. Fortunately, Sverdlov's death provided him with an opportunity to get out of the boring logistics and walk to the rostrum.
After discussing the Leningrad faction and the party department, let's talk about the People's Commissars faction, as well as the important figure in it, Bukharin.
Bukharin, a young senior member of the CPSU born in 1888, gradually emerged with his outstanding theoretical attainments, outstanding governing ability, and profound cultural heritage.
In Lenin's favor, he entered the Politburo early, became a central figure in charge of ideology and propaganda work, and was once regarded as Lenin's ** person. His political future is bright, and the entire faction of the People's Commissars basically follows his line of thought.
Although there were three factions within the CPSU, and their interests and political ideas differed, in general, they were all influenced by Lenin's ideas and had a relatively harmonious relationship.
And the Trotskyists, led by Trotsky, were an outlier within the CPSU, who played an important role in the revolution and was one of the founders of the Red Army. Despite his unique position within the CPSU, his charisma and leadership skills made him a hero in the hearts of the Russian people and played an important role in promoting the development of the CPSU.
Trotsky, a brilliant and highly decorated leader, should have received the commendations he deserved, such as being named "King of the Word Side-by-Shoulder". However, Trotsky's radical ideas brought him into conflict with Lenin's revolutionary theory.
He believed that Lenin's success was only good luck, and that his "theory of permanent revolution" was the real Marxism. He believed that only a big capitalist country like Britain, France and Germany was worthy of a socialist revolution, and that this revolution had to take place at the same time, otherwise it would be strangled by internal and external forces, as in the Paris Commune.
Obviously, Trotsky's theory is wrong and an over-reading of Marx's theory. Although Trotsky's theories had a certain market in the CPSU and abroad, his faction was at odds with the Leningrad faction, the party affairs department, and the council of people's commissars.
Although during Lenin's lifetime the parties were able to unite and reach partial agreement with the Trotskyists, it was up to Lenin to maintain this balance. With Lenin's death, cracks began to crack in this balance, and a political storm was on the horizon.
On January 21, 1924, Lenin died of illness, the balance within the CPSU was broken, and Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Stalin became the troika of the Soviet Union in the new era, and began to crowd out Trotsky.
Trotsky initially intended to contend with them, but he overestimated his strength. As one of the few "oppositionists" within the Soviet Union, Trotsky was able to sit on an equal footing with the leaders of the factions solely because he had Lenin's support.
Despite the irreconcilable ideological differences between Trotsky and Lenin, Lenin's personality allowed them to have different voices. However, when Lenin died, Trotsky's ideas and himself lost their shelter, and how could he win the political struggle?
The alliance of Stalin and Bukharin quickly formed, and they united against the Leningradists. Stalin used Bukharin as his ally and gave him an important role in the CPSU.
They accused Kamenev and Zinoviev of their economic policies and the weakness of the Comintern, and criticized them for not being in line with the ideals of the Bolsheviks. Their attacks further narrowed the living space of the Leningrad faction and ultimately led to their defeat.
Bukharin's popularity rose and he became Stalin's right-hand man. However, with the disappearance of the common enemy, Stalin began to become dissatisfied with Bukharin, and a rift appeared in the relationship between the two.
At this time, the total value of industrial and agricultural output in the USSR reached a new height, and the implementation of the first five-year plan began. However, the rapid development of the *** is that Stalin and his supporters devoted all their energies to heavy industry, and light industry and agriculture paid little attention.
Especially on the issue of agriculture, the policy of the CPSU was very harsh on the peasants, which led to a sharp decline in the enthusiasm of the peasants for production, and the work of purchasing grain was facing an unprecedented crisis.
Bukharin believed that the extraordinary measures taken to purchase grain had reached the point of "feudal exploitation" and, if not changed, would only force the peasants to rebel.
A phrase from the Soviet peasants caused an uproar within the Soviet Union. Bukharin, Stalin's right-hand man in the anti-Trotsky, openly betrayed Stalin, sending a signal to the outside world that the conflict of political ideas between him and Stalin could not be reconciled.
Such an act of Bukharin, which required great courage, although he had joined forces with Stalin and annexed the Leningrad faction, becoming the head of the Comintern and the mouthpiece of the state.
However, the People's Commissariat faction, led by him, did not gain much in this struggle. Except for his old comrade-in-arms Rykov, who was not sensitive to politics, his faction did not absorb a single bit of fresh blood.
In other words, Bukharin fought alone on the issue of uneven development of industry and agriculture, and the end result was obvious. Bukharin not only could not fight Stalin, but also could not shake the towering tree called the "Party Affairs Department".
Bukharin and Rykov, who had lost the political struggle, were swept to the end, and their work was handed over by Stalin to his close confidant Molotov. However, Stalin showed mercy at this time, retaining Bukharin's party membership and making him a leader of the Scientific Research Planning Bureau, as well as participating in the revision of state laws.
At least he didn't go into exile like Trotsky.
Molotov's passion special.
With the loss of Bukharin's power, the party affairs department flourished within the Soviet Union, and Stalin became the only person to speak within the CPSU. The former opponents either retired to the countryside, or went overseas, or stayed in ** to become rubber stamps.
It stands to reason that the political struggle should come to an end at this point, after all, everyone is a civilized person, and we should leave some dignity for each other, and drink some vodka to reminisce about the past when we are old. However, the decency of politicians is extremely fragile in the face of the disparity of power between the two sides, especially when Stalin is in charge of the party, government and army.
This beautiful vision, called "mutual decency", was disillusioned by the death of one person. At half past four o'clock in the afternoon of December 1, 1934, Kirov, then the first secretary of the Leningrad City Party Committee, was about to go to his office when a pistol was pointed at the back of his head, and then a gunshot rang out.
Kirov was tragically killed in an assassination attempt, triggering a major internal protest in the CPSU. As a staunch follower of Stalin, he made a great contribution to the "anti-Trust" struggle, was awarded the post of First Secretary of Leningrad and was regarded as Stalin's **man.
Stalin and Kirov also had a close personal relationship, and the two often discussed family and state affairs together, and sometimes Stalin would let Kirov sleep in his own bed and cover himself with a blanket on the sofa.
Kirov's death made Stalin furious, and although he repeatedly stated that Kirov's assassination was motivated by personal vendettas, Stalin was convinced that someone had planned the assassination behind the scenes.
This made him feel extremely frustrated and irritable. In the past, everyone could compete secretly, but this assassination made everything public, and lost the style of a civilized person.
Smolny Palace, you dare to be the first secretary elected by the people in broad daylight, and even the Smolny Palace can let a crazy man in, so won't the Kremlin where I live now be infiltrated by the enemy?
It seems that the greatest enemy of the Soviets is not the remnants of Tsarist Russia, nor overseas imperialism, but this group of sanctimonious "comrades". When Kirov was killed and Pandora's box was opened, Stalin ordered Yagoda, the head of the GPU, to solve the case within ten days and find out the culprit who killed Kirov.
Yagoda understood and immediately understood what the leader meant, and in just a few days he found out the "truth". The ** who killed Kirov was none other than Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin, and other old leaders who were idle at home.
In Yagoda's case file report, Kamenev and others were portrayed as restless conspirators, although they had no real power, but their factional strength was intricate and they were also in disobedience to the implementation of national policies.
Since they are committing crimes in a gang, they have to pull out the radish and bring out the mud, and under the interrogation of the GPU, the number of prisoners has increased exponentially, and the military and political bosses of the ** and the top leaders of the local ** have all been taken to the temporary prison by the GPU.
Although Yezhov Yagoda successfully completed the tasks assigned by Stalin, the results of his work were not recognized by the leaders. Before Yagoda's debriefing, Stalin had decided to remove him and replace him with Yezhov.
Yezhov was well aware of the reasons of his predecessor, in fact, Stalin felt that Yagoda was slow to act and killed not enough people. But this sensitive topic can only be hinted at, not explicitly stated.
Therefore, after Yezhov took over the GPU, he immediately shortened the trial period, and those who could be sentenced to death were never sentenced to life imprisonment, and those who could be exiled to the Gulag were never locked up in ordinary prisons.
Under Yezhov's leadership, the killing machine of the GPU began to run rapidly. In order to survive, Kamenev and Zinoviev can only choose to "turn themselves in" and confess their sins in exchange for hope of life.
Immediately afterwards, Stalin's former good brother Bukharin also followed in the footsteps of the old-timers and was sent to the execution ground together with his deputy Rykov. By all means, Stalin finally consolidated his position in the Soviet Union, and his prestige reached unprecedented heights.