Political authority and government to 1953

Joseph Stalin's rise to power and consolidation of political authority in the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953 was marked by extensive purges, political repression, and the establishment of a totalitarian regime.

Key aspects of his rule included the centralisation of power, the use of propaganda, and a series of infamous show trials that eliminated potential rivals and instilled fear across the nation.

Rise to Power

• Power Struggle after Lenin: After Lenin's death in 1924, a power struggle ensued between Stalin and other leading Bolsheviks, including Leon Trotsky, Lev Kamenev, and Grigory Zinoviev.
• Elimination of Rivals: Stalin systematically out maneuvered his rivals by building a base of support within the Communist Party. He allied with Kamenev and Zinoviev to isolate Trotsky, then turned against them and later Bukharin and the Right Opposition.

Centralisation of Power

• Control of the Communist Party: By the late 1920s, Stalin had consolidated his control over the Communist Party, holding key positions such as General Secretary. He used these roles to appoint loyalists to important positions, ensuring his dominance.
• Cult of Personality: Stalin fostered a cult of personality, portraying himself as the true heir of Lenin and the father of the Soviet people. This was achieved through propaganda, public appearances, and the manipulation of media and education.

The Great Purge (1936-1938)

• Overview: The Great Purge was a campaign of political repression that targeted perceived enemies of the state, both within the Communist Party and across broader society. It aimed to consolidate Stalin's power by eliminating real and imagined threats.
• NKVD Role: The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) played a crucial role in carrying out arrests, executions, and deportations to labour camps (Gulags).

Show Trials

The show trials were public trials of high-profile party members and officials, which were heavily scripted to demonstrate the guilt of the accused and justify their execution or imprisonment. They were a key element of Stalin's strategy to eliminate opposition and consolidate power.

The Trial of the Sixteen (1936):

• Defendants: Included prominent Old Bolsheviks such as Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev.
• Charges: Accused of forming a terrorist organization, conspiring with Trotsky, and plotting to assassinate Stalin.
• Outcome: All defendants were found guilty and executed.

The Trial of the Seventeen (1937):

• Defendants: Included Karl Radek, Yuri Pyatakov, and other party members.
• Charges: Accused of participating in a Trotskyist anti-Soviet bloc, sabotage, and espionage.
• Outcome: Thirteen were executed, and the rest received long prison sentences.

The Trial of the Twenty-One (1938):

• Defendants: Included Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, and other senior officials.
• Charges: Accused of plotting to overthrow the Soviet government, espionage, and participating in a counter-revolutionary bloc.
• Outcome: Bukharin, Rykov, and most of the other defendants were executed.

Impact of the Show Trials

• Elimination of Opposition: The show trials effectively removed any remaining opposition within the Communist Party and instilled fear among potential rivals.
• Culture of Fear: The widespread arrests, confessions extracted under torture, and public executions created a pervasive atmosphere of fear and suspicion across the Soviet Union.
• Historical Revisionism: Stalin used the trials to rewrite history, portraying his victims as traitors and enemies of socialism, while he positioned himself as the sole protector of the revolution.

Wartime Leadership

World War II (The Great Patriotic War):

• During WWII, Stalin assumed direct control of military strategy as Supreme Commander. His leadership during the war, despite initial setbacks and heavy losses, eventually led to the Soviet Union playing a crucial role in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

World War II (The Great Patriotic War)

Post-War Purges:

• After the war, Stalin continued purging perceived enemies, including the Leningrad Affair (1949), which targeted prominent party officials accused of treason and corruption.

Governing the USSR

Politburo

• Rarely met
• In 1945 almost the same as in 1939
• Stalin controlled decision-making
• Details were left to others to protect Stalin (if it went wrong so he wasn't entirely to blame)
• Rivalry between contenders was encouraged
• Key roles of Molotov, Kaganovich, Khrushchev, Zhdanov, Malenkov and Mikoyan
• Zhdanov regarded as Stalin's favourite – had led the defence of Leningrad
• Beria however backed Malenkov
• There was a split in factions

Party

• Not significant in initiating policies and actions
• Before the war, their main role was coordinating economic activity
• Supervised agencies of government
• Grew to 6 million members during WWII
• Many of the intake had little knowledge of the outside world or old revolutionary history and tradition
• A huge number of members were under the age of 45
• Followed directives without question

Stalin

• Preferred to rule informally
• Had small, close, loyal groups
• Told them no more than they needed and only when they needed to know it
• People were scared of him
• Encouraged leadership contender rivalry
• Remained suspicious of everyone despite his intense control
• Stalin's power was pretty much untouchable

19th Party Congress 1952

• Stalin took little direct part
• Sat and watched the proceedings
• Made his last speech at a meeting of the Central Committee
• Attacked Molotov and Mikoyan
• 25 replaced the Politburo 11
• Indicated a possible purge
• A new generation of leadership introduced
• Beria felt he was at risk
• Molotov was certain he was in danger
• Nobody felt safe

Post-War Politics and Control

• Reconstruction and Control: Stalin focused on rebuilding the Soviet Union, maintaining strict control over the satellite states in Eastern Europe, and intensifying the Cold War against the West.

The Shakhty trial: May 1928

📌 Why?

• To show that non-communist technical elite could not be trusted
• To intimidate managers and Party officials
• Prepare the way for rapid industrialisation
• To stir up class warfare

📌 When?

• May 1928

📌 Who?

• Attack on bourgeois specialists and engineers
• 53 managerial and technical staff
• Accused of counter-revolutionary activities
• Stalin closely involved with proceedings

📌 What happened?

• Lasted 41 days
• Attended by 30,000 Soviet inhabitants
• Stalin demanded death sentences

📌 Impacts?

• Five executed
• Rest were imprisoned
• Created shockwaves throughout the planning system
• Gosplan purged of pessimists and non-Party members at the end of the 1920s
• Statisticians who presented low targets replaced by those who could paint a more optimistic picture

Stalin's Death

Stalin's Death

Circumstances of Stalin's Stroke:

Stalin suffered a severe stroke on the night of 1st March 1953, following a session of excessive drinking. The stroke left him paralysed and incapacitated, unable to communicate or move.

Politburo's Reluctance:

Members of the Politburo were hesitant to intervene immediately after Stalin's stroke. There was significant apprehension and fear surrounding any decision to act, as Stalin's wrath and paranoia had previously led to the purging of many officials.

The Doctor's Plot:

Stalin's personal physician had been imprisoned during the so-called Doctor's Plot, an anti-Semitic campaign that accused many of the Soviet Union's top doctors of plotting to kill Soviet leaders. This arrest meant that Stalin did not have immediate access to his own trusted medical care, contributing to the delay in his treatment.

Stalin's Death:

Despite the eventual intervention, Stalin's condition did not improve. He passed away four days later, on 5th March 1953.

Public Reaction:

The news of Stalin's death prompted a complex mixture of relief and grief across the Soviet Union. Publicly, there were massive displays of mourning, with vast crowds showing their sorrow in highly emotional demonstrations.

Embalming and Viewing:

Stalin's body was embalmed and placed on display in Moscow, allowing thousands of citizens to pay their respects. The display of his body was a significant event, drawing people from all over the Soviet Union to view their late leader.

Climate of Fear:

Despite the relief felt by many, it was extremely risky to express any negative sentiments about Stalin in such a volatile and uncertain political climate. The pervasive fear of retribution and the ingrained culture of surveillance meant that public expressions of grief were expected and safer than any form of dissent.

Khrushchev's rise to power

Nikita Khrushchev

📌 Who was going to take power after Stalin?

• 1953-57 a period of collective leadership
• The five-man collective leadership
• They were five 'equals' (yeah right, "equals" lmao nope they're gonna stab each other in the back)
• Malenkov, Beria, Molotov, Voroshilov and Khrushchev
• Took over the Party on Stalin's death
• Cut the size of the Presidium down to ten
• Malenkov succeeded Stalin as Prime Minister and Party Secretary
• Remained Party Secretary for only a week

All collective leaders were members of the Presidium:

• Malenkov: Prime Minister
• Beria: Minister of the Interior and Head of the Secret Police
• Molotov: Foreign Minister
• Voroshilov: Head of State (ceremonial role)
• Khrushchev: First Party Secretary (from Sept)
• Malenkov may well have believed Prime Minister was a more important role than Party Secretary
• Khrushchev only member of the collective leadership to not have a top government job and was also the only person who was in the Secretariat and the Presidium
• The party was now his power base and he was determined to exploit it fully as Stalin had done

Beria makes the early running

• Rushed from Stalin's deathbed to ransack Stalin's office and empty the safe
• The safe kept evidence of colleagues' personal foibles and damning reports on the State's excessive use of violence as Beria planned to use these
• Beria was ambitious and the head of the secret police
• He was feared and disliked by the other leaders
• Was quick to grasp the initiative
• Appeared to initially overwhelm his competitors and add to their fears
• Put forward a reform programme
• Imposed reforms on the East German leadership

Lavrenty Beria

• Amnesty brought the release of about one million prisoners mainly criminals on shorter sentences. He talked of dismantling the gulags as he knew how uneconomic they were and how innocent most of the inmates were.
• Reversed policies of Russification, In particular, west Ukraine and the Baltic states
• Appeared ready to accept a non-communist Germany
• When there was a rising in East Berlin, Beria was blamed
• Helped Khrushchev gain support for his removal

Beria's removal

• Hard to move against since he had control of the secret police
• Had bugged the Kremlin and telephones and homes of his rivals
• Surprise and support of the army were essential
• Khrushchev took lead at the Presidium meeting on June 26th
• Several members carried arms in case things got out of hand, Marshall Zhukov and an armed squad were in the next room
• Khrushchev, Malenkov and others accused Beria of many crimes
• At a given signal Zhukov rushed in and arrested him and two weeks later his disgrace was endorsed by the Central Committee
• With Khrushchev as the dominant figure, they blamed Beria for the worst excesses of Stalinism
• Denounced in Pravda as an enemy of the people
• Implausibly accused of being a British agent for 30 years
• Kept in custody for 6 months
• After a secret trial Beria was executed along with six of his colleagues | KHRUSHCHEV | MALENKOV | |---|---| | • Extrovert, boorish, overbearing
  - Full of energy
  - Born to a peasant family in 1894
  - Only had four years of schooling
  - Became a metal worker in Yuzovka (now Donetsk)
  - Joined the Party in 1918
  - After the civil war worked for it either in Ukraine or Moscow
  - Worked closely with Kaganovich on the Moscow Metro
  - Succeeded him as Party Secretary for the Moscow region
  • Complicit in the Terror
  • Not a full member of the Politburo until 1939
  • Hero-worshipped Stalin
  • Was thrilled Stalin liked him
  • Spent the war as a political officer and was at Stalingrad
  • Afterwards was Party Secretary in Ukraine
  - Then in Moscow where he was part of
  Stalin's inner circle
  - Had a particular interest in agriculture
  • Became more pronounced when he came to power
  • Completely the opposite of Stalin
  • Liked getting mud on his boots
  • Visited collective farms | • Life so tied down by bureaucratic duty 'he had no image of his own' (historian Roy Medvedev)
  • More educated and intelligent than many of his colleagues
  • A loyal Stalinist
  • Benefitted from the purges
  • During the war, he was a member of the State Defence Committee
  • Had responsibility for aircraft production
  • Sharpest rivalry in immediate post-war years with Zhdanov
  • Leningrad affair in 1949 engineered by Malenkov and Beria
  • Probably to gain influence, deal with potential rivals and reclaim positions they'd lost to Zhdanov
  • Close involvement in the Leningrad affair and connection with Beria used against him later
  • In 1952 Malenkov began to be looked upon as Stalin's successor
  • Given the chief report at the 19th Party Congress with Stalin looking on |

Malenkov's Policies

Industry

• Raise living standards
• New Course focused on consumer goods at expense of military
• Industrial complex and heavy industry

Agriculture

• Halved taxes on agriculture
• Increased prices paid to collective farms
• Increased size of private plots allowed
• More mechanisation and use of chemical fertilisers

Cold War

• Argued now the USSR had the H-bomb a state of deterrence existed between the East and West
• Resources could be diverted from defence to consumer goods

Khrushchev outmanoeuvres Malenkov

• Khrushchev counter-attacked
• Resented Malenkov taking the initiative on agriculture
• Regarded this as his area of expertise
• Launched his Virgin Lands campaign in Kazakhstan and Siberia in early 1954
• Promised a quick end to the grain shortage
• Got the Party behind his campaign – early success gave him momentum

Khrushchev seized power in the USSR

• Saw better than Malenkov the importance of the role of Party organisation
• Became known as First Secretary in Sept
• Asserted clear supremacy of Party bureaucracy over the KGB (secret police) and Council of Ministers
• Had strengthened his own position and weakened Malenkov's
• Military wanted to match US defence spending
• Said Malenkov was unbalancing the economy
• The economy was indeed overstrained
• Malenkov is not in a strong enough position to adjudicate between conflicting claimants on resources
• Khrushchev made allies with heavy industry, planners and the military men
• Could count on the support in the Presidium of Stalinist hardliners Molotov and Kaganovich
• Malenkov was forced to resign as Prime Minister in Feb 1955
• Bulganin was not a threat and took over with Khrushchev's support