1. The pictures above show Trotsky & Stalin
The pictures above show Trotsky & Stalin. Out of the two who would you have expected to become the next leader of the USSR following the death of Lenin in 1924?

2. How did Stalin become leader of the USSR?

3. How did Stalin actually become leader?

4. Two wings of Communist Party
Zinoviev
Bukharin
Kamenev

5. Two wings of Communist Party
Left Wing
Individuals like Zinoviev, Kamenev
Liked Trotsky but didn’t want a dictatorship
Liked traditional Bolshevik ideals
Suspicious of NEP & return of capitalism
‘Permanent Revolution’
Right Wing
Individuals like Bukharin
Liked NEP
Liked industrialisation & expansion of Russian economy
Socialism on one country

6. Stalin’s six steps to power!
1. Before Lenin’s funeral Stalin tricks Trotsky into not coming. People think Trotsky can’t be bothered to turn up. Stalin, meanwhile, makes a stirring speech praising Lenin and saying he was Lenin’s disciple.
Why was it so important to be seen at Lenin’s funeral?

7. What sorts of criticisms do you think Lenin might have made of Stalin?
2. Leading Communists decided not to publish Lenin’s testament, as it contained criticisms of them as well as Stalin.
What sorts of criticisms do you think Lenin might have made of Stalin?

8. Why was Commissar for War such a powerful post within the Politburo?
3. In 1924, Party Congress, Zinoviev & Kamenev join forces with Stalin to defeat Trotsky. Stalin (party secretary) packs Congress with supporters. Trotsky lost the vote and soon his job as Commissar for the War.
Why was Commissar for War such a powerful post within the Politburo?

9. 4.1926, Stalin turns on Zinoviev & Kamenev, joining forces with Bukharin and the right of the party. Stalin supporters pack the Congress and Zinoviev and Kamenev lose their jobs in the Politburo.
Stalin played a very clever political game. Why didn’t his rivals do the same?

10. 5. 1927, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were expelled from the Party.
What were the main risks in expelling these men from the Communist Party?
, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were expelled from the Party.

11. 6. Stalin turned on Bukharin and right wing politicians
6. Stalin turned on Bukharin and right wing politicians. He attacked the NEP and had them removed from office. By 1929, his 50th birthday, Stalin was undisputed leader of the USSR.
What do you think Stalin’s next steps would be in further securing his position?

12. What happened to Trotsky?