Stalin. Part 11: Leaderless
The death of V. I. Lenin on January 21, 1924 completed a short but unprecedented period of time when one person, with the power of his psychic power, was able to change the course of history. The giant died, who transformed the world in accordance with his ideas of justice. Telegrams with requests to postpone the funeral until the arrival of such and such a delegation continued to arrive.
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The death of V. I. Lenin on January 21, 1924 ended a short but unprecedented period of time when one person, with the power of his psychic power, was able to change the course of history. The giant died, who transformed the world in accordance with his ideas of justice. Thousands of people, who associated hopes for a better future with his name, flocked to Moscow to take a last look at Ilyich. Telegrams with requests to postpone the funeral until the arrival of such and such a delegation continued to arrive. It was decided to take measures to preserve Lenin's body longer than required by Christian traditions.
1. Timing - olfactory providence
Stalin made a speech at the mourning session of the Second All-Union Congress of Soviets on January 26. His words sounded solemn and detached. Clear, laconic phrases with a sixfold repetition-incantation "Leaving us, Comrade Lenin bequeathed to us …" lined up in a clear strategy of the party and the state. Following Stalin, the listeners vowed to keep the ranks clean, to preserve the unity of the party, to strengthen the dictatorship of the proletariat and the alliance of workers and peasants, to strengthen and expand the USSR and to support the working people of the whole world. The speech was interrupted by applause, during which Stalin drank water greedily. This was the only thing that betrayed his tension.
Probably, Trotsky's speech would have sounded more passionate, probably, people would sob, listening to him, would freeze in pauses, not daring to break the oppressive silence with clapping. It is not given to know. Lev Davydovich was being treated in Sukhumi, from where, as expected, he would not have time to come to the funeral of Ilyich. The decision to postpone the burial was made later, which gave Trotsky reason to accuse Stalin of deliberately detaining him in Sukhumi. One way or another, Providence was pleased that the one who would lead the country further, from the romantic utopia of the world revolution to the harsh practice of building socialism in one separate country, spoke.
Lenin's letter, where he shared his fears about Stalin's personal qualities, was brought to the attention of the participants of the XIII Party Conference, but … it was decided not to discuss it. Stalin was re-elected unanimously as general secretary, despite his resignation due to Leninist criticism. In a very short time, Stalin will begin to harshly criticize Kamenev and Zinoviev on issues of NEP and attitudes towards the kulak, which will cause their indignation and reciprocal claims for a split in the party.
Comparing every step they took with Lenin's works, the representatives of the old Bolshevik guard did not understand that in the works of Ilyich there were no and could not be indications of every day of the future state building. The conditions were changing rapidly, there were no examples to follow in the past. Lenin's death marked a transition to another time. The olfactory psychic of I. V. Stalin most corresponded to the challenges of this new time.
2. NEP and "price scissors"
Lenin's New Economic Policy (NEP) was forced and temporary. By feeding the cities, NEP caused great problems in industry. The rise of agriculture lowered the prices of its products, the lack of financing for industry led to a shortage of manufactured goods and their high cost. The peasants still could not create a sufficient demand for industrial goods, remaining within the framework of natural exchange, money did not attract peasants, they did not want to keep "papers" at home, for which there was nothing to buy anyway.
A situation arose that L. D. Trotsky called the "price scissors". He stood for an immediate reorientation of the party's policy towards "super-industrialization," which meant the end of support for the peasantry that had just emerged from complete poverty. A wave of workers' strikes swept across the country. On this wave, Trotsky turns to the Central Committee with a letter, where he directly blames the bureaucratic, "secretarial" leadership for the situation. 46 prominent revolutionaries sent an angry letter to the Central Committee demanding that the mistakes be immediately corrected, otherwise the appeal to the "peasantry in soldier's greatcoats" will be decisive in sobering up the "presumptuous party bureaucrats."
This was essentially a declaration of war on the party. The influence of the creator and leader of the Red Army, L. D. The threat of a military coup became a reality, and internal intelligence also warned about alarming trends in the army.
3. Political surgery
Probably, Lenin could have solved this situation somehow more beautifully. Stalin, being placed in a situation of direct threat to the integrity of the pack (party), began to act according to the principle "all means are good," that is, to survive at all costs. It looked cynical and unceremonious, but it was completely natural, given the peculiarities of his olfactory psychic. “It doesn't matter who votes how, it is important who counts the votes,” Stalin declares and publishes the necessary voting results in the press: the overwhelming majority are against Trotsky's proposals and forty-six “signatories”.
Stalin's position was tough: no groupings within the party, no "social compromises" on the model of the German Social Democracy, "hobnobbing" with von Seeckt's military clique. Even then, in 1923, at the Thirteenth Party Conference, Stalin openly ridiculed the German socialists for their dangerous complacency. Can we say after this that in 1941 Stalin did not understand what was happening in Germany and did not expect a war?
Stalin wrote that groupings within the party are inevitable and will continue to appear. It would be madness to allow confusion and vacillation amid the threat of a new peasant revolt on the one hand, a military coup on the other and constant open hatred of the USSR on the part of world imperialism. Stalin proposed to get rid of the groupings "surgically" - to expel them from the party. Stalin felt his task as a leader in preserving the integrity of the party and the state, his position here was irreconcilable.
Nevertheless, one should not assume that Stalin did what his heart desires with an "iron hand". Having criticized Zinoviev with his "dictatorship of the party" and expressing his opinion, Stalin seemed to withdraw from the inflamed struggle, he even resigned, asking to be transferred to "some invisible job." And what? Soon after Trotsky's speech, which he called "The Lessons of October", where the "military leader" denounced the party leadership (they "drifted" and did not fan the fire of the world revolution in Europe), Lev Davydovich was removed from the post of chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council and People's Commissar of Military Affairs.
4. "We need …"
The demotions also affected other opponents of Stalin, who managed to tame the "old guard" guards, including NK Krupskaya. According to the general secretary, Nadezhda Konstantinovna “was no different from any other responsible comrade,” therefore, her interests should not be put above the interests of the party and the state.
The idea of a world revolution has finally become a thing of the past. The Stalinist task of building socialism in one separate country came to the fore. This ran counter to the dry theory of Marxism, but what to do if the tree of life wanted to turn green according to its own laws, namely to preserve what was won in urethral battles by the power of the olfactory psychic of one individual leader, I. V. Stalin.
Here is what he wrote: “We need 15-20 million industrial proletarians, electrification of the main regions of our country, cooperative agriculture and a highly developed metal industry. And then we will win on an international scale."
We need a country, not a world revolution, not a world proletariat. The task seemed impossible. After all, the West has long and successfully walked the path of industrialization, where the automotive industry, the chemical industry, and non-ferrous metallurgy developed rapidly. We, roughly speaking, were just pulling electrical wiring across the rugged countryside …
Continue reading.
Other parts:
Stalin. Part 1: Olfactory Providence over Holy Russia
Stalin. Part 2: Furious Koba
Stalin. Part 3: Unity of opposites
Stalin. Part 4: From Permafrost to April Theses
Stalin. Part 5: How Koba became Stalin
Stalin. Part 6: Deputy. on emergency matters
Stalin. Part 7: Ranking or the Best Disaster Cure
Stalin. Part 8: Time to Collect Stones
Stalin. Part 9: USSR and Lenin's testament
Stalin. Part 10: Die for the Future or Live Now
Stalin. Part 12: We and They
Stalin. Part 13: From plow and torch to tractors and collective farms
Stalin. Part 14: Soviet Elite Mass Culture
Stalin. Part 15: The last decade before the war. Death of Hope
Stalin. Part 16: The last decade before the war. Underground temple
Stalin. Part 17: Beloved Leader of the Soviet People
Stalin. Part 18: On the eve of the invasion
Stalin. Part 19: War
Stalin. Part 20: By Martial Law
Stalin. Part 21: Stalingrad. Kill the German!
Stalin. Part 22: Political Race. Tehran-Yalta
Stalin. Part 23: Berlin is taken. What's next?
Stalin. Part 24: Under the Seal of Silence
Stalin. Part 25: After the War
Stalin. Part 26: The Last Five Year Plan
Stalin. Part 27: Be part of the whole
