ow examine the political and economic practices of Stalin compared to those of his “master”.“Comrade Stalin, having become General Secretary, has unlimited authority concentrated in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution.” – Lenin 1923 Although he was never to know it, Lenin had only picked at the tip of the iceberg with these words. After his death in 1924, Stalin began to ruthlessly consolidate his power using the post of Party General Secretary. This is because this post gave him the power to appoint and dismiss all Part functionaries. In the next few years he set about eliminating his rivals on various ideological grounds. Trotsky was removed from the Politburo in 1926 and expelled from the USSR in 1929. Likewise Kamenev and Zinoviev were also expelled. In this instance we see the application of political tactics that were to characterize Stalin’s rule – the removal of opposition on trumped up charges of subversion, spying, sabotage and ideological heresy. The accused were demonized as enemies of the state. The secret police – NKVD, were given unlimited power and served Stalin in total obedience. By 1930 Christian tells us, Stalin was already undisputed “boss” of Party and government. The greatest change came in 1934. According to Robert Conquest, writer of the definitive work on the period, The Great Terror – A Reassessment, before 1934 there was still some underground opposition to Stalin (eg. Mikhail Ryutin) and the Politburo as the highest organ of both Party and state could still overrule him. In 1934 with the shooting of Leningrad Party chief Sergei Kirov, Stalin launched an unprecedented campaign of terror to purge the party of all opposition. In the next 5 years under Stalin’s orders, the NKVD arrested and executed thousands of party officials. Kamenev and Zinoviev were show tri...
