Study Questions on Daniels for week 4
The New Economic Policy (Lenin, "The Tax in Kind," April 1921)
How did Lenin explain the aim of the NEP in April 1921?
What did Lenin say was necessary to boost peasant productivity? Why?
Did Lenin in April 1921 consider it possible to completely abolish capitalism in Russia? Explain.
Protests Against the New Economic Policy
Who were "the 22"? (read the intro to the documents!)
Did "the 22" think that NEP was a pro-worker policy? Explain.
What did "the 22" say was wrong with the Communist Party?
b) Appeal of the "Workers’ Truth" Group (1922)
Did this (non-Communist) workers’ group think that Communist rule had made workers’ lives better? Explain.
Who did "Workers’ Truth" believe had become the new ruling class in Russia? Explain.
Who did the "Workers’ Truth" believe the Communists really represented?
What did the "Workers’ Truth" think of NEP?
Lenin’s "Testament" (December 1922)
Why did Lenin fear a split in the party in late 1922?
What did Lenin say in Dec. 1922 about Stalin? About Trotsky? About Zinoviev and Kamenev? About Bukharin? Piatakov?
What did Lenin say about Stalin in his 4 January 1923 post-script?
Lenin on the Nationality Question (December 1922)
Lenin and Stalin disagreed (as we have read) on how to form a Soviet federation and how to treat different nationality groups. Based upon this document, what in particular about Stalin’s approach (and Dzerzhinsky’s and Ordzhonikidze’s) to dealing with the Georgian nationality question did Lenin criticize in December 1922? Explain. Why did Lenin consider Stalin’s approach to this issue dangerous?
Lenin on the Prerequisites for Socialism (January 1923)
In his response to Sukhanov’s book about the Russian Revolution, Lenin defended the idea that Socialism could be built in Russia. Based upon this document, what would be the role of the new Soviet state in building Socialism?
Lenin on Administrative Reform (March 1923)
Near the end of his life, Lenin began criticizing the Soviet government machinery. What was it that he criticized about the government?
What was his criticism of workers’ ability to govern? Explain.
Did Lenin think Russia was well enough educated? Explain.
By 1923, did Lenin expect that revolution would break out in Europe, or in Asia? Explain. According to Lenin, what did the this mean for the tasks that faced the Soviet state?
What did Lenin propose to prevent a "pared-down" Soviet state from being dominated by peasants?
Trotsky on Industrialization (March 1923)
Did Trotsky believe in 1923 that the USSR could build socialism if industry grew more slowly than agriculture? Explain.
Did Trotsky think that market forces should determine the level of investment in light vs. heavy industry? Explain.
What sort of things did Trotsky propose in 1923 in order to build up state industry?
Formation of the Trotskyist Opposition
In fall 1923, what did Trotsky criticize about the way that the party bureaucracy was chosen? What did he criticize about the way the party was organized in general? Explain.
What about the Politburo’s policies did Trotsky and "the 46" consider dangerous, and why? Explain.
Did "the 46" consider the Politburo’s economic and political decisions to be the result of incompetence? Explain. What did "the 46" see as the cause of these "bad decisions"?
The "New Course" Controversy of December, 1923 (Trotsky, "The New Course")
Did Trotsky in December 1923 reject the idea of a centralized party? Explain. What did he criticize about the party’s organization?
Just what about "bureaucratization" did Trotsky consider such a danger?
The Condemnation of the Trotskyist Opposition (13th Party Congress, January 1924)
How did this Party Congress decision define the opposition’s position?
Did this congress resolution accept that Trotsky and the opposition had legitimate criticisms? Explain.
How and why did the Central Committee invoke the 10th Party congress decision on factions against Trotsky and his supporters?
How did the 13th party congress define the "class" character of the opposition? Why was that so important?
The Formation of the USSR: The Union Constitution (January 1924)
How did this document justify/rationalize the creation of a union of Soviet republics?
What sort of promises did this constitution make to the citizens of the USSR?
According to the Constitution, was the Russian state supposed to run the affairs of the other union members? Explain.
Stalin on Leninism and the Party (April 1924)
What sort of importance did Stalin in this document attach to the Party in its relationship with the working class (the proletariat)? Explain.
Did Stalin, who presented himself as simply following (rather than interpreting) Lenin, accept the idea that the working class could have any legitimate organizations or activities outside of the Party’s leadership? Explain.
According to Stalin, could the working class build socialism or the dictatorship of the proletariat without the Party? And what kind of discipline did this require from the Party and from the working class?
According to Stalin, could the Party have iron discipline and still permit factions and internal opposition groups? Explain. How did Stalin define the class character of factions?
Stalin on Socialism in One Country (December 1924)
What about Trotsky’s supposed views did Stalin define as un-Leninist in December 1924? Explain.
How did Stalin (mis)interpret Trotsky’s idea of "Permanent revolution," and what did Stalin accuse Trotsky of in this document?
What sort of evidence did Stalin use to "prove" Trotsky’s deviation from Leninism?
According to Stalin, did Trotsky have much confidence in the Russian revolution? Explain.
Preobrazhensky on the Economics of Industrialization (1926)
Who was Preobrazhensky? (be sure to read the intros to all the documents!!!)
What did Preobrazhensky mean by "primary socialist accumulation"?
What 3 essentials does Preobrazhensky say the Soviet economy needs to build socialism? Explain.
If accumulating capital for technology and industry meant taking "surplus" from the peasantry, then according to Preobrazhensky, what sort of economic policy did the Soviet state have to follow?
According to Preobrazhensky, why was building up Soviet industry so urgent a problem?
Soviet Cultural Policy—The Liberal Period (a July 1925 Central Committee resolution on literature)
Did the party leadership believe that art could be politically neutral? Explain.
What did the Party generally expect out of literature, and especially out of literary criticism?
Did the Party at this point (1925) claim to have a monopoly on defining what was "good" art? Explain.
Soviet Educational Policy—The Revolutionary Period (from Pinkevich, Outlines of Pedagogy, 1927)
Based upon this document, what social role did Party theorists think schools should have?
How did this particular (radical) education theorist think schools should be organized, and why?
The Zinoviev-Kamenev Opposition
When did Zinoviev and Kamenev break with the views of Stalin? (again, be sure to read all of the intros to the documents!)
What three problems did Zinoviev say faced the Party leadership? Explain!
Did Zinoviev argue that NEP was a form of socialism? Explain.
How did the delegates at the 14th Party Congress greet Zinoviev’s position?
Did Kamenev (who had helped Stalin smear Trotsky as a "menshevik" argue in December 1925 that the Party should silence internal debate? Explain.
Did Kamenev describe the leadership’s position as Leninist? Explain.
What did Kamenev mean when he said "we are against establishing a "Chief’"? At whom was he aiming this criticism? Explain!
How were Kamenev’s statements greeted by the congress majority?
The United Opposition (Declaration of the Thirteen, July 1926)
According to the intro to this document, who were the United Opposition?
On what, and on whom, did the opposition blame factionalism in the party?
On what did the opposition blame the growth of bureaucratism?
What big social and economic problems did the opposition see arising out of the policies of the party leadership?
Did the opposition think that the USSR could build socialism without speeding the development of industry? Explain.
What did the opposition criticize about:
the party leadership’s policies towards the peasantry
the party bureaucracy itself
ordinary workers’ ability to express their complaints
the way that the leadership had dealt with internal opposition
What did the opposition propose as a solution to the problems created by the current leadership?
Bukharin On The Opposition (July 1926)
How did Bukharin explain the opposition’s two main positions on economic policy?
What did Bukharin define as the main difference between his position and the opposition’s position on economic growth?
Did Bukharin agree with Trotsky that the Soviet state was becoming "non-proletarian"? Explain.
Did Bukharin agree with Trotsky that the Soviet state machinery was degenerating? Explain.
According to Bukharin, what was the logical conclusion to be drawn from Trotsky’s arguments?
Why do you think Bukharin was defining the opposition’s position as anti-Leninist?
The Theoretical Debate On Socialism In One Country (at the 15th Party Congress, November 1926)
According to Kamenev in 1926, why did the USSR have to industrialize as rapidly as possible?
According to Kamenev, was Stalin accurately representing Lenin’s views on the possibility of building socialism in Russia? Explain.
Ultimately, what was Kamenev accusing the Stalin leadership of doing?
How did the congress majority respond to Kamenev’s speech?
What is the heart of Stalin’s response to Kamenev? Did he take Kamenev’s arguments seriously? Explain.
Notice!! Was Stalin claiming that he (Stalin) had contributed any new ideas? How did Stalin justify the leaderships’ policies? Why is that important?
Stalin On The Expulsion of the Left Opposition (report to the 15th Party Congress, December 1927)
How did Stalin define the opposition’s positions? Did he concede that any of the opposition’s ideas were Leninist? Explain.
How did Stalin justify expelling Trotsky and Zinoviev from the party? Of what did he accuse them?
What would the oppositionists have to do to be reinstated in the party?
Stalin On The Grain Crisis (May 1928)
How did Stalin explain the grain "shortage" of spring 1928?
How did Stalin explain the fact that less (rather than more) of the grain grown was being brought to market than had been before 1917?
What solution did Stalin propose to the grain problem? How did Stalin’s proposals compare to a) Bukharin’s position (which Stalin had endorsed a few months earlier); b) the position taken by the Left and United oppositions (which Stalin had helped to defeat)?
The Right Opposition
a)Bukharin on Peasant Policy(from Bukharin’s 10 July 1928 speech to the Central Committee)
How did Bukharin in 1928 propose increasing the pace of industrialization?
Did Bukharin propose that the party should be "soft" on the kulaks? Explain.
What was it about the Stalin leadership’s new peasant policy that Bukharin considered dangerous, and why?
b)Bukharin on the Menace of Stalin (from a July 1928 discussion with Kamenev)
During this secret (and ill-fated) meeting with Kamenev, what did Bukharin say about Stalin? Of what did Bukharin’s "faction" want to accuse Stalin?
Kuibyshev On Industrialization (September 1928)
Who was Kuibyshev?
What sort of economic policy was Kuibyshev defending in this speech?
Did Kuibyshev predict that the population would unanimously greet these new policies? Explain.
How did he respond to criticisms of the new policies?
Bukharin on Equilibrium (September 1928)
What was it that Bukharin criticized most about the leadership’s new industrial and agricultural policies in fall 1928?
How did he "label" the Stalin leadership’s economic program?
Was Bukharin against rapid industrialization? Explain.