the new policy, increased in number in towns, while the
These social results of the New Economic Policy naturally worried the
Communists. The Eleventh Party Congress declared as early as 1922 that no further 'retreat' could be tolerated. In 1924 and 1925 the government introduced certain measures to restrict the Nepmen, and in 1927 to limit the kulaks. The Party long debated the correct policy to determine the future development of the country. Ideological arguments came to be closely linked to personalities and to the struggle for power that gained momentum after Lenin's death in January 1924.
Three main points of view emerged among the Russian Communists during the twenties. The so-called Left position, best developed by Trotsky, maintained that, without world revolution, socialism in Russia was doomed. Therefore, the Bolsheviks had to support revolutionary movements abroad and at the same time pursue a militant and socialist policy at home. An opponent of the N.E.P., Trotsky also came to criticize Stalin for his cooperation with bourgeois forces abroad and for his destruction of democracy within the Party. Such prominent Communist leaders as Gregory Zinoviev - born Radomyslsky - and Leo Kamenev - born Rosenfeld - essentially shared Trotsky's view. The Right faction, led by a prominent theoretician, Nicholas Bukharin, agreed with the Left that socialism in Russia depended on world revolution. But the members of this group concluded that, because such a revolution was not immediately in prospect, the Soviet government should not quixotically force the pace towards socialism, but rather continue the existing compromise and develop the New Economic Policy. Finally, the third faction, the Center headed by Stalin, came to the conclusion that, in spite of the fact that world revolution failed to materialize, socialism could be built within the one country of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with its huge size, large population, and tremendous resources. The Center therefore called for a great effort to transform the Soviet Union. Putting the Right group aside, it should be realized that Trotsky as well as Stalin wanted to build socialism in Russia - Stalin, in fact, has been accused of simply borrowing the Left program - and that Stalin as well as Trotsky aimed at world revolution. The ideological difference between the two was that of emphasis, not of fundamental belief. Yet emphasis can be very important at certain moments in history. Moreover, Stalin's approach for the first time gave Russia, or rather the Soviet Union, the central position in Communist thought and planning.
As has often been described and analyzed, the struggle for power that followed Lenin's death was decided by Stalin's superior control of the Party membership. Acting behind the scenes as the general secretary of the Party, Stalin managed to build up a following strong enough to overcome Trots-
ky's magnificent rhetoric and great prestige, as well as Kamenev's Party organization in Moscow and Zinoviev's in Petrograd - named Leningrad after Lenin's death. Stalin intrigued skillfully, first allying himself with Kamenev and Zinoviev against Trotsky, whom they envied and considered their rival for Party leadership; then with the Right group against the Left; and eventually, when sufficiently strong, suppressing the Right as well. He kept accusing his opponents of factionalism, of disobeying the established Party line and splitting the Party. Final victory came at the Fifteenth All-Union Congress of the Communist party, which on December 27, 1927, condemned all 'deviation from the general Party line' as interpreted by Stalin. The general secretary's rivals and opponents recanted or were exiled; in any case, they lost their former importance. Trotsky himself was expelled from the Soviet Union in January 1929 and was eventually murdered in exile in Mexico in 1940, almost certainly on Stalin's orders.
Still, although Stalin's rise to supreme authority can well be considered an impressive, if gruesome, study in power politics, its ideological aspect should not be forgotten. After all, of the three alternate views present in the Party, the general secretary's possessed the greatest attraction by far for Soviet Communists. The Right, in effect, simply admitted defeat: in spite of the tremendous struggle and all the efforts, socialism could not succeed in the Soviet Union until the uncertain coming of world revolution. Trotsky's Left position, while more sanguine, also tied the Soviet future to world revolution and thus made Bolshevik activity of limited importance and effectiveness at best. Only Stalin offered a sweeping program and a majestic goal to be achieved by Soviet efforts alone. Only he proposed to advance Marxism in the Soviet Union without dependence on problematic developments elsewhere. The same Party congress that condemned all deviations from Stalin's line enthusiastically adopted measures that signified the end of the New Economic Policy and the beginning of the First Five-Year Plan.
XXXVII
THE FIRST THREE FIVE-YEAR PLANS, 1928-41
Enough of living by the law
Given by Adam and Eve.
The jade of history we will ride to death.
Left!
Left!
Left!
It [the First Five-Year Plan] asked no less than a complete transformation from backward agricultural individualism to mechanized collectivism, from hothouse subsidized industry to self-sufficient industry on the greatest, most modern scale, from the mentality of feudalism, far behind the Western industrial age, to socialism still ahead of it.
'When a forest is cut down, splinters fly.' Of course, it is unfortunate to be a splinter.
THE REMARK OF A SOVIET CITIZEN TO THE AUTHOR IN THE SUMMER OF 1958
Stalin's sweeping victory at the Fifteenth All-Union Congress of the Communist Party in December 1927 marked the inauguration of the era of Stalin and his five-year plans. The general secretary was to direct the destinies of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and of world Communism for twenty-five eventful years, becoming in the course of that quarter of a century perhaps the most totalitarian, powerful, and feared dictator of all time.
Stalin began his life and career humbly enough. In fact, it has often been mentioned that he was one of the few Bolshevik leaders of more or less proletarian origin. Born a son of a shoemaker in 1879 in the little town of Gori near the Georgian capital of Tiflis - or Tbilisi - Joseph Dzhugashvili attended a Church school in Gori until 1894 and then went to the theological seminary in Tiflis. In 1899, however, he was expelled from the seminary for reasons that are not entirely clear. By that time, apparently, Stalin had become acquainted with some radical writers and in particular with Marx and Lenin. He joined the Social Democratic party and when it
split in 1903 sided firmly with the Bolsheviks. Between 1902 and 1913 Dzhugashvili, or rather Stalin as he came to be known, engaged in a variety of conspiratorial and revolutionary activities, suffering arrest and exile several times. He managed to escape repeatedly from exile, which has suggested police collusion to certain specialists. Stalin's last exile, however, continued from 1913 until the February Revolution. Apparently the Georgian Bolshevik first attracted Lenin's attention when he organized a daring raid to seize funds for the Party. Stalin's revolutionary activity developed in such Transcaucasian centers as Tiflis, Batum, and Baku, as well as in St. Petersburg. In contrast to many other Bolshevik leaders, Stalin never lived abroad, leaving the Russian empire only to attend a few meetings. Because of Stalin's Bolshevik orthodoxy and Georgian origin, the Party welcomed him as
