Disputes after Lenin's death
A. 'Party democracy' vs Bureaucratisation
* Trotsky demanded return to 'Party democracy' instead of centralising of power to the Secretariat
> criticised especially Kamenev and Zinoviev who joined with Stalin in an unofficial triumvirate within the Politburo
B. How long should the NEP be allowed to run?
> Ideological controversy: the NEP (as a mixed economy with many capitalistic features) marked a retreat from the principle of state control of the economy
> Trotsky: NEP = 'the first sign of the degeneration of Bolshevism'
(< had supported War communism as a form of Marxist revolutionary strategy)
> Lenin's arguments against critics:
- only a temporary concession to capitalism
- 'the commanding heights of the economy' still under the control of the Party (large-scale industry, banking, foreign trade)
> Lenin also introduced a resolution 'On Party Unity' against factionalism which in practise denied the criticism of government policy by party members
> After Lenin's death the question was: How long should the NEP be allowed to run?
> a division between Left Communists (wanted NEP abandoned) and Right Communists (wanted NEP to continue)
C. Question of the modernisation: How and at what speed should the USSR be industrialised?
* To get capital for industrial investments it was necessary to increase a food surplus which could then be sold abroad > Should the peasants be just persuaded (the Right) or even forced (the Left) into line?
D. 'Permanent Revolution' vs 'Socialism in One Country'
* Trotsky demanded return to 'Party democracy' instead of centralising of power to the Secretariat
> criticised especially Kamenev and Zinoviev who joined with Stalin in an unofficial triumvirate within the Politburo
B. How long should the NEP be allowed to run?
> Ideological controversy: the NEP (as a mixed economy with many capitalistic features) marked a retreat from the principle of state control of the economy
> Trotsky: NEP = 'the first sign of the degeneration of Bolshevism'
(< had supported War communism as a form of Marxist revolutionary strategy)
> Lenin's arguments against critics:
- only a temporary concession to capitalism
- 'the commanding heights of the economy' still under the control of the Party (large-scale industry, banking, foreign trade)
> Lenin also introduced a resolution 'On Party Unity' against factionalism which in practise denied the criticism of government policy by party members
> After Lenin's death the question was: How long should the NEP be allowed to run?
> a division between Left Communists (wanted NEP abandoned) and Right Communists (wanted NEP to continue)
C. Question of the modernisation: How and at what speed should the USSR be industrialised?
* To get capital for industrial investments it was necessary to increase a food surplus which could then be sold abroad > Should the peasants be just persuaded (the Right) or even forced (the Left) into line?
D. 'Permanent Revolution' vs 'Socialism in One Country'
