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1921 Ban. The 10th party congress banned opposition parties in the soviets. NEP adopted; this ended War Communism.
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This timespan deals with the context of Stalin´s rise to power and the methods he used to establish himself as a leader during the 1920s.
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Stalin is appojnted general secretary of the Communist Party. This position gave him the power to appoint and dismiss Communist Party officials.
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Lenin made a testament in which he outlined the strenghts and weaknesses of all the leading communists. Later, he updated his testament with a postscript recommending Stalin´s dismissal.
Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin formed a triumvirate to prevent Trotsky obtaining most of the support. -
Trotsky formed the Left Opposition with others opposed to the policies of the triumvirs.
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Soon after Lenin´s death, the 13th Party Congress was held. But before the event, Lenin´s testament was revealed to the Central Committee (in which Lenin stated that Stalin must be dismissed). However, Stalin was saved by Zinoviev and Kamenev; they persuaded the Committee not to act according to the testament, underestimating Stalin, this mistake of his enemies allowed Stalin to continue in the Party and increase his power.
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Zinoviev and Kamenev formed the United Opposition, with the supoort of Lenin's widow. However, Stalin's control over the Party enabled him to ban their meetings and dismiss their supporters. Stalin them accused them of breaking the 1921 ban and forced Central Committee to remove Zinoviev from the Politburo. This made Trotsky the only one there opposing him.
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In November 1927, Stalin finally succedded in having Trotsky and Zinoview expelled.
Stalin's actions shocked Zinoviev and Kamenev. One of their fears was the splitting of Communist Party due to opposition to Stalin; and the formation of an opposition party. This caused the United Opposition to end in December 1927. -
Zinoviev and Kamenev feared that constant opposition to Stalin would result in the splitting of the Communist Party and the formation of an opposition party - they saw this as the 'gravest menace to Lenin's cuase'. So they decided to end the United Opposition. This led Stalin to his final stage of his power struggle.
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Trotsky was forcibly deported to Alma-Ata. Other oppositionists were deported elsewhere; many were moved to minor posts in other remote places in the USSR, to prevent them from communicating with one another.
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Buhkarin joined the right side of the Communist Party in 1924, he was the main defender of the NEP. Buhkarin is removed from the Politburo. This made Stalin have almost complete control of the Communist Party.
