Did Stalin have full control of the government in 1936?
score:13
Yes, by 1936 Stalin was firmly in control. In fact, any non-underground opposition was officially finished by the XVII Congress of the CPSU in 1934 - there, all the leaders of the former opposition (like Bukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev) basically submitted to Stalin, all their speeches can be briefly summed up as "We were wrong, Great Leader, please don't kill us". Since then, any official opposition was impossible. That very year Zinoviev and Kamenev were arrested (on a most likely fabricated charge linked to the murder of Kirov), and by 1936 most of their former supporters were purged from the Party. All in all, over 70% of the members of the Central Committee elected in 1934 were dead by 1938. Note that arrest of one of the Committee members required approval of the arrest by the majority of the Committee members, so to pull this off, Stalin had to get that approval every time, and get it he did - pretty clear demonstration of who controlled the government at the moment.
Upvote:-2
Stalin was under Molotov and Kaganovich shadow until 1941. Stalin was the head of the communist party (General Secretary- which determine party membership). Stalin used this position to create Yes men to support his position. Stalin's political power during 1936 would be similar to Vice President of the U.S. Molotov was the Premier aka Council of Ministers (Head of Government and State). Kaganovich was the Secretariat (was responsible for the central administration of the party). Stalin did not have quite full power in 1936. If he wanted to arrest or execute his enemies, he had to gain Molotov and Kaganovich approval.
Stalin: Court of the Red Tsar explains your answer better.
Upvote:-1
While other answers have been formalistic: no, Stalin did not have "complete control" over the government. Substantively much of Soviet governance was beneath Stalin's interest, and here there was a great deal of trust reposed in lower party figures who would implement the general programme of five year plans and purges. Additionally party members anticipated the Stalin line in areas lacking clarity: there was sufficient ideological publication for anticipated policy behaviour to be successfully estimated. Thirdly, the chief organs operated on a cabinet, ie a collective responsibility, basis. These organs tended to have the most junior speakers speak first, allowing senior members to adjudicate.
Finally, this question is methodologically wrong as it purports a great man theory. Stalinism didn't work because of the force of Stalin's character, but because it was actively desired and supported by a large plurality of the population and a super majority of the party. Stalin didn't fall from the moon.
See Fitzpatrick, Sheila's extensive work published to critical acclaim in the scholarly press based on archival work on the actual history of stalinism rather than fantasies.
Upvote:3
The last member of the Politburo who had real potential to replace Stalin as leader was Kirov. He and Stalin were friends - or at least pretended to be friends! - but one incident made it clear to Stalin that Kirov was a threat to his power. The Central Committee had a tradition of occasionally allowing members to cast anonymous ballots against the figures in the Politburo. On one occasion, that process resulted in 200 ballots being cast against Stalin but only 3 were cast against Kirov. Robert Conquest argued that this was the justification Stalin used to have Kirov killed in 1934. Conquest has an entire book describing the evidence for this plot. I have to say it is compelling, although I have not seen any of the counter-arguments for disbelieving it. By Conquest's reckoning, Stalin worried about being displaced so set up a plot to kill Kirov with a dupe, then kill everyone associated with the plot (except himself of course), including the investigators of the assassination, then kill everyone who investigated THOSE deaths, just to ensure that no hint of his own involvement ever leaked out. According to Conquest, the liquidation of Kirov evolved into the Great Purge to remove everyone who might be a threat to Stalin's power.
More post
- 📝 How controversial were "updates" of churches in the past?
- 📝 Orphism's alleged influence on Christianity
- 📝 Were naval mines an underutilized weapon in WW2?
- 📝 What kind of gas caused the end of excavations/tunneling of the "villa of the papyrii" in the 18th century?
- 📝 Can anyone help identify this soldier's uniform?
- 📝 Why did Roman Army rarely field large Roman cavalry units and rely on foreign auxiliaries?
- 📝 "Dominion" of Canada?
- 📝 What motivated Germanic tribes to accept Christianity?
- 📝 Which 4 states were not present to ratify the treaty of Paris on January 14th, 1784?
- 📝 Why did Germany request compensation after the Agadir (2nd Moroccan) crisis?
- 📝 How many people were needed to build a country house?
- 📝 Historical documents of Mount Athos
- 📝 In the 19th century, do we know how armor changed with respect to guns of the time?
- 📝 Before Idriss Deby, who was the last head of state to be killed in combat?
- 📝 What killed Ferdinand Magellan?
- 📝 How did the helmsman know what he was sailing towards with a big mast in his face?
- 📝 Were firearms used by the farmers for intimidation in the penny auctions during the Great Depression?
- 📝 What is the origin of the stereotype that Polish people lack intelligence?
- 📝 What is the longest running legal case?
- 📝 What motivated Marco Polo to share his trade knowledge?
- 📝 Crown Matrimonial
- 📝 America vs. Australia as a "Penal Colony"
- 📝 How likely was an enlisted man to have fought at both Falkirk and Bannockburn?
- 📝 How did slavery become permissible in the French West Indies when it was forbidden in France?
- 📝 Were women banned from entering the castle of Trakai?
- 📝 What did early humans do with their long hair?
- 📝 Were Communists drafted for the Vietnam war?
- 📝 When did the Soviets get the ability to drop a nuclear bomb on the United States?
- 📝 What was the last battle fought mainly by sail-powered ships?
- 📝 Which king of Burgundy sheltered two Robertians?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did Stalin have full control of the government in 1936?
- 📝 Why did Stalin and the Soviet leadership have Leon Trotsky assassinated?
- 📝 How did the Dutch East India Company (VOC) have so much revenue when they only control small part of Indonesia?
- 📝 What role did the United States government and major corporations have in controlling dissent and protest starting in the late 1940s?
- 📝 How did the USSR manage to innovate in an environment characterized by government censorship and high bureaucracy?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union have multiple airplane manufacturers?
- 📝 Did the Pope's crossbow and archery bans have any effect?
- 📝 Did the United States have a third atomic bomb to drop on Japan?
- 📝 Did the Romans have winter uniforms?
- 📝 Did any British working class men have the vote before 1918?
- 📝 Did the Finns have aluminum screw caps in 1939?
- 📝 Did the U.S. and Soviet Union have a submarine battle in 1968?
- 📝 Did Arab policymakers have plans for the Jewish population, in case of victory in 1948 War?
- 📝 Did the Soviet Union or its satellite states have any broadcast propaganda media for an international audience?
- 📝 Why did Stalin keep the famine of 1932 a secret?
- 📝 Did Louis XIV actually say "The State? I am the State."? Could he have said it?
- 📝 Why did the East India Company accept the Government of India Act 1858?
- 📝 What advantages did Catholic missionaries to the Indians have over Protestant missionaries in old Oregon Country?
- 📝 Did they actually have "mushroom cloud tourist attraction" to Nevada Test Site in the 1950s?
- 📝 Aside from the Jews, did Hitler have a final solution plan for other ethnicities/races in the Third Reich?
- 📝 Did Stalin kill all Soviet officers involved in the Winter War?
- 📝 Did viking longboats in fact have shields on the side of the ships?
- 📝 Why did the Monitor and Merrimac (aka Virginia) have such radically different designs?
- 📝 How did people have access to ice in warm areas before the industrial revolution?
- 📝 What effect did the Attack on Mers-el-Kébir have on Great Britain's international relations during WW2?
- 📝 Why did Stalin push for the Great Purge against the Red Army in 1936?
- 📝 Why did the film "The Longest Day" have the "cricket" training scene if the Allies received no intelligence about the hedgerows in Normandy?
- 📝 Did the Romans have writing desks?
- 📝 What reasons did the Confederacy have for believing they would have a quick victory?
- 📝 Why did the USSR have two sources of currency?