Rise of Joseph Stalin - Downfall of Trotsky

Downfall of Trotsky

In the months following Lenin's death, Stalin's disputes with Kamenev and Zinoviev intensified. These two Bolsheviks did not regard Stalin highly, and often disparaged him in private even as they had aided him publicly. Stalin allied himself now with Nikolai Bukharin, whom he had promoted to the Politburo at the Thirteenth Party Congress. At the Fourteenth Party Congress in December 1925, Stalin openly attacked Kamenev and Zinoviev, revealing that they had asked for his aid in expelling from the Party.

Stalin began advocating "Socialism in One Country," which says that the Bolsheviks should focus building communism in the countries they already controlled rather than spreading the revolution. This drew to him many like-minded Party members but put him in ideological opposition to Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev. Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev formed a United Opposition against Stalin, demanding greater freedom of expression and a repeal of Lenin's 1921 Ban on Factions. Stalin eventually defeated this opposition, and forced Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev to sign a letter of submission to him.

Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev grew increasingly isolated and were ejected from the Central Committee in October 1927. On November 14, Trotsky and Zinoviev were expelled from the Party itself, followed by Kamenev at the Fifteenth Party Congress in December. Kamenev and Zinoviev were readmitted some six months later after writing open letters of apology, however Trotsky didn't. Trotsky lived in exile in Alma-ata for a while, and was finally exiled from the Soviet Union itself in January 1929.