alternatehistory.com

After the death of Lenin the power struggle within the Bolesheviks between factions of the party (generally) centred around Trotsky on the Left, Stalin in the Centre and Bukharin on the Right.

Stalin rather expertly played the factions against each other, using the Right opposition to cower the Left before eventually turning on Bukharin and Rykov. I'm generalising a bit as the machinations of the Soviet Union in the 20's were Byzantine.

But which of these groups had the best chance of stopping Stalins rise to power. Could the Left successfully convince the rest of the party of the danger of Stalins dominance of the bureaucracy or the Right coalesce around Bukharin to counter Stalin. Is there even the possibility of another grouping that spotted the dangers of Stalin in advance?
Top