Grigory Zinoviev: the torments and tosses of the oppositionist (1927-1934)

Abstract

The subject of the article is the political behavior of one of Stalin's greatest opponents, Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev, in the period between his first expulsion from the party at the end of 1927 and his arrest on charges of Kirov's murder in December 1934. Zinoviev's letters, speeches and statements to the party leadership are analyzed, through which he tried to achieve the main goal of returning to the party and to political activity. It is established that Zinoviev has an internal struggle between public speaking and maintaining his own political attitudes. These "torments" and "tosses" caused distrust of Zinoviev from the party leaders and led the hero first to a psychological breakdown, and then to political death. The materialistic concept (in particular, historical determinism) is used as a tool. The method of psychohistory is also used to analyze the inner world of a politician and the motivation of his actions. An analysis of Zinoviev's activities as a vivid example of the political behavior of a communist oppositionist allows us to draw the following conclusions: 1) Zinoviev's behavior during the period under review was determined by his return to the party, preferably to a leadership job. The basis for achieving the goal was the recognition of the impossibility of further opposition struggle, which could lead to a split of the CPSU(b), as well as general agreement with the policy of collectivization and industrialization that had begun; 2) The content of Zinoviev's appeals to various governing bodies, including I. V. Stalin, changed according to the situation inside the party leadership. 3) The calculation was not just to return to the party and to the leadership, but to take part on Stalin's side in the fight against Bukharin. The party leadership saw this and used it for psychological breakdown. 4) It is incorrect to consider Zinoviev's political behavior as a classic "double-dealing". He did not conduct anti-party work and did not reject the foundations of the party line. But his behavior led at the end of 1932 to a psychological breakdown and a rejection of his own political self. Finally, Zinoviev's "torments" and "throwing" stopped at the end of 1934. He died as a politician. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the very formulation of the question, the introduction of unpublished Zinoviev documents into scientific circulation, consideration through one of the leaders of the party and the oppositionist of the mechanism of strengthening Stalin's personality.