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Nikolai Bukharin

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Revision as of 03:13, 19 June 2023 by RedCustodian (talk | contribs)
Nikolai Bukharin

Никола́й Буха́рин
Born9 October 1888
Moscow, Russian Empire
Died15 March 1938
Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Cause of deathExecution
NationalityRussian
Political orientationTrotskyist


Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (9 October 1888 – 15 March 1938) was a Russian revolutionary and communist politician. After the October Revolution, he initially became a member of a left-communist opposition group with Preobrazhensky that supported Trotsky over Lenin. During the New Economic Policy, he became a right-opportunist and supported the bourgeoisie[1] and kulaks. He formed an anti-party bloc with Alexei Rykov and Mikhail Tomsky.[2] In early 1929, Bukharin confessed to Jules Humbert-Droz, a Swiss Social-Democrat and a friend, that the bloc was forced to resort to terrorism in order to remove Stalin for the lack of public or Party support.[3]

Political career

Revolution

In 1918, Bukharin planned to arrest Lenin, Stalin, and Sverdlov and create a new government of SRs and left communists.[4]

1930s

Bukharin was the chief editor of the government newspaper Izvestiya during the early 1930s. He met with the Menshevik Nikolayevsky in Paris to buy some manuscripts of Marx and Engels and admitted that he saw Stalin as "not a man, a devil."Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag|

Political positions

Bukharin believed the peasants were aligned with the bourgeoisie and supported the imperialist World War.[5] He prioritized light industry over heavy industry.[4]

Collectivization

Bukharin believed that collectivization was not possible at the planned rate and that middle and poor peasants did not want to collectivize.[6] After collectivization was completed, he wanted to reverse it.[4]

Elections

Bukharin wanted to create another political party composed of intellectuals to run against the CPSU in elections. He also advocated for other opposition parties including nationalist parties.[4]

Execution

Bukharin was executed in 1937 after the Moscow Trials revealed that he had joined an anti-Soviet bloc with Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev.[7]

References