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Soviet cogitations: 3
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 11 Apr 2015, 14:32 New Comrade (Say hi & be nice to me!)  11 Apr 2015, 14:58
Greeting to all comrades,
I have read long time ago somewhere that Stalin has offered his resignation four times during the period in which he was a member in the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. is this a historical fact that can confirmed by historical documents ( ex: files or papers from the soviet archive )? or it is just a rumor? Thank you.
Soviet cogitations: 3
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 11 Apr 2015, 14:32 New Comrade (Say hi & be nice to me!) 23 Apr 2015, 17:54
It seems that no one of the comrades has heard about this resignation thing.
? 
Soviet cogitations: 6211
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 04 Aug 2004, 20:49 Ideology: Democratic Socialism Embalmed 23 Apr 2015, 20:35
That's the first time I've heard of anything like this, so I can't really comment on it. Plus I can't read Russian and reading Soviet archives would be quite a problem for me.
 "Phil Spector is haunting Europe" -Dr. Karl H. Marx 23 Apr 2015, 22:14
I have read about Stalin wanting to retire from a specific post here and there for bureaucratic reasons before he became de facto boss of bosses. But it was never like he wanted to leave the party or something like that, and definitely not something that merits rigorous study or interest...
 The great art of life is sensation; to feel that you exist, even in pain. 
Soviet cogitations: 4764
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 20 Jul 2007, 06:59 Ideology: Marxism-Leninism Forum Commissar 24 Apr 2015, 06:05
First, I disagree with Yeqon. If he did present a resignation, it sounds pretty interesting. In my mind, it would be merely a gesture, since he knew that it wouldn't be accepted, but it still speaks a lot about political stratagems and protocol, and the circumstances for each attempt at resignation should also be an indication of the seriousness of a certain setback or of the need to reassert leadership.
Now, as to the question at hand. I remember reading in this board that Stalin presented his resignation when Lenin's much debated "last will" was presented. Googling around, the answer came up on Ludo Marten's Another view of Stalin, where the author directly quotes Stalin's "The Troskyist Opposition, Before and Now. Stalin wrote: So that's twice. It's not too farfetched to think he again has resorted to this, as a way of obtaining a vote of confidence.  "You say you have no enemies? How is this so? Have you never spoken the truth, never loved justice?" - Santiago Ramón y Cajal Forum Rules 24 Apr 2015, 14:30
Perhaps I was being a little careless with my choice of words. Okay, so I was being very careless. I mostly agree with what praxi has stated. There was indeed political manoeuvring in mind when he offered resigning. From what I've read nobody in the central committee ever thought that the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party was or would be of especially high significance politically. They surely wouldn't have let Stalin retain that position if they had known that this very post would be critical to him expelling them and ultimately leading the country.
I don't think that even Stalin back then knew that this post would serve as the de facto highest in the Soviet Union. So the answer to the original question that the opening poster made is yes. Stalin has offered resigning from this post in the past. I also remember something akin to this during the civil war when differences between him and Trotsky would arise on military questions. The great art of life is sensation; to feel that you exist, even in pain.
Soviet cogitations: 3
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 11 Apr 2015, 14:32 New Comrade (Say hi & be nice to me!) 05 May 2015, 01:05
Thank you all for trying to answer the question, but I think the core of the question is not touched even in a superficial way. I have myself read that Stalin offered his resignation four times: after reading Lenin's recommendation to his comrades (It is said that the whole members of the central committee Including Trotsky refused this demand of resignation), two times during the second world war, and some other time which I do not remeber exactly, but the question here, is there, if there can be, any historical document that confirms this '' rumor '' clearly and undebatably?
Greeting. 27 Jul 2015, 23:13
Well, if two times were during the Great Patriotic War, then Trotsky wouldn't have much say on the matter
I can only speculate but I would doubt any attempt at resignation would occur during the war of all times, if anything it would likely be between 1921 and 1924 when the Soviet State was first developing... there was a lot of chaos developing government structures and figuring out whats going to work and what isn't and there were many times certain commissars disagreed with others, so perhaps ultimatums that involved a resignation occurred??? I'd search that period of time for the answer. 01 Aug 2015, 09:12
I know there was another time in 1952 when he asked to resign as General Secretary but was once more asked to stay on: http://www.northstarcompass.org/nsc0004/stal1952.htm
I think the Webbs already understood quite well in the mid-30s Stalin's predicament: Quote:The "catastrophic" bit at the end applies more to the time the Webbs were writing than when Stalin died a little less than twenty years later, but the quote is still basically correct. 07 Dec 2015, 19:00
Commrades Send the Spetsnaz. The target is Shaw. there will be blood
Soviet cogitations: 2294
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 10 Aug 2010, 14:21 Party Bureaucrat 07 Mar 2016, 09:10
Stalin himself confirmed for the 1st resignation. I might also have heard about something after WWII, but during the war itself, that seems highly unlikely.
 "Fishing is part of agriculture" Gred "Loz, you are like me" Yami "I am one of the better read Marxists on this site" Gred |
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