The “favourite of the whole party,” killed in its name
Mid-1920s, Stalin told Bukharin: "You and I, Bukharchik, are the Himalayas; the rest are little spots." Ten years later, Stalin had him shot.
The brilliant theorist Lenin’s testament called “the favourite of the whole party.” At Brest he was the far-left voice for revolutionary war; a decade later, defending NEP and the peasants against Stalin’s Great Break, he became the “Right Deviation.” Shot after the 1938 trial. His last note, “Koba, why do you need me to die?” was found in Stalin’s desk.
Career Timeline
- 1916–17Edits the émigré press in New York
- 1917Published Imperialism and World Economy, written in 1915
- 1918Left Communist against the Brest peace
- 1918–29Editor of Pravda; Comintern leadership
- 1920Co-authored and published The ABC of Communism with Preobrazhensky
- 1921Published Historical Materialism: A System of Sociology
- 1925–28Theorist of NEP: “Enrich yourselves”
- 1929Falls as the Right Deviation
- 1934–36Edits Izvestia; helps draft the 1936 constitution
- 1938The third Moscow trial; shot
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionTop party leader, shaping policy direction
- 1921–1928The New Economic Policy (NEP)NEP's leading theoristDefending the smychka, he developed the most systematic case for gradual socialist construction through the market.
- 1923–1927The Succession Struggle and the Left OppositionAuthor of the Pravda editorial that opened the 'Literary Discussion'His Pravda editorial 'How Not to Write the History of October' (Oct 1924) opened the 'Literary Discussion' against Trotsky's 'Lessons of October.' Later became Stalin's ally theorizing 'socialism in one country.'
- 1928–1937The Five-Year Plans and the Soviet TransformationRight opposition leaderArguing for the continuation of the NEP and gradual industrialization, he opposed forced collectivization and was pushed out of the leadership in 1929.
- 1932–1933The Holodomor and the Collectivisation FamineLeader of the Right Opposition and the last major advocate of NEP gradualismOpposed Stalin's forced collectivisation, arguing for continued NEP gradualism and market incentives for the peasantry; purged as the 'Right Deviation' in 1929.
- 1937–1938The Great PurgeTargetAn Old Bolshevik leader executed after the Moscow Trial.
11 July 1928 — the secret meeting with Kamenev
On 11 July 1928, Nikolai Bukharin slipped into Lev Kamenev's apartment, away from Stalin's eyes. Just three years earlier, they had been political enemies, each trying to destroy the other. Now they faced a common foe.
Bukharin warned Kamenev urgently: Stalin was preparing a 'Great Break' that would crush the peasantry and end NEP. And he said this: 'His line is disastrous. He thinks he is a pharaoh. We are all in danger. He will cut all our throats.'
Kamenev took notes of the conversation, notes that later fell into Stalin's hands. The secret meeting sealed the fate of Bukharin and the 'Right Opposition.' In 1929, Bukharin was removed from the Politburo. And ten years later, Stalin did indeed cut his throat.
At the Moscow Trial, Vyshinsky thundered: 'The advocate of the great proletarian revolution dared to slander our great Comrade Stalin!' Bukharin was shot in March 1938.