Alexandra Kollontai

[Искра]

How come that Alexandra Kollontai survived Stalin? I have allways asked myself that, especially considering that she was a leader of Workers Opposition.

For those who don't know who was she:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Kollontai
http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/index.htm

Workers Opposition: http://www.marxists.org/archive/kollonta/1921/workers-opposition/index.htm

[thesadmafioso]

After the workers opposition she took up a very subdued secondary role in politics, so she was not really seen as much of a threat to Stalin. Trotsky was also opposed to the Workers opposition as well, so it would of been nearly impossible to accuse her of "Trotskyism", as was all the rage in the day.

Stalin also gave her a de facto political exile when assigning her to an ambassador post in Sweden, so it was not as if persecuting her would of served him much use.

[Mr. Natural]

Stalin and Trotsky both claimed to be Lenin's political heir and, as I understand it, Stalin developed the concept of "Marxism-Leninism" in part to advance his legitimacy in this matter.

In such circumstances, it would have been very bad politics to purge Lenin's widow, although I'll bet Stalin wanted to. Stalin would never have forgiven her for that phone call in which he had to explain his rudeness to Alexandra Kolllantai to Lenin.

[Tim Finnegan]

...Kollontai wasn't married to Lenin. :confused:

[Искра]

...Kollontai wasn't married to Lenin. :confused:Nadežda was Lenin's wife: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadezhda_Krupskaya

[A Marxist Historian]

After the workers opposition she took up a very subdued secondary role in politics, so she was not really seen as much of a threat to Stalin. Trotsky was also opposed to the Workers opposition as well, so it would of been nearly impossible to accuse her of "Trotskyism", as was all the rage in the day.

Stalin also gave her a de facto political exile when assigning her to an ambassador post in Sweden, so it was not as if persecuting her would of served him much use.

Well, no, the Workers Opposition did participate in the Left Opposition together with Trotsky and Zinoviev, so if Stalin had wanted to accuse her of Trotskyism, that would have been far more credible than most of the folk Stalin charged with Trotskyism, most of whom were utterly loyal Stalinists who worshipped the ground Stalin walked on.

He did not purge her exactly because she had been the head of the "Workers Opposition." Stalin wanted to claim that all the workers were on his side vs. the Trotskyist and Zinovievists, petty-bourgeois Jewish servants of foreign capitalism, Hitler and the Japanese Mikado, according to Stalin. So keeping her around and sending her off to Stockholm where she couldn't make any trouble made sense to him.

The fact that Nicholas Yezhov, the head of the NKVD and the guy actually implementing the Great Terror, was a former Workers Oppositionist himself, may also have played a role in this.

-M.H.-

[thesadmafioso]

Well, no, the Workers Opposition did participate in the Left Opposition together with Trotsky and Zinoviev, so if Stalin had wanted to accuse her of Trotskyism, that would have been far more credible than most of the folk Stalin charged with Trotskyism, most of whom were utterly loyal Stalinists who worshipped the ground Stalin walked on.

He did not purge her exactly because she had been the head of the "Workers Opposition." Stalin wanted to claim that all the workers were on his side vs. the Trotskyist and Zinovievists, petty-bourgeois Jewish servants of foreign capitalism, Hitler and the Japanese Mikado, according to Stalin. So keeping her around and sending her off to Stockholm where she couldn't make any trouble made sense to him.

The fact that Nicholas Yezhov, the head of the NKVD and the guy actually implementing the Great Terror, was a former Workers Oppositionist himself, may also have played a role in this.

-M.H.-

The workers opposition predated the emergence of the Left Opposition by over half a decade, well after Kollontai had abandoned all serious political acts of dissidence and after her assumption of the role of an unassuming diplomat. By the time that the Left Opposition was functioning at the peak of its political activity in the CCCP, Kollontai was simply no longer a leading political figure, let alone one of the Left Opposition.

This is all to say that she still would of been quite insulated from claims of Trotskyism, as well. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure he would of if it was of any political use to him, but beyond that the basis was quite nonexistent.

[DaringMehring]

1) She was ambassador to Norway not Sweden.

2) She was a popular social figure in general. Her novels and short stories were well known.

3) She was especially popular among women. She was a trailblazer who had served in posts of political responsibility and had artistic success.

4) Stalin was a male chauvinist (provincial Georgian roots) who in general didn't like to feel like he was beating up on the fairer sex. Notice that Stassova, the only other female on the 1917 Bolshevik CC, also was "put out to pasture" rather than being shot, as was the norm for survivors of the 1917 CC.

Too inconvenient, too unsavory... better to keep A. Kollontai as a harmless icon.

Kollontai herself was a great person and a role model to every empowered female.

[svenne]

Well, Wikipedia says (well, it's not impossible that that page being wrong...):

"In 1923, she was appointed Soviet Ambassador to Norway (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway), becoming the world's first female ambassador in modern times.[21] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Kollontai#cite_note-20) She later served as Ambassador to Mexico (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico) (1926-27) and Sweden (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden) (1930-1945)"

[A Marxist Historian]

The workers opposition predated the emergence of the Left Opposition by over half a decade, well after Kollontai had abandoned all serious political acts of dissidence and after her assumption of the role of an unassuming diplomat. By the time that the Left Opposition was functioning at the peak of its political activity in the CCCP, Kollontai was simply no longer a leading political figure, let alone one of the Left Opposition.

This is all to say that she still would of been quite insulated from claims of Trotskyism, as well. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm sure he would of if it was of any political use to him, but beyond that the basis was quite nonexistent.

WO was formed in 1920. The Trotskyist Opposition in 1923, and the united Left Opposition in 1926. The Workers Opposition did participate in it for a while, and Kollontai signed the documents. It's true she was less politically active by then, but her political partner Shlyapnikov certainly was.

Believe me, Stalin charged people with Trotskyism based on a hell of a lot less than that. If you ever voted for a motion put forward by a Trotskyist, or had a friend or relative who was a Trotskyist, or even said a nice word about Trotsky once in your life, you were part of the grand conspiracy.

-M.H.-

[A Marxist Historian]

1) She was ambassador to Norway not Sweden.

2) She was a popular social figure in general. Her novels and short stories were well known.

3) She was especially popular among women. She was a trailblazer who had served in posts of political responsibility and had artistic success.

4) Stalin was a male chauvinist (provincial Georgian roots) who in general didn't like to feel like he was beating up on the fairer sex. Notice that Stassova, the only other female on the 1917 Bolshevik CC, also was "put out to pasture" rather than being shot, as was the norm for survivors of the 1917 CC.

Too inconvenient, too unsavory... better to keep A. Kollontai as a harmless icon.

Kollontai herself was a great person and a role model to every empowered female.

Yeah, those were all factors too, especially the male chauvinism. She was the perfect icon for Stalin on several levels. The fact that everybody knew she was a former famous oppositionist made her a particularly useful icon, proof that he didn't automatically shoot everybody who ever opposed him, thereby making him killing all those others off slightly more believable.

-M.H.-

[ComradeOm]

4) Stalin was a male chauvinist (provincial Georgian roots) who in general didn't like to feel like he was beating up on the fairer sex. Notice that Stassova, the only other female on the 1917 Bolshevik CC, also was "put out to pasture" rather than being shot, as was the norm for survivors of the 1917 CCWas a trait across the Stalinist system. Patronising attitudes towards women meant that they rarely suffered the severest of punishments, certainly when compared to the men. Which is not to say that they couldn't have their lives ruined but it was fairly uncommon for them to suffer execution or the harshest forms of forced labour