Lev Borisovich Kamenev Biography

Joins the Russian Social Democratic Party

Arrested after supervising publication of Pravda for 1 yr

Arrested after supervising publication of Pravda for 1 yr

Arrested after supervising publication of Pravda for 1 yr

Is arrested with other Bolshevik Duma deputies.

Exiled to Siberia, 1915-1917

Exiled to Siberia, 1915-1917

Appointed Member of Politburo

Appointed Member of Politburo

Returns from exile and influences Bolshevik policy in Petrograd.

Returns from exile and influences Bolshevik Soviet tactics.

Debates Lenin's radical Soviet policy.

Supports caution as unrest grows among soldiers and workers.

Calls for restraint inside the Bolshevik leadership.

Is exposed to arrest as the government moves against Bolsheviks.

Faces arrest as government repression continues.

Is arrested as part of the post-July repression.

Bolsheviks win major influence in the Petrograd Soviet.

Kamenev supports increasing Bolshevik influence in the Petrograd Soviet.

Circulates a letter to Bolshevik organisations arguing against "armed insurrection"

Circulates a letter to Bolshevik organisations arguing against "armed insurrection"

Kamenev & Zinoviev resign from the Central Committee. An injunction is issued against Kamenev reventing further pronouncements

Zinoviev, Kamenev, Alexei Rykov, Vladimir Milyutin, and Victor Nogin resign from the Central Committee on November 4, 1917 (Julian calendar)

Lenin wrote a proclamation calling Zinoviev and Kamenev "deserters", he never forgot their behavior, eventually making an ambiguous reference to their "October episode" in his Testament

Appointed Chairman of the Moscow Soviet

Supports party unity against the rebellion.

Decides SRs are guilty of trying to overthrow the Bolsheviks in 1919

Decides SRs are guilty of trying to overthrow the Bolsheviks in 1919

Holds SR death sentences open & have them executed if they undermine the Communists. Decides SRs are guilty of trying to overthrow the Bolsheviks in 1919

Appointed Member of Triumvirate ruling Russia after Lenins death

Zinoviev and Kamenev helped Stalin retain his position as General Secretary of the Central Committee at the XIIIth Party Congress in May-June 1924 during the first Lenins Testament controversy

Zinoviev was re-elected to the Politburo, but his ally Kamenev was demoted from a full member to a non-voting member and Sokolnikov was dropped altogether, while Stalin had more of his allies elected to the Politburo

Appointed Ambassador of Italy

During a lull in the intra-party fighting in the spring of 1926, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters gravitated closer to Trotskys supporters and the two groups soon formed an alliance known as the United Opposition

Dismissed from the Politburo during Stalins purge of the Opposition

When the XVth Party Congress made Opposition views incompatible with membership in the Communist Party, Zinoviev, Kamenev and their supporters capitulated and renounced their alliance with the Left Opposition. Leading supporters, from Kamenev down, were expelled in December 1927 by the XVth Party Congress, which paved the way for mass expulsions of rank and file oppositionists as well as internal exile of opposition leaders in early 1928

Zinoviev, Kamanev & 17 others are tried for the murder of Kirov. Tried for a 2nd time in secret & sentenced to a long term of imprisonment. Forced to admit the "moral & political responsibility" for Kirovs assassination. Exonerated for the assassination of Kirov

Secretly put on trial by Stalin for his life

During the trial, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 other accused, most of them prominent Old Bolsheviks, confessed to having plotted with Trotsky to kill Stalin and other members of the Soviet leadership

During the trial, Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 other accused, most of them prominent Old Bolsheviks, confessed to having plotted with Trotsky to kill Stalin and other members of the Soviet leadership