United Opposition (Soviet Union)

The United Opposition was a group formed in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in early 1926, when the Left Opposition led by Leon Trotsky, merged with the New Opposition led by Grigory Zinoviev and his close ally Lev Kamenev, in order to strengthen opposition against the Joseph Stalin led Centre. The United Opposition demanded, among other things, greater freedom of expression within the Communist Party, the dismantling of the New Economic Policy (NEP), more development of heavy industry, and less bureaucracy. The group was effectively destroyed by Stalin’s majority by the end of 1927, having had only limited success.