Stalin was more popular because of Trotsky’s “political paralysis” he couldn’t be a good public speaker. This links to my next point because they both result in Stalin’s getting more power. Stalin made an alliance with Zinoviev and Kamenev to form the triumvirate. The triumvirate’s main aim was to defeat Trotsky. Trotsky advocated a permanent revolution with Stalin didn’t want.
When soldiers opened fire on demonstrators outside the Winter Palace on January 22, 1905, it was not in hopes of setting off a chain of events that would later be known as a revolution. Yet when hundreds of working class Russians were murdered that evening, Russia had changed. The protestors’ purpose was to beg the Tsar to exercise his authority on behalf of their miserable working conditions, though they were taken down by the onslaught of ammunition. It was enough to fuse off a chain of events that, if not for disorganization, a lack of coordination and military forces still loyal to the Tsar, might well have caused a revolution that changed Russia forever. One thing that changed very little in February of 1917 is the presence—or, more specifically, lack of presence—of actual revolutionary leaders.
For example the Mensheviks and the supporters of the Tsar would have disagreed on many terms; this may have made it hard for them to work as an organised unit. The fact that the leader of the movement only represented one of the factions also built up the tension between them. However I think that the leadership of Lenin and Trotsky was a larger contributing factor. The men were more loyal to the cause if not from belief but because their families had been taken hostage by Trotsky. Furthermore the Trotsky permitted the assassination of the Tsar; this was a good tactic as it immediately killed the cause of a large proportion of the White army.
Yet, popular support alone cannot bring military success nor can it bring stability. In the period leading up to, and during, the civil war the Red Army, under the guidance and influence of Leon Trotsky, were transformed from a ‘rabble to an incomparable fighting force’[2]. They were vast in number and located in Russia’s key industrial centers providing firm foundations from which they could build and also resist attack. The formidable pair of Lenin and Trotsky combined to create a party which boasted military might and also political and social awareness. Propaganda and foreign intervention helped to portray the Soviet leadership as ‘leaders of a national liberation struggle against foreign imperialists’[3] and this won them support from the masses whilst the Whites reliance on foreign aid rendered them vulnerable if such aid was to be withdrawn.
Lenin’s real opinion of Stalin was highly negative. He was so concerned about Stalin becoming leader that he made a plea in his testament to do anything to stop this. ‘I suggest that the comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post and appointing another man in his stead.’ As well as his view to not see him as leader, Lenin described Stalin as ‘rude’, but more importantly, favored Trotsky to be his successor in the testament, stating that he was ‘most capable’ individual to lead Russia. If it wasn’t for Stalin using his role as secretary of state to keep this document hidden, these opinions of Lenin would have influenced the public hugely, as his death alone attracted millions of people to pay their respects. Stalin not only stopped a negative opinion of him costing leadership, but he completely turned that opinion upside down, persuading the public that he was very close to the much loved Lenin.
In 1924, Lenin had died due to his increasingly worse condition after he was shot in 1918. This meant that the Bolshevik party had no leader who would continue Lenin’s work on communism. However, there were many contenders that wanted this leadership as it meant they would become the next ruler of Russia, effectively, these people were: Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin and Stalin. Although many were stuck in a power vacuum for the leadership, only one could be the true successor to Lenin and eventually, through cunning and skill, Stalin claimed that he was this very person. One reason why Stalin won the power struggle was through his positioning within the party.
The war had affected the trigger of the revolution by the weak army with a large lack of ammunition for their weapons, therefore they were unable to fight and fend for themselves, therefore Russia had to depend on the Allies such as Great Britain and France had to help them, also the tactics the Russians had used were very old fashioned therefore it had seemed they weren’t ready for war at all. This was seen as embarrassing for the Russian people and a hint for the people they needed change in Russia, if they were going to survive in the modern world. The war was a rather large mistake for the Tsar, although Russia had obtained slight success at the beginning they were facing harsh Germany and had badly equipped Generals, who were unsuccessful and not well trained this showed more signs of not being at all ready for the war. Furthermore, the Tsar had left Petrograd the capital of Russia to become the Commander of Russia’s army, this was a huge mistake for the Tsar as he had no military experience whatsoever and from then on, the Tsar was blamed for
Each groups strategy was very different, the liberals went on strike, while the SR's took a more violent approach. The power each group had individually was not enough to threaten the Tsar, however these differences in aims and beliefs within the 3 main groups meant that they could not combine the groups and work together to bring down the tsar. They were unable to unite their cause and were weaker because of it. Furthermore, there was discontent within the political groups. In 1903 the SD's could no longer function as a single group and split into the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.
Lenin had also ended the war with Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. However, this was a humiliating treaty for Russia as the Germans had been extremely harsh and the treaty took land, industries and people from Russia. After the Reds’ victory in the civil war, Lenin set about creating the world’s first communist state. He introduced war communism whereby the people saw the rapid nationalization of all industries as well as the requisitioning of all surplus grain from the peasants. Even though this solved all the immediate needs of the communist state, the majority of the peasants were unhappy about the new policies and rebelled against the Bolsheviks.
Having this powerful position in the party made people scared of him and that he sack them so they stayed very loyal to him. On the other hand his rivals, Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev had little power in the Party. Trotsky did have a lot of power in the Red Army but none within the Party. This shows how important Stalin’s Party position was in him emerging as leader of Soviet Russia in 1929. Another very important reason in why Stalin emerged as leader was Tactical maneuvering of Stalin and his making and breaking of alliances.