Unit 1 Stalin – Assignment ‘To what extent was Stalin’s victory over his opponents in the power struggle a result of his opponents mistakes?’ In 1929, four years after the death of Lenin, the power struggle between Stalin, Trotsky, Bukharin, Kamenev and Zinoviev was over. Stalin was the undisputed leader of the USSR. Many people would said that Stalin’s victory was due to the mistakes made by his opposition, yet it could also be argued that there were other reasons behind his rise to power. One of Stalin’s biggest opponents during the power struggle was that of Trotsky (left wing), who some considered to be the favourite to succeed Lenin at the time of his death in 1924. Despite his Menshevik past, Trotsky was close to Lenin and had played a key role in the communist party.
With Trotsky being on the extreme left and Bukharin on the extreme right an alliance between them was unthinkable, which created a struggle for power. Trotsky argued that the NEP was economically and ideologically misguided while Bukharin supported the NEP. Bukharin believed in socialism in one country while Trotsky believed that no socialist society could exist alone. Trotsky and Bukharin had the most authority while Kamenev and Zinovev lost their authority while changing their positions from the extreme right to the extreme left. Ideology was crucial to the alliances that formed following Lenin’s death.
Another ideological method that was central to his success of emerging as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929 was accusations of Trotskyism . This was due to Stalin defending himself by accusing Bukharin of Trotskyism because Trotsky had been the first to make the claim about bureaucracy . This can be viewed as a weakness of Trotsky because this accusation of Trotskyism attempts to show that Trotsky’s ideology was far from Leninist . This greatly caused decline in Trotsky’s support because many wanted a leader who was close to Lenin and followed Lenin . Therefore , this is one of Stalin’s strengths because he was
Lenin, like the Tsars, was incredibly effective at appeasing the people politically while giving them very little or any political influence or representation. The Tsars used the Duma, Nicholas 2nd, and the Zemstva, Alexander 2nd, to ‘give’ the people the people what they desired politically. However these organisations were in reality still controlled by the Tsar and were very restricted in their abilities to create any change. Lenin used an election, the façade of Soviet power and a pyramidal structure of Government to, like the Tsars, give an illusion of democracy. Lenin like the Tsars had absolute power in Russia to the extent that he could ignore advice from his party and single handily dictate changes.
“How significant were the personalities of the contenders to succeed Lenin in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-1929?” The main personalities for the so-called “struggle for power”, namely Bukharin, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev, played a significant role in the success of Stalin as the leader of the Communist Party. The main reasons, however, include Stalin’s political shrewdness, Stalin’s manipulation of the Party machine and Stalin’s exploitation of the internal divisions of the Party. One reason as to why Stalin succeeded Lenin was his political shrewdness. He exercised his political shrewdness in two ways. Firstly, he capitalised on the ‘Cult of Lenin’ by painting himself as a natural successor to Lenin.
By 1929, Joseph Stalin who was one of the members of the ‘collective leadership’, defeated the rest and became the dominant force of the USSR. His success was part of a power struggle which began even before Lenin’s death. Stalin’s victory was not inevitable, nor was it a result of his political skills alone. There was a whole list of factors which combined to assist his victory. When Lenin was alive he made several criticisms about Stalin which were not made public.
How far does Stalin’s position as General Secretary explain his success in defeating his rivals in the years 1924-29? In 1923, Stalin was the least likely candidate to succeed out of Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin and of course Lenin as leader of the party, this was because although he was important in the administrative function during the civil war, he was not glamorous nor intellectual, unlike Trotsky and Bukharin. Stalin was seen by many as the ‘safe candidate’, and a centrist, who therefore could present himself as a sensible and practical politician. Stalin had been appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922, entitling him to being responsible for appointing people to key positions within the party, and for any promotions. As he had the powers to do so, he also had the power to sack party members.
Ali Adenwala 12J Due: 5/1/15 Why did the Bolsheviks succeed in 1917 whilst other political parties failed to gain power? [2nd Draft] The Bolshevik’s seizure of power was due, significantly, to the external environment of deterioration festering around them at the time, the most incremental and significant being the failure of other political parties to act and distance themselves from the Provisional Government. This directly heightened Lenin’s role in the revolution, allowing him to exploit these weaknesses, with the help of Trotsky, whom he appropriated successfully to achieve the parties main end: a socialist, Bolshevik government, Sovnarkom. Lenin placed Trotsky as the leader of the Petrograd Soviet’s Military Revolutionary Committee (MRC) on September 25th 1917, to carry out a planned uprising, where Trotsky, between October 24th and 25th, ordered the Bolshevik Red Guards to seize key positions in Petrograd. This led to the taking over of railway stations, and post and telegraph offices, meaning that the PG was left totally defenseless, allowing the Bolsheviks to seize control.
After Lenin’s death, there was a dispute over the succession between Bukharin, Trotsky, Kamenev and Stalin. Trotsky could end the dispute and took power as the head of the Bolsheviks with Lenin's Testament, which criticized the oppositions Trotsky. However, he did not do it, and Stalin, using his position in the Bolshevik Party was able to get his men in high positions and policies through a swing, a union with his opposition to displace others, was able to take power in 1923 and the elimination of his violent Trotsky opposition, using a "ban on faction’’. In some cases, single-party leaders use a combination of legal and illegal methods to come to power. For Stalin, what he did was entirely legal.
Why did Stalin emerge as leader of Soviet Russia? Observing Stalin’s background and other personal factors, Stalin was indeed a weak contender for the leader of Soviet Russia and lacked a strong, powerful past that people such as Trotsky had. However from 1924 to 1929, Stalin with the use of manipulation, determination and tactical strategies managed to emerge as leader of Soviet Russia. The reason as to why he created such an outcome is quite clearly impressive, but what really worked for him? An important factor as to why Stalin was able to emerge as leader was due to the advantages that he had as a result of his position within the communist party.