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. Stalin managed to obtain the role of head of central control commission. His role presented him with the power to investigate and discipline members of the party. He used this to the best of his manipulative ability by not expelling those who disagreed and went against him ideologically. Another important factor was the weaknesses of his opponents for example Trotsky was a weak powerbase due to his old age although he had high authority as he was the leader of the red army.
Stalin was never considered to be a prominent member of the Politburo however he became one of the most well known leaders of the Soviet Union and the most feared. Firstly Stalin built himself a ‘power base’ within the party that allowed him to defeat his rivals. He did this by firstly impressing Lenin about his practical abilities and there Lenin saw him as well suited for the position of General Secretary. Consequently in 1922 Lenin and Kamenev appointed Stalin. With the power that Stalin had now acquired he could appoint new members for the party and demote members of the party.
Stalin’s oppression had many results including, but not limited to, the strengthening of his political dominance. The purges allowed Stalin to remove elements of the Party that he considered to be unsafe. It transformed Russia from a one party state to a totalitarian dictatorship, with Stalin as its unchallenged ruler, and resulted in him becoming the most politically dominant person in Russia. This is due to the fact that the population could not speak out against Stalin through fear of being sent to the Gulags, and neither could the rest of the communist party, as they feared being exiled or even executed. What’s more is that through the purges Stalin was able to publically establish the guilt and corruption of his opponents.
Why did Stalin emerge as leader of the Soviet Union? A power struggle for control of the Bolshevik party began after Lenin’s death in 1924. Among the contenders for the role, two of the most powerful names in this struggle were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Ultimately, Stalin was able to secure power and vote out Trotsky by being politically skilful and cunning however most importantly he was lucky. There are many factors to consider in terms of why stalin emerged as leader of the soviet union.
Stalin was an unchallenged ruler but he believed he had many enemies and recent history made Stalin wary. His opponents in the rise to power- Trotsky, Bukharin, Zinoviev and Kamenev- all had held leading positions in the Communist Party and then fallen from power. Stalin was paranoid that he would face the same fate. He also did not trust his form opponents as he believed they were not behind his version of socialism. They also had a larger following than Stalin which Stalin feared people would be loyal to them.
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
How important was Stalin’s use of the Lenin legacy in gaining power? Stalin’s use of the Lenin Legacy helped him gain support during the years 1924-1929, eventually resulting in him winning the power struggle and gaining power in Russia. Even though in Lenin’s final testament he made it clear that Stalin was trouble and he should be got rid of, Stalin’s political cunning and his use of the Lenin legacy meant that he was able to gain people’s support and become leader of the Communist party. One of the most noticeable was at Lenin’s funeral. Firstly, Stalin had told Trotsky (who was a major rival to Stalin at this time) the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral.
The other people were middle class people, who were more educated and wealthier than the worker class, but still minor against the tsar. Nicholas II wasn’t a good ruler: he avoided important decisions, neglected the importance of the policy and suppressed any resistance. He tried to crush any fears of a revolution by entering a war and consequently uniting his country, but his war tactics weren’t glorious. Russia’s people, the ones who accepted the life for many years, started to stir up, for example workers were striking, but their actions were brutally wiped out. As long as the tsar had his army he was unconquerable.
When Lenin was alive he made several criticisms about Stalin which were not made public. If they were made public then it would have hindered Stalin’s victory. Lenin had said that Stalin was too rude and that he did not think through his decisions properly. Stalin’s victory was not expected by most people as they all underestimated his abilities. However Stalin did have his strengths which assisted in his victory.
For however strong the system is at controlling the largely uneducated majority, Tsarism is only as powerful as the Tsar is at the time. So Tsarism in the 1900’s was not very powerful because we can see that from his actions Nicholas II was inept as a leader of such a large country. Blatant failures by the Tsar were apparent to the people of Russia; two examples, which cast questions over his ability, were the Famine of 1891 and the Russo-Japanese war. The famine was an extremely bad time to be a Russian citizen, a great majority of the country was starving and the Tsar and his government had no plan or solution to help the needy. A peasant needs nothing but a home and food, but when food is taken out of his life then he will ask questions