How significant were the personalities of the contenders to succeed Lenin in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-29? The personalities of the contenders to succeed Lenin in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents in the years 1924-49 was the most significant factor as the personalities dictated what they did and how they reacted to certain events. However there are other factors to consider such as power bases; mistakes made by others and actual party policies. Finitely, personalities were the most significant in accounting for Stalin’s defeat of his opponents. Due to the fact that the personalities of the contenders dictated what they did in terms of attempting to be the strongest candidate in succeeding Lenin, and showed how they reacted to key events; it is evident that this is the most significant factor in the power struggle.
“Assess the reasons why Stalin was able to rise to power between 1924 and 1929” In 1924, just two years after the end of the Russian Civil War, Lenin died. Since he had left no writings of who he wanted to be his successor, a power struggle emerged between the left and the right wings of the Bolshevik Party. Some of the key figures included Leon Trotsky, Nikolai Bukharin and Grigory Zinoviev. Nevertheless, Stalin was able to outmanoeuvre his way past all of these men to become undisputed leader of the USSR by 1929. The main reason that Stalin was able to rise to power was his ingenious defeats of both the left and right wings of the Party.
Lenin warned the people about the ambitious leaders like Joseph Stalin whom he met through the Bolshevik party. Lenin died before he could accomplish his task of organizing Russia. (Vladimir Lenin) Joseph Stalin, who had been elected to a very powerful position of general secretary, was in the running to be the next
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.
In many ways, Stalin transformed himself to replicate Lenin by adopting his ideas and goals, although the way in which he met these goals are highly controversial by historians. Stalin was quickly acknowledged as a murderous dictator while he used a tactic of systematic killing of political opponents and innocent civilians on a massive scale. The objectives that Stalin was able to accomplish during his political career were truly outstanding and beneficial, however; the way in which he met these goals was truly unethical. Joseph Stalin was an
Hitler was more active in the party early career than Stalin. Resigning from the army and becoming a politician, Hitler played a significant role in ensuring the German Workers’ Party the greatest support in Bavaria by announcing the 25 Point Programme demanding to abolish the Peace Treaties of Versailles, combined extreme nationalism and racism becoming a leader of the party in 1921. He also organized the Beer Hall putsch, when he wanted to overthrow the government but was nor supported by the Bavarian government and went to prison. Stalin played a minor role in the February and October revolution in Russia in 1917 and he was rather an able administrator. He gained popularity and position in party rather because he agreed with Lenin in the matter of self-determination of the nations – that all nations should decide whether they want to be a part of Russia or not.
How far does Stalin’s position as General Secretary explain his success in defeating his rivals in the years 1924-29? Following Lenin’s death in 1924, the Communist Leadership in Russia was thrown into disarray. Months of ideological confusion, full of proposals of ideas for the future of socialism, bought about potential contenders for party leadership and amongst these was Joseph Stalin. Throughout the next 5 years, a great power struggle occurred between the contenders but Stalin eventually emerged successful as the new leader of the USSR. It was Stalin’s position as General Secretary and other factors that that contributed to his success.
As he had the powers to do so, he also had the power to sack party members. This role won Stalin the loyalty of the junior ranks, who were keen for higher wages as a result of promotion. Also, Stalin’s role gave him the power to manipulate the system which decided who attended the party congresses. Stalin soon gained a powerful influence on the composition of the party’s central committee. Finally, Stalin was also responsible for recruitment.
Revolutionary Leadership USSR 1924 – 1957 What methods of control did Stalin use during the 1930's? How did these methods During the 1930's, Joseph Stalin used many brutal but effective methods of control to gain a hold on the USSR and keep his power. “To gain a victory and be feared was a triumph for him.” (Joseph Iremashvilli, on Stalin) These methods affected the Soviet Union in many ways. Such as a rapid decrease in living standards, famines resulting in countless orphaned children, and the Gulag system of forced Labour camps. Stalin and his associates in the Politburo and the NKVD influenced the Soviet people with these methods so much that in some cases the lowest class of people would exclaim statements like: “When the woman I love gives me a child, the first word I will teach it shall be 'Stalin'” (A.O.
According to Alan Wood, Lenin described the 1905 revolution as a ‘dress rehearsal’. Although he was not involved, Lenin saw the weaknesses of Tsardom and developed the Bolshevik party with a future plan to overthrow Nicholas II. Even though Lenin and most of the hierarchy of the Bolshevik party were exiled a majority of the time, they still had influence in Russia. As described by Anthony Wood, ever since 1905 Lenin had been talking and writing about the establishment of a ‘revolutionary democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and poor peasantry’ There are a number of historians who believe Lenin was not a threat as he was exiled for too long and was out of touch with the revolutionaries back