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.
With the power that Stalin had now acquired he could appoint new members for the party and demote members of the party. This meant that he also had access to all information on the party members; through this he could effectively build himself a power base. However compared to the other positions in the party the General Secretary was positioned lower and did not have a large input into the politics of the party, it was required to keep track of the members of the politburo. This meant that Stalin did not hold a powerful position and was positioned below his rivals. The position although considered a minor position, placed Stalin in a decent position.
Some people admired this quality of his but many thought he was too harsh. Stalin also received support from key individuals at that time such as the secret police. So if Stalin had any major problems he cold of got the secret police to aid him. Stalin had many personal qualities such as being very manipulative. As he was manipulative he could get people to do what he wanted and manipulate them what to do.
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
His initiative was used against the problem of the members of the communist party lacking high level military experience. He solved this problem by recruiting former soldiers of the Tsarist army and to ensure their loyalty he held their families hostage. Although this may have caused problems in that it was not an ethically correct thing to do it meant that he was reinforcing the communist army and therefore this move gave Trotsky
How accurate is it to say that Lenin’s leadership was the most important reason for the Bolsheviks’ success in the revolution of October 1917? The Bolshevik party on 25th October 1917 seized control of Russia with Lenin viewed to many as the icon of the revolution since his policies were quickly widespread amongst the people of Petrograd and his impressive leadership skills mobilized his ideas and the Bolshevik planned events to gain power. However, many would disagree, arguing that Lenin is not as significant because other leading Bolsheviks, such as Trotsky, were far more effective than Lenin in carrying out the revolution. Secondly, the weaknesses and underlying issues of the Provisional Government proved that they were destined to fail regardless of their attempts to keep power through repression, already placing the Bolsheviks in a good position for taking control. Finally the failures of the Provisional Government made them vulnerable which coincidentally worked to advantage the Bolsheviks.
Another way the workers sent a message to the government was through strikes, there were around 400 strikes between 1933 and 1935. Others Germans acted as spies and leaked industrial and military secrets to other foreign countries such as the USSR. Although the workers had the numbers to demand attention they lacked the organisational skills needed to overthrow a strong leader like Hitler. As time went on there was less open resistance as people were scared of being arrested as the punishment for speaking out against the government could often be
Despite his Menshevik past, Trotsky was close to Lenin and had played a key role in the communist party. In fact, it was Trotsky who masterminded the October revolution which saw the communists seize power in 1917. He also organised and controlled the ‘red army’ during the Civil War of 1918-1921. He possessed many good qualities needed in a leader, such as; he was a good leader, a good speaker and could be independent minded. Lenin described Trotsky as “...personally perhaps the most capable man in the present C.C...’ However, Trotsky also had weaknesses and made mistakes that Stalin was able to use to his advantage.
The success of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War was due to Lenin, Trotsky and their combined political, social and military capabilities as they were experts. They introduced various political and military policies that enabled them to raise support in Russia and create a dominant and successful military force. Both leaders showed immense dedication to the socialist cause and in doing so provided ruthless and brilliant leadership that ensured Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War. Peasant support for the Bolsheviks was a result of the Whites political and social faults. Firstly, the Whites treated the peasant class harshly, they did not see the advantage of gaining the support of the larger lower class as about 82% and they did not take full advantage of that.
Stalin helped Communist parties in them to win power, he made sure that these eastern European countries followed the same policies as the Soviet Union by becoming one-party states. * There was also a need to restore law and order. This provided a good excuse to station Soviet troops in each country. * The economies of Eastern Europe were shattered. Governments followed the economic policies of the Soviet Union.