In 1924 Lenin dies leaving the role as leader of the communist open. Lenin did not want Stalin, but Trotsky to take over his position. But as Lenin’s strokes got worse, he lost the ability to participate in the CC (Central Committee). Lenin had information about Stalin that could have been very damaging if it was released in public. Stalin had many calculated methods to achieve the power of Russia.
One of the main reasons why Stalin emerged as sole leader was because of how he used pragmatism to manipulate Lenin’s opinion of him to suggest that he was the most favorable leader to carry on Marxism throughout Russia. This key event that secured Stalin’s public support was around the time of Lenin’s funeral. His role as general secretary gave him the ‘grey blur’ title because of his reputation of being invisible, focusing his time on important paperwork. When Lenin released his testament, Stalin used his reputation to change it, which had previously had influential and opinionated views on Stalin, and if seen by the public, would inevitably have changed the success of Stalin’s emergence to a failure at becoming leader. Lenin’s real opinion of Stalin was highly negative.
HOW IMPORTANT WAS STALIN’S USE OF THE LENIN LEGACY IN EXPLANING HIS VICTORY IN THE POWER STRUGGLE IN THE YEARS 1924 – 1929? After Lenin died in 1924, a power struggle arose when he hadn’t elected a member of the party to continue in his footsteps as leader of Russia, this caused the heated climb that Stalin, Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin had to face to have power. It was Stalin who won, much to everyone’s surprise, and there are many factors as to why he won. One of them was the Lenin Legacy, which he manipulated to his advantage. Stalin was able to see that he could gain credibility by using Lenin’s Legacy, since Lenin was the leader of the Communist Party and was the reason to all the great ideas and change that was brought to Russia.
Why did Stalin become Leader of the Soviet Union? I believe that Stalin became leader of the Soviet Union because his rivals constantly underestimated him. It all started when he tricked Trotsky into not going to Lenin’s Funeral. He did this by giving him the wrong date so instead of going on the 10th of January 1924 he went on the 11th. Of course Stalin just said he’d made a mistake and because Trotsky didn’t see him as a threat he just moved on.
Why did Stalin instigate the great purges? Stalin is a man known for the ruthless methods he adopted to counteract oppositions, the harsh plans he set in order to industrialize Russia and also the way he shamelessly consolidated his power to secure his position in USSR. He’s infamous for his manipulative behavior, his temperamental ways and historically, the reign of terror (also referenced to as the great purges) he had initiated and allowed to unfurled upon the USSR. Stalin endeavored to: Secure his position within the party as well as a prominent figure in the USSR; build a strong and independent Russia made so by the five year plans he had developed;to have complete and total control of Russia, its people and industries; And he believed that the relentless terror he descended upon russia was the perfect medium which would allow him to achieve his goals. Stalin was engulfed by a sort-of paranoia, which didn’t always work against him but it did generally mean he was constantly worried by the thought of being thrown out of power, especially by those within his party.
In contract, Bukharin continued to argue in favour of the NEP and lost popularity as a consequence. In 1925, Zinoviev and Kamenev had abandoned the NEP in an attempt to gain control but due to the continuing success of the NEP, this failed as a result. Stalin’s ability to understand the right time to switch from right wing to left wing meant he was able to gain popularity and prove his intelligence. The alliances Stalin made and broke played a crucial role in his struggle to become the leader of the USSR.
How did Stalin's dictatorship develop? Stalin made his way into becoming dictator by a series of manipulative and clever tactics he would use to aid his influence. After Lenin and his party took over the election of the Provisional government which had been elected after the fall of the tsarist regime through a series of well-aimed political hits and armed threats; Stalin ascended the ranks of the government through extensive manipulation and threats as well as gaining the strong loyalty of some socialist idealists. In 1922 Stalin received the majority vote to become the General Secretary of the Communist party; a role that really no one else in the party really wanted as they deemed it unimportant and much like “House-chores”. What the other members of the soviet party such as Trotsky did not realize however; was that Stalin would use the position to gain a mass of followers for his socialist ideals and would use it as a stepping stone to achieve greater political influence and manipulate his way even further in the ranks.
While he was careful to protect the spirit of Lenin, Khrushchev attacked the crimes committed by Stalin and his closest associates. Throughout the four hours, Khrushchev accused Stalin of creating a regime based on "suspicion, fear, and terror." Khrushchev added that he wanted to break the cult of Stalin, who had died three years before. He condemned the mass repressions that took place between 1936 and 1938, lashed out at Stalin's foreign policy during World War II, and accused him of nationalism and anti-Semitism (rferl.org). In the speech Khrushchev denounced Stalin and Stalinism, and stated the Stalin was wrong.
He then intended for a mass increase in resource production to take place, which in fact did occur over the coming plans. Another political reason was that Stalin needed to develop a reputation that would supress that of Lenin. This was very important for Stalin as people viewed him as Lenin’s underdog, stating that Stalin lived in his shadow constantly referring to him whenever possible. This therefore retained Lenin’s god-like figure, which angered Stalin. He then decided to talk about Lenin’s mistakes to the Bolshevik Party, which came as a huge
Despite all that it is fair to say that Lenin was a successful leader without whom November revolution and hence the crucial change in Russia would not be possible. He played a significant role in the Russian history that Stalin wanted to inherit. To successfully revive the economy and stay in power he often used all possible means such as approval of the cold-blooded execution of the entire Imperial family, including women and children, usage of the "Cheka," to take innocent hostages at random–and shoot them, if necessary–to secure the grain supply, institutionalisation of terror as a method of state policy, establishment of both the system of deportation to concentration camps and the practice of political