There were many reasons why Stalin managed to emerge as the leader of the Soviet Union by 1929. Stalin can be viewed as a manipulative and a corrupt leader whilst Trotsky can be viewed as fairly honest and ethical leader. Some historians believe that Stalin managed to emerge as the leader of the Soviet Union by undercutting Trotsky’s influence . This means that Stalin managed to use Trotsky’s weakness to his advantage . Stalin used factionalism , bonapartism and Trotskyism to his advantage .
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.
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.
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
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.
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. Trotsky was a weak opponent due to not having alliances with anybody which left him in a weak spot with no one to defend him. Trotsky also had poor health which leads to a decline in his ability to lead the red army it also showed lack of commitment within the party. In 1923 we see Stalin form an alliance with Kamenev and Zinoviev this lead to the defeat of Trotsky in 1924, Kamenev and Zinoviev defend Stalin against Lenin’s Last testament in which he criticized Stalin although Kamenev and Zinoviev weren’t mentioned within the last testament therefore the alliance worked for both parties. The alliance didn’t last long as Stalin brought out a book on the October revolution in which Kamenev and Zinoviev take it as a reason to take Stalin down they
The elite undermined Weimar as a result of their traditional values and hatred of democracy. In addition, Hitler’s radical new approach to politics utilised the weaknesses in Weimar – he was charismatic and through propaganda convinced the public that he could be their saviour. During the years 1918-28 the Nazis had little impact on the political scene – apart from the failed Beer Hall Putsch, which did earn them admiration from some nationalists. However, during these years, some sections of the public were becoming increasingly disillusioned with Weimar. This was due to events like the devastating 1923 hyperinflation, and of course the Treaty of Versailles, which had tainted Weimar’s reputation from its inception.
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.
“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.
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.