Why Did Stalin Emerge As Leader Of Russia Politics Essay

Why Did Stalin Emerge As Leader Of Russia Politics renderAfter the death of Lenin in 1924 there was no clear successor, this guide on to a lot of confusion within Russia. A collective leadership was formed compromising Stalin, Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev. At the time this was seen as a hard-nosed solution, with Russia macrocosm governed through the Politburo. Stalin used this to his benefit to gain power within the communist Party and the government.The main(prenominal) two contenders at this time were Stalin and Trotsky. both(prenominal) men had different strengths and weaknesses Stalin was seen as a grey blur, some angiotensin converting enzyme who had bully administrational abilities but lacked personality. Stalin was seen as a much central figure within the Communist party whereas Trotsky was seen more odd provideg. This wasnt Trotsky only disadvantage, unlike Stalin, Trotsky was brought up within a Jewish family and was a former Menshevik. This made Trotsky an late target for his rivals. Trotsky however was the more popular of the two and took a more active role within debates where Stalin would stay away.Stalin was clever in his manoeuvre to survive leader. Lenin was seen as the figure head of the Communist Party, Stalin used this to his advantage in winning over the Russia population. At Lenins funeral Stalin gave a speech creating the clinical depression he was deeply upset at the passing of his former superior. Stalins main rival, Trotsky, didnt even turn up to the funeral, stating that no one had informed him when the funeral was to take place. The funeral was an occasion which demonstrated both the skills of Stalin in manipulating events and Trotskys lack of judgement1. Trotsky was left isolated many within the red ink party saw Trotskys absence seizure as an insult to Lenins memory. It too highlighted that Stalin wanted to continue Lenins work. He to a fault created a triumvirate with Kamenev and Zinoviev. Stalin decided to f ounder Lenins body embalmed so people could worship him, further increasing his popularity.An different failing of Trotsky was his decision not to release Lenins final testament. Along with Zinoviev, Trotsky decided against publishing his testament, the main reason poop this was that it criticised many other the other Politburo members. If this document would had been made public friendship Stalin never would use up gained the leadership as he was heavily criticised and Lenin recommended the remotion of Stalin from within the Communist part.Unfortunately Stalin had firmly established himself within the Bolshevik party. He was seen as a party man or else than an individualist. As Woods states He had egress manoeuvred his arch-rival on e truly possible front, not least through his skilful manipulation of the cult of Leninism2. He had turn out he was a clever politician and the gap between Stalin and Trotsky was getup which helped him secure power.The structure of the Communis t Party at the time was a great aid to Stalin. He held severalize positions, one of which was General Secretary, which he had held since 1922. This was a key position that enabled Stalin significant power as Stalin had gate to thousands of personal documents on his fellow party members. With the introduction of the Lenin Enrolment program in 1923 the job of General Secretary became even more advantageous. This platform was introduced in an effort to recruit more working class members. Stalin was direct able to recruit new members of his choosing, mainly people who would be doglike to him. Stalin now had the power to out vote any opposition he encountered and could dictate orders to his rivals, as one historian states all opposition of the mid-twenties ended up with the same central grievance the party had become bureaucratized, Stalin had killed tradition of internal party democracy.3Stalin now had the power to promote members to key positions within the party, mainly people who would support him against his rivals. Stalin began to isolate his rivals which led to the governing body of the United Opposition in 1926. This group included former Triumvirate members Kamanev and Zionviev, Trotsky was also a member. These members where often isolated at party conferences and as a result they became weaker while Stalin continued to gather support. It was Stalins ability to appoint members to positions rather them be elected which gave him the power to win elections and to steadily build up his power base.Stalin now began launching personal attacks upon his rivals, often playing them tally against each other. His main source of ammunition was the New Economic polity (NEP) and the ideological differences. The NEP was introduced by Lenin to stop the Russian economy from collapsing, it allowed for some confidential profit business to be established. The United Opposition believed that the NEP was to capitalist, however Stalin criticised this view, claiming that they strange Lenins ideas and branded them traitors under the Party Unity rule that banned members from creating parties within the party. Once Stalin had discredited the left wing to the point that they posed superficial threat to him he turned his attention to the right wing. This mainly compromised Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky, with Bukharin being his main threat. Unlike the left wing, these members wanted the continuation of the NEP believing the excerption of the communist state relied on it. Stalin claimed that by supporting the NEP they were undermining the revolution as it was a capitalist enterp nurture. Stalin was clever in his handling of these affairs, manipulating members against each other and they ultimately ousted each other from the party.Stalin had other differences of opinion with the United Opposition, and in particular Trotsky. Stalin wanted a state of socialism in superstar Country, whereas Trotsky wanted a Permanent Revolution, however many Bolsheviks mist rusted Trotsky on this restoration believing it was a Menshevik idea. With Trotskys history of being a member of the Mensheviks Stalin was slow able to discredit his rival and his ideas, portraying him as disloyal. done his Socialism in One Country Stalin was able to gather more support, wake himself as a patriot.Stalin was also assisted by Trotsky himself when he produced The Lessons of October. This is due(p) to the fact that The lessons of October was used by Leon Trotsky to attack Kamenev and Zinoviev this then led to them assail him even more. As a result Trotsky had to step d ingest as commissar of the army and therefore lost a lot of his political influence. Seeing as Trotsky was one of Stalins main political opponents this also helped Stalin in his rise to power.It was often Stalins political opponents own weaknesses that helped his cause. For instance, Trotsky was an arrogant man, this helped Stalin. Of all the quantify Stalin manipulated Trotsky, like the incident a t Lenins funeral, not once did Trotsky speak out and state what Stalin had been doing. This meant that no body really knew what Stalin was like behind the scenes. certainly if Trotsky spoke out and exposed Stalin then people would not have admired Stalin so much but on the contrary would have reviled him. Therefore Stalin may not have risen to power so easily. Another instance of the political powers showing weaknesses is the sucking in of Kamenev and Zinoviev by Stalin. They were both very naive. They were misled by Stalin and lied to for his own success. Also one of the main factors which show that the politicians were weak was the fact that many of the other politicians were very straight forward and stuck to their principles. This meant that they never really took a different commence even though Stalin did. Therefore Stalin constantly had the upper hand in political affairs. Also, many of the politicians underestimated Stalin due to the fact that he was very quietude and neve r participated in key debates this led to him being described as a grey blur by his political colleagues. As a consequence he was able to do many things, such as form a triumvirate with Kamenev and Zinoviev, and not get noticed.Some Historians believe that Stalins rise was due to the structural changes that occurred within the government rather than Stalins personal qualities. As party administration began to replace the government, administration replaced politics. With this new system the legal age of power fell into the hands of the party secretariat and general secretary, Stalin. It was though these positions that Stalin began to build a power base from he began influencing major policies and to win votes off people he had personally appointed.Although his personality could be seen as the most significant factor, it was other circumstances that aided his rise to power. Through a combination of his ruthlessness and determination, his attacks on his opposition and through their o wn flaws, he was able to take advantage of his position within the Communist Party. The economic and political confusion after Lenins death and also the well-behaved war also helped him to gather support in both the Politburo and key committee. All these factors gave him an edge over his rivals. Therefore by 1929 Stalin was able to convince the Communist Party that he was the best candidate to carry on Lenins work, and to control Russia. As one of his fellow party members stated, He was a man whose aim was very clearhe accomplished it in the most convincing wayand he allowed nothing to get in his way.