Account for the Rise to Power of Stalin

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Account for the Rise to Power of Stalin

In May 1922, Lenin suffered a series of strokes, and on 21st of January died at the age of 53. This left a political vacuum in Russia, as Lenin had left no named successor to leader of the party. Thus, a virulent struggle for power began amongst the leading figures of the communist party.

The contest for succession was lead by some leading figures of the party. Trotsky was a well-known national figure, and a close associate of Lenin. Lev Kamenev was a member of the Politburo, and Grigori Zinoviev was head of the Comintern, and also a member of the politburo. Three other figures were also candidates, them being Nikolai Bukharin, the party’s leading political theorist, Andrei Rykov and Grigori Pyatakov, both being rising stars of the party. Stalin, perhaps in the most beneficiary position of General Secretary to of the party, concluded the potential future leaders of Russia.

Stalin came to power through manipulation and deceit of his rivals. He forged alliances to eliminate his rivals. The first of these was with Kamenev and Zinoviev and was against Trotsky. Trotsky was regarded as the most dangerous opponent, as he had a national reputation, had once been Lenin’s right hand man, and also controlled the army and navy. This meant that he had many advantages against the triumvirate. However, Trotsky made a series of errors that contributed to his discrediting. It was not forgotten that he was once a Menshevik, and he openly disagreed with Lenin on party policy. He failed to reveal Lenin’s political testament, which would have ended Stalin’s influence, as he would have lost his position as General Secretary. Also, Trotsky had openly attacked party policy and was asked to attend the Congress to explain himself. He failed to attend, and was criticized of factionalism. All of this meant that he lost influence within, but also outside the party.

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Trotsky was tricked by Stalin and did not attend Lenin’s funeral. This made him appear disrespectful towards Lenin, and also the party. Late in 1924, Trotsky published his book “Lessons of October” which included attacks on both Zinoviev and Kamenev. They responded by abusing Trotsky, who gave up his position as Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. This was perhaps the most significant misjudgment on his behalf, as he willingly gave up his only true power base.

All this time Stalin had not been involved in the conflict. However, Zinoviev and Kamenev realised, eventually, that Trotsky was not their true opposition. ...

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