History GCSE Coursework

Many older party members that had been loyal to the Bolsheviks for a very long time distrusted Trotsky because he had only joined the party in 1917, yet he was given almost immediate power from Lenin> Which would have caused a lot of jealousy for those party members that had been working there way up for many years.

When Trotsky became very ill in 1923, he was no longer strong enough to retaliate to attacks made on him by his enemies. This was the turning point for Stalin to fight his way to become leader.

Stalin had a very powerful position as General Secretary of The Communist Party. He used his power to his advantage and between 1922 and 1924 he started to put more and more of his own supporters in more higher and powerful positions within the party. He also expelled many of the younger party members who he thought were likely to support Trotsky. Other Bolsheviks allowed Stalin to do this as they feared of Trotsky becoming a dictator. They also didn't think that Stalin represented any danger, he seemed like a safe run of the mill communist who could be trusted with great power.

One of the party members in 1924 said of Stalin

'He tried to stay in the shadows...he was a man whose aim was very clear, but you could never tell how he was going to accomplish it. He accomplished it in the most cunning way, and he allowed nothing to get in his way.'

Stalin never held any extreme views that were likely to split the party, and he seemed like a much safer choice than Trotsky.

Another reason I think that Stalin became leader over Trotsky was because Lenin's testament was never released. It contained both information about Trotsky and Stalin, however most party members already suspected things of Trotsky but not of Stalin.

Lenin said

'Having become secretary general, Comrade Stalin has acquired immense power, and I am not sure that he will always know how to use this power with sufficient caution.'

If the testament had of been released it would have most certainly destroyed Stalin's chance of becoming leader.

When Lenin died, he left no clues as to whom he wanted to succeed him as ruler of the USSR, even though he had been very ill for a long time before he died. It was decided that the member of the Politburo that had the most power would succeed Lenin, but instead of having leadership elections which would have been more fair the Communist Party did not want it to work that way. The two leading figures that would fight for power would be Stalin and Trotsky. Lenin's funeral was held on the 27th January 1924. Stalin made an appearance as chief mourner and Lenin's closest friend, but Trotsky was nowhere to be seen. It was later revealed that Trotsky had been tricked by Stalin, and given the wrong date and time for the funeral, so as took look as if Trotsky did not really care for Lenin. This also made Stalin look better as it made him seem like the caring friend that he should be.