Stalin was master at using situations to his own advantage,(the split in the politburo for instance) and that he was never perceived by others as a threat. He also manipulated people, mainly through propaganda. By now Stalin was in the Politburo, the ruling body of the communist party. The Politburo decided USSR’s policies. Stalin had now gained ‘Unlimited Authority’ by taking on ‘Dogsbody’ jobs (jobs that none of the other politburo members wanted.) Stalin gained four positions of authority from these jobs;
- He was member of the politburo. Being part of this seven group made him one of the most powerful men in the USSR.
- He was also a member of the Orgburo which ran all its organisational matters. This helped Stalin in his ‘unlimited authority’ because he knew everything that was going on and also knew everyone’s weakness’.
- Most important of all, Stalin being General Secretary of the party, gave him the power to give his own supporters posts at every level of the party.
- As the head of the Control Commission he had the power to control Party membership – which meant he could purge or expel members who were considered ‘Unreliable’.
The Politburo in 1924 consisted of seven men. They were not a united body. Over the previous two years they had split up into two groups, the Rightists and the Left Opposition. The main cause of the split was a disagreement about how to develop the economy of the USSR. The rightists led by Bukharin, believed that the government must continue Lenin’s NEP for at least the next twenty years. Gradually, both peasants and towns people would become prosperous. The Left Opposition, consisting of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev, strongly disagreed with the idea of continuing with NEP. They believed that the USSR must be turned into an industrial country as quickly as possible. If it remained an agricultural country under the NEP, the west might try to invade the USSR and crush Communism. The left therefore believed that the government should put peasants taxing into paying for the Factories, power stations and railways etc.
Although Lenin was ill, he made it clear where he stood in the argument between Right and left; he had doubts about them both. At the end of 1922 he wrote a letter to the Party congress, outlining his ideas for the future and giving his opinions about the members of the politburo. After his death his testament was read and said that the split in the party was mainly due to Trotsky and Stalin. He said that Trotsky was outstanding dealing with the paperwork but his attitude was awful. He also said that Stalin was too rude and his comrades should think of a way of getting rid of him. Also Trotsky’s unpopularity, due to him being arrogant and rude also helped Stalin in getting rid of him.
Stalin’s position suddenly took a turn for the worse and he looked very weak. Lenin’s testament had been read out. Stalin looked miserable for Lenin was God to everyone else and if he said Stalin was to be thrown out of the Politburo he would. Stalin was paralysed. However Stalin’s was in Zinoviev’s hands, who told the committee that Lenin’s fears about Stalin were groundless. Zinoviev had saved him but underestimated Stalin like everybody else did. Stalin, he said had worked in perfect harmony with himself and Kamenev ever since Lenin’s death in January. As a result of this the committee decided not to publish the testament and so the Russians never got to know what Lenin really thought of Stalin.
During the argument between Right and Left, Stalin the Right. Stalin joined them not because he agreed with their argument with NEP but to hopefully drive Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev out of the Politburo. From then on Trotsky was always voted down in the Politburo, booed and voted against by Stalin’s supporters in the Party Central Committee.
At the end of 1925 Stalin’s position was strengthened even more when the Party’s congress elected three of his old friends to the Politburo. By 1927 Trotsky and Zinoviev were also expelled from the party. Now that Stalin had got rid of Trotsky, he turned against the rightists who had helped him from the start. Although the rightists gave up a fight, Stalin now had the majority vote in the Politburo and their arguments ‘fell on deaf ears.’ So they resigned at the start of 1929. Trotsky was now exiled from the USSR in 1929 , making Stalin supreme leader of the USSR.
Now Stalin had got rid of Trotsky and his supporters. So now all he had to do was get rid of the rightists. So he turned against the rightists; the people that he had supported first . By now Stalin had the Majority power so when he expelled Bukharin and the rest they ‘fell on death ears.’ So Stalin’s ruthlessness, determination, sneakiness and hard character helped him become the leader of the USSR by 1928.
