With Lenin in hiding, Trotsky became the general in charge of the party. Not withstanding this Stalin with another party member called Lev Kamenev, dominated the party decisions in the capital until Lenin arrived in
April. Stalin now having received a more powerful job was still under Trotsky in the power chain and this still left Stalin jealous.
In September, Trotsky was elected as the chairman of the Soviet. He believed, like Lenin, that the provisional government must be overthrown and consecrated all of his energies to marshal support for the uprising of the Bolsheviks. In November he managed to direct workers and soldiers into the revolution. He was the main organiser of events. Stalin kept people in the party and did all the boring administrative work. He was in charge of communications between party organisations all over the country. While doing this he made new important contacts.
Trotsky played a significant role in the uprising of November and he was remembered as a hero. However Stalin played a significant role, but he was not remembered as a hero. One memoirist said that he created the impression of a “grey blur”.
In the new Soviet Government, Trotsky became the commissar of foreign affairs because of his intellect and ability to speak several languages. He negotiated a peace treaty with Germany at Brest-Litovsk, he tried to make the German troops revolt against their generals but failed because of his poor diplomatic skills. Later he became the commissar of war where he directed the Red Army to a great victory in the civil war and saved the revolution. Appointed by Lenin, Stalin became the commissariat for nationality affairs. This brought him to the same level of power as Trotsky. In April, Stalin was elected, alongside Yakov Sverdlov, Trotsky and Lenin, to the Central Committee of the Party where he helped Lenin decide all emergency issues in the first period of the civil war. Stalin was then at the exact same level as Trotsky, all that he had to do now was to become greater than Trotsky.
Stalin’s popularity started to increase because of his devotion to administrative tasks. In 1922 he reached his crucial stage in his fight against Trotsky - he became the secretary-general of the Party. Stalin quickly converted his position into a source of power, which no one had thought of previously, and so fulfilled his goal to become greater than Trotsky. Before his death Lenin realised, all to late, that Stalin did not know how to use his great power to sufficient caution and he wrote this in his “Testament”. He wanted the removal of Stalin from his present position. However luck and adroit manoeuvring enabled Stalin to suppress Lenin’s “Testament”.
Stalin did boring jobs where he did not get noticed. This meant that he could build up his power base in every job which he did, without being noticed. Trotsky, however had high-profile jobs and was known throughout the country. In the end the build up of Stalin’s power, which he had created for himself brought him on top in the race for power.
Question 2
Subject: Why was Stalin’s position in the Bolshevik party much stronger than Trotsky’s in 1924?
By the summer of 1924, Stalin had gained considerable power within Russia and was in a very strong political position. His followers controlled most of the committees and elections associated with Party Conferences, Congresses and meetings of the Central Committee. The “Lenin enrolment” where ill-educated, working-class Soviets were encouraged to join the party, helped Stalin. He encouraged these new members to support him and his ideas, making sure that they apposed Trotsky and his ideas.
Stalin had more support in the party than Trotsky because Stalin did not communicate his ideas as effectively as Trotsky and therefore made less enemies. Trotsky, however, attracted enemies and they turned to Stalin’s side and started to support him.
In 1922, Stalin was elected to the position of General Secretary of the party. This move boosted his position of influence, as he was now responsible for the appointment and removal of party members. The new members demonstrated Stalin’s influence. They showed their loyalty and gratitude towards him by electing others who were also Stalinists. This process continued until most of the party supported Stalin.
Local officials who controlled
Which sent representatives to
Which chose
Which chose
The members of the Sovarklhom (this was the Russian cabinet) and the Secretariat were made up of Bolsheviks, in effect the party controlled these politicians and therefore Stalin controlled them.
Trotsky had important government posts but he did not have a power base because he was too complacent. Lenin was the one who helped him and made sure that he was not attacked. People mistrusted Trotsky because they thought that he went where the power was and so they could not count on him in hard times. He readily alienated people, which others didn’t want and he was still regarded by many as an outsider.
Trotsky made many mistakes throughout his career and Stalin benefited from these. He did not turn up at Lenin’s funeral because he had a mystery illness. And for the same reason he could not attend important meetings held by Lenin. This meant that Stalin could say, and said that Trotsky did not care about Lenin and this made Trotsky loose his main support. This left Trotsky completely vulnerable. When Lenin was ill Trotsky, for an unknown reason, did not want to make the main speech in Lenin’s place and so Stalin took this opportunity. Stalin could therefor say what he wanted and control the congress.
People feared that Trotsky, with his leadership of the Red Army might take of the country and lead a military dictatorship.
Stalin had a stronger position in the Party for all of these reasons and finally it brought him out on top of Trotsky.
Bibliography
Mrs Bowering, History teacher
Encarta 2000 Deluxe, Microsoft