To what extent was Stalin's acquisition of power a product of the power base that he had built for himself before Lenin's death

Authors Avatar

Tim Currie

To what extent was Stalin’s acquisition of power a product of the power base that he had built for himself before Lenin’s death?

Before Lenin’s death in 1924 Stalin held many pointless positions which allowed him to build up his power but only by a tiny amount. During the Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War, Stalin was political commissar of the Red Army at various fronts. Stalin's first government position was as People's Commissar of Nationalities Affairs (1917–23). Also, he was People's Commissar of Workers and Peasants Inspection (1919–22), a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the republic (1920–23) and a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets (from 1917). Stalin most important position was as General Secretary. This role in the party let Stalin build up a power base. At the Party Congress close to Lenin’s, he used this position to be granted permission to expel "unsatisfactory" party members. This later enabled Stalin to remove thousands of supporters of Trotsky, his main rival for the leadership of the party. As General Secretary, Stalin also had the power to appoint and sack people from important positions in the government. The new holders of these posts were fully aware that they owed their promotion to Stalin. They also knew that if their behaviour did not please Stalin they would be replaced. This allowed Stalin to build up his power base as all those he appointed were loyal to him.

Join now!

Even though Stalin did not contribute to the Bolsheviks / Communists, seizing power in 1917 or by helping them win the Civil War, he was still able to be seen as an important part of the party whom many respected. Before Lenin’s first stroke in May 1922 nobody more than Lenin himself admired the attitude that Stalin had. This attitude made him very popular with the party members because Stalin was far too useful, hardworking member thus the reason he was one of six men to be on every delegates list. However shortly after Lenin’s first stroke when he became ...

This is a preview of the whole essay