Why did Stalin succeed and nobody else?

In the Politburo, when matters of high policy were under debate, Stalin never seemed to impose his views on his colleagues. He carefully followed the course of debate to see what way the wind was blowing and invariably voted with the majority, unless he has assured his majority beforehand. He was therefore always agreeable to the majority. To party audiences he appeared as a man without personal grudge and rancour, as a detached Leninist, a guardian of the doctrine who criticised others only for the sake of the cause. In 1923 Stalin had been on the point of political ruin. In 1924 he was one among equals, but without any outright supporters in the full membership of the Politburo. In six years Stalin outmanoeuvred a series of opponents; first in alliance with the rest of his colleagues, he opposed and demoted Trotsky. The truth is that Trotsky refrained from attacking Stalin because he felt secure. No contemporary, and he at least of all, saw in the Stalin of 1923 the menacing and towering figure he was to become. It seemed to Trotsky almost a bad joke that Stalin, the wilful and sly but shabby and inarticulate man in the background, should be his rival. Stalin also had luck on his side. Luck favoured Stalin rather than Trotsky. Had Lenin not died Stalin would probably have been sent to the provinces to work for the Party. Stalin made full use of Lenin’s funeral to advance his position. He tricked Trotsky into not attending the funeral. He basically transferred Leninism into himself. The head of the Cheka, from its inception to his death in 1926, was never one of Stalin’s fans. His death allowed Stalin to infiltrate his supporters into the political police and eventually use them against his opponents.    

        As mentioned before Stalin had control of the party machine through his key positions in the Politburo and Orgburo and as General Secretary. He was a person who stayed in the background pretending to be a moderate peacemaker. No one would of realised he was a serious power player. He outmanoeuvred his opponents, playing them off against each other. What was very important were Stalin’s personal characteristics and qualities which helped him become leader of the party. Stalin was politically very skilful and cunning. He was perceived as the grey blur, so no one saw him as a threat until it was too late. He was tough and ruthless. He was determined to protect his power base and make sure that he was not ousted. Trotsky himself was responsible for his own downfall. He had weaknesses that made him unfit for the power struggle. Trotsky had only joined the Bolsheviks in August 1917 and was not seen as loyal member of the party. Many Bolsheviks did not trust him, they though he could become a dictator. He was too high minded and arrogant, dismissive of his colleagues. He was respected but did not engender affection or personal loyalty. He was seen as the person most likely to cause splits in the party. Trotsky did not get out of his way to develop or build up his power base in the party and allowed Stalin to erode the one he already had. Like the other contenders, he underestimated Stalin and was outmanoeuvred by him.  He did not like getting involved in the politics. He was not good at it, by making alliances, but Stalin was. It was very lucky for Stalin that Lenin’s Testament was not read out and that Trotsky was ill for most of the power struggle.

        All Bolsheviks were trying to find their feet in an unfamiliar and unanticipated world, and the doctrine of socialism in one country at least had the merit of describing things as they really were. The theory evoked a sympathetic response from two groups, the new sub-elites advanced by the crises of the immediate post-evolutionary years and workers sickened by the manifold injustices and inequalities of the NEP. The latter were men and women indifferent to factional squabbles and impatient for socialist reconstruction; the former were people for who the revolution was primarily Russian achievement- soviet patriotism sat easily with the enjoyment of the fruits of offices. A Stalinist constituency was in the process of formation and Stalin’s rapid industrialisation and collectivisation (left turn) brought most of them round to his way of thinking.