3.
The origin of source B come from an interview with Nadezhda Joffe during the late 1990's and talk about other politician's view of Stalin. The purpose of this source is to show why Stalin in the end had little opposition for him becoming the General Secretary of the Party. The value of this source is that Joffe had a good understanding of what was going on in politics, as her father was a close friend of Trotsky. She provides evidence of political rivalry as she gives examples of which politician disagreed in giving another man the role of General Secretary. Another value is that Joffe confirms that politicians feared much more Trotsky than Stalin, hence one of the reasons Stalin received his role. However, source B also has limitations. It is limited as her political opinion might have probably affected her judgment; she could have been a pro-Trotsky as her father was a very close friend to him. Another limitation is that the conversation was recorded about 60-70 years later, Joffe might have been very young at the time, hence not remembering well what really happened. Also, she could have been affected by knowledge of later events and new interpretations.
The origin of source E is from a book on the general history of Russia in the twentieth century, written by Robert Service, a British historian. The purpose of this source is to inform people about what really happened in Russia. This source can be considered valuable as Service is a historian can provide an accessible overview to a topic, by writing objectively. Since this book was published in 1997, there has been enough time to access enough information to then analyze the subject. The limitations are that because this was published in London, the source might be biased and therefore supporting certain kinds of ideas, groups and politicians. Source E is also limited because it's information may lack of important aspects of events, details may not be included. This is because it's a book which covers the whole twentieth century, and not just a short period of time.
4.
Stalin used a number of tactics to become the leader of the USSR by 1929. The current position he had in the Party as being General Secretary, certainly gave him many advantages that other individuals could not have obtained; he had control over the Politburo business, he could draw up agendas and papers for party meetings and had the ability to appoint party members in certain roles. Just like it says in source A, he also had the power to intimidate in the members of the party as “he fired as well as hired”; this made sure they were as loyal as possible as they were unwilling to lose their position. He was able to “place his own supporters in key positions” (source A), causing other political leaders – such as Trotsky – to lose support from other party members.
Source B says that Stalin's rivalry of the leading Bolsheviks, Zinoviev and Kamenev, “were afraid of Trotsky” and that “nobody seemed particularly opposed to the idea of Stalin having the post”. This also gave a great advantage on Stalin to obtain power. Luck could also be considered as one of Stalin's reasons he managed to become leader. As source E mentions, his position of General Secretary helped him to persuade the people who had Lenin's testimony, not to read it to the public, therefore making Lenin's disapproval of Stalin unrevealed. Hence, the testimony not being published and his position in the Party leads on to the fact that also luck could have contributed. The death of Dzerzinhsky also allowed Stalin to take control of the Cheka, meaning there was one less powerful man for Stalin to get rid of. Stalin's background was also promising as he came from a working class. This would have made Stalin more popular in this group as they would have believed that Stalin would know what was best for them, making him seem more trustworthy than other politicians; for example Trotsky who came from a more privileged background.
Stalin's use of political methods were also very important for his rise to power. As source C states, the “Party was able to awaken and organise the working masses”. This shows how the Party was working together to isolate political oppositions. Although, not only being in control of the Party was important, he also used very smart tactics: he stayed neutral. Stalin was neither left or right wing, this enabled him to switch to whatever policy gained the most votes. This also meant that he could gain allies from both sides of the party. It happened because he never interfered with arguments and always remained in the background, making him seem like a 'peaceful' person; an advantage for Stalin.
In conclusion, we can say that not only Stalin's control of the Party lead to his rise to power in 1929, but also for number of other reasons. Luck stopped Lenin's testimonial being published, Dzerzinhsky's death meant he could get control of the Cheka and his political methods were very effective as remaining neutral made him have more supporters. Although, being the General Secretary of the Party meant he could remove opposition and also add more supporters to the Party.
by
bebepreppie (student)
