The communist party was not so bureaucratic at first, but because of the increasing complexities of the state, they made the power more centralized, and stalin grew in power because of this. And as part of elimination of opposition, he had this policy of factionalism, which implied that anyone that goes against the party policy (his says, basically), is going to be politically eliminated. So he used this factionalism, as a way to obliterate people from the political scene.
Although it can be argued that other causes such as historical circumstances, including the Death of Lenin and a past civil war and Stalin’s own competence as a leader, which consisted of being an excellent tactician and easily able to exploit the weaknesses of others, greatly contributed to his rise to power, it inevitably still came down to eliminating his opposition because he used such factors in conjunction with eliminating his opposition. Stalin being a competent leader was able to effectively determine and exploit the weaknesses of his adversaries such as Trotsky, negatively campaigning against with things such as “not being a true Bolshevik, when he joined the party” and eventually having him exiled. Stalin understood the historical circumstances of Russia at the time understanding that the Russians had just gone through a civil war and consequently wanted domestic change at this point so he appealed to his people with economic reforms such as collectivism and more tentative international affairs. This made him more prominent in the eyes of the Russians and at the same time eliminated his opposition such as Trotsky who focused on spreading communism to the west; since the Russians as a result disregarded Trotsky and supported Stalin and his domestic policies.
Stalin was a highly opportunistic leader who manipulated his cunning tactics to achieve leadership. When Lenin died, Stalin basically inaugurated a huge funeral, where millions of Russians were there to pay tribute to their dead leader. Guess whose face those millions of people saw? Stalin played a huge role there, giving a giant eulogy. Trotsky wasn’t even there in the funueral, he was tricked by Stalin who gave him the wrong date. Stalin put Trotsky up in a moselem, and made a personality cult out of lenin, cause he knew how much people loved him. And since people loved him, he cleverly assumed that if he made himself look like his disciple, people will love him as well. So he made himself look like Lenin’s disciple, next in line. Another point, is how he faked his role in the red army civil war, saying to the public that his role as the commissar of nationalities was really vital, basically he boosted himself and his history with the party.
The ideological differences between Stalin and his opponents, served as a breeding ground for Stalin’s domination—as Stalin appealed to the masses of proletarians. Stalin was supporting the Bolshevik slogans of “peace, bread and land.” He appealed to old Stalin’s New economic policy, which benefited the poor giving them cheaper food prices, and benefitted the rich by free trade. Basically, Stalin promised a better Russia, while Trotsky and his “revolution worldwide,” was tired as Russians were weary of this civil war and such. So Stalin appealed to the Russian populace.
“Ones greatest strength is ones greatest downfall”, evidentially Stalin rose to power through eliminating his opposition and understanding that he could have just as easily fell without having accomplished this he continues to “eliminate his opposition” when maintaining his power making this cause that much more significant. Stalin introduced the Great Fear, resulting in many fearing to oppose him in fear of death or any other loss, leading to the elimination of much of Stalin’s opposition. Stalin was responsible for the great purges, the systematic killing and elimination of those he did not trust and were considered his opposition. Stalin submitted the country to an intensive campaign of eliminating “enemies of the state, which were often labeled as his opposition.
There were many reasons why Stalin rose to power. He benefited from historical circumstance and was very much so a competent and effective leader. But the most significant cause to his rise to power was eliminating his opposition. This is because Stalin faced many contenders who made it impossible for him to come to power, other causes were less significant and were simply used in conjunction to eliminate his opposition and rise to power and such a cause was so significant to his rise it was inevitably reflected in his maintaining of power. So ultimately, this is why eliminating his opposition was so significant.
