With Trotsky appearing to be inline to take control, Stalin, Kamenev, and Zinoviev formed a triumvirate of successors allied against him. They allied against Trotsky because he was an intellectual, a Jew and seen as bourgeoisie, with hard line left policies Stalin took great care to use the words "as Lenin said…" whenever he spoke and Stalin was present and Chief Mourner at Lenin’s funeral, and had arranged it so that Trotsky was not. This showed Stalin to be the natural successor to Lenin, the voice of authority and Trotsky as a rebel. Trotsky hit out against the growing Party bureaucracy saying that the Party was developing into a class itself. This opinion was unpopular with Party members and using this, Stalin discredited Trotsky further and isolated him. When in 1923 –1925 “Lenin’s Enrolment” an activity recruiting new members to the Party, Stalin’s power of patronage gave him an ideal way of gaining greater power within the Party. In “Lenin’s Enrolment” over 500,000 new members were recruited, with Stalin in charge of appointing them all. These new members would be key to Stalin gaining control of the Party as they would vote in favour his favour as it was him who chose them.
As the other leaders fought amongst themselves for control with propaganda pamphlets and public disputes, Stalin kept out of it making him seem above their petty squabbles. None of the other leaders saw Stalin as much of a threat and concentrated on discrediting each other (especially Trotsky) again leaving Stalin looking superior.
By 1926 Trotsky had formed the “United Opposition” with Zinoviev and Kamenev representing the Left of the Party. They believed that the NEP, allowing peasants to sell surplus food in a similar fashion to capitalism, was a betrayal of the revolution and that it should be discontinued, as it was only a temporary measure to begin with. Stalin opposed this and using his power of patronage and loyal support to out vote them in the Politburo defeated them. Stalin could also use a policy Lenin introduced called “On Party Unity”, banning factions, to accuse anyone standing out against the Party to be a faction and oust his opposition and rivals. The “factions” would either have to stand down or lose their place in the Party. The “United Opposition” also believed in a policy based on Lenin’s of world revolution, with the workers of the world uniting, called “permanent revolution” whereby their priority should be to spread the revolution. Stalin opposed this with a policy of his own called “Socialism in One Country” suggesting that Russia could pull themselves out of their problems and didn't need the help. This called upon the people’s nationalist side and was very popular. It also made Trotsky’s “permanent revolution” policy seem unpatriotic further damaging his public demeanour and his popularity within the Politburo. At the Fifteenth Party Conference the “United Opposition” were defeated. From then on they carried out their work in secret, accused of forming factions they were expelled from the Politburo.
With Trotsky and the “United Opposition” out of the way to gain total control would have to now defeat the Right of the Party. In 1928 the Party was now divided over the issue of industrialisation, the new Left headed by Stalin wanted to launch the “Five Year Plan” to industrialise Russia within five years. The Right wanted to allow the country to industrialise at its own pace, naturally “at the pace of a peasants nag”. The Right was lead in the Politburo by Tomsky, Rykov, and Bukharin, Stalin saw their views as standing in the way of his “Socialism in One Country” policy. Stalin used his power and loyal support in the Party to out vote the right. In 1929 members of the Right Opposition were identified and withdrawn from their posts in the Party except for Rykov, who remained as Head of the Government.
Stalin ruthlessly eliminated the other members of the collective leadership leaving him in sole command of Russia. First he defeated the left with arguments from the right and then he defeated the right with arguments from the left, this shows his interests in policy were more concerned with eliminating his rivals as opposed to his own political beliefs. He used his power of patronage to develop a politburo that would vote in his favour and rose to become leader with the backing of those he had personally employed. Trotsky, who was the favourite to be leading the country made too many mistakes, he should have insisted on “Lenin’s Testament” being published. By mid 1929 Stalin was free to implement his policies of industrialisation under his “Five Year Plan”. Stalin’s competitors underestimated him and his ability with mundane tasks that caused Lenin to label him the “Grey Blur” allowed him to scheme the defeat of his equals and take control.
