How did Stalin manage to secure power in Russia by 1929?

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Nimu Varsani 12R

How did Stalin manage to secure power in Russia by 1929?

Following Lenin’s death in 1924, there was a feeling of confusion as to who would lead Russia. Lenin gave no indication as to who should lead after his death. Instead, a triumvirate, or collective leadership, emerged between Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev. During Lenin’s illness and directly afterwards, the collective leadership was viewed as a practical arrangement and no single leader was sought, nor was there a layout for the election of a new leader. Using this as a foundation to gain power within the Communist Party and the government, Stalin commenced his scheme to gain power over Russia.

One of the most significant factors was Stalin’s position and role within the Communist Party. His role as General Secretary was extremely advantageous to him. It gave him an insight into all areas of the Party giving him access to thousands of personal files about Communist Party members. He was in a position to delegate key posts to his supporters to gain allies through his exploits of power. This gave him an edge over his opponents and stressed his potential. Even Lenin was aware of Stalin’s potential. In his last testament, Lenin said of Stalin: “Comrade Stalin, having become General Secretary, has concentrated enormous power in his hands: and I am not sure that he always knows how to use that power with sufficient caution.” This gives an important insight into Stalin’s capacity and will to become leader of the Soviet Union.

This example of Stalin’s strategy and determination was further reinforced by Lenin's funeral. This is because he convinced Trotsky, who was in another part of Russia at the time that there was no need to undertake the long journey for Lenin’s funeral, as it would be fruitless. This resulted in two main feats; firstly it made much of the Communist Party doubt Trotsky’s respect for Lenin, as he was seen as disloyal for not attending his funeral. Secondly, it allowed Stalin to be perceived as the chief mourner and provided him with an opportunity to draw attention to his intentions to continue Lenin’s work. This made Stalin “ by far the cleverer politician… He had out-manoeuvred his arch-rival on every possible front, not least through his skilful manipulation of the ‘cult’ of Leninism, which was established immediately after the Bolshevik leader’s death.” (Alan Wood). This contrasts Stalin’s implicit skill, with Trotsky’s lack of judgement.

Similarly, Stalin used Lenin’s Enrolment Plan to increase his power. The plan, which aimed to increase the number of members, resulted in over 500,000 workers being recruited. Stalin used this to his advantage, as the majority of the new recruits were politically uneducated workers and so Stalin influenced them to gain support by extending his authority within the party. He used his unprivileged background to identify with the needs of the workers in a place where others, like Trotsky, may have been unable to do so. This ensured that Stalin maintained support from the workers.

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These factors enabled Stalin to gain a good standing with the Communist Party, which subsequently led to him having more respect and power within parliament. Though the Communist Party and government were different organisations, they were closely interlinked; to have a high position in government, Stalin needed to have a high standing within the Communist Party. Stalin had already achieved this through his careful manipulation of party members. Stalin was extremely cunning in the way he formed alliances to eliminate the opposition. For example, Stalin used the triumvirate with Zinoviev and Kamenev to remove Trotsky. Stalin portrayed Trotsky’s belief for ...

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