Why did Stalin win the struggle for power in 1923 9?
Why did Stalin win the struggle for power in 1923 - 9?
At the end of 1923 it was clear that Lenin would soon die, he had been alive for around 50
years and had suffered from strokes, the next one would finish him off. Lenin had been a successful
leader of the Soviet government and the Bolshevik party, he had created various economic policy's, set
up the Cheka secret police and resisted White Russian uprisings and foreign intervention. He had been
popular with the communists and they trusted him.
In 1922 when he was near his death Lenin appointed Stalin General Secretary of the Communist
Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Lenin felt that as Stalin spoke no Russian he could make no speeches
therefore would be no threat. At this point Lenin had another stroke, his second, control now slipped
out of his fingers, Stalin now had a chance to push his luck in ceasing power.
The first reason leading Stalin on his way to becoming dictator was his abuse of the power
Lenin had given him.
The CPSU consisted of a ladder like structure with members working there way up to the top,
this was quite democratic, but there was never supposed to be a single leader, the highest level would
consist of ten people. Stalin as General Secretary had control over who was promoted through the ranks
and therefore became the leader there was never meant to be.
This was the structure of the CPSU:
Party Cells The members of the party cells are chosen. Each town would select around three
members to represent them.
District Meeting This meeting would be made up of selected members from the party cells,
usually one person from each cell would be selected.
Region As previously the Region would consist of the best from the District
Congress From here on up the levels become more important, the previous sections have not
really had much say in what goes on, this party would consist of only thousands of people.
Central Committee The central committee consisted of only 125 people this party is one of
the highest levels and has a reasonable say in what goes on
Politburo This word is a combination of the two words Political Buro this was the highest
level in the CPSU and featured 10 people all big names; Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Bukharin and
Stalin.
This formation was fairly reasonable and worked well until Stalin started to chose the members
to move up himself. When the people in the Party realised this they would do what they could to
impress him and therefore the party was evolving into one where everyone supported Stalin. Anybody
that didn't agree with this would be discluded by Stalin himself.
At this point the road is partly clear for Stalin as he is gaining support from all those who will
elect the leader to replace Lenin when he dies. All that now stands in his way is Lenin (if he makes a
suggestion of who it should be), or the other candidates could find a way to prove themselves.
Next, in 1924, as Stalin had predicted, Lenin printed his Last Testament,
'Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary General, has unlimited authority in his hands
and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution.
Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand, is distinguished not only ...
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elect the leader to replace Lenin when he dies. All that now stands in his way is Lenin (if he makes a
suggestion of who it should be), or the other candidates could find a way to prove themselves.
Next, in 1924, as Stalin had predicted, Lenin printed his Last Testament,
'Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary General, has unlimited authority in his hands
and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution.
Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand, is distinguished not only by his outstanding ability. He
is personally probably the most capable man in the present Central Committee, but he has displayed
excessive self-assurance and preoccupation with the purely administrative side of the work.'
This was a small snippet from Lenin's Testament, but it was a huge blow in the back for Stalin,
this could easily finish him off.
In the remainder of his testament he comments on the prose and the cons of each major
candidate to take his place, he says that Kamenev is clever but not practical and that Zinoviev is weak
in a crisis, he also mentions Bukharin. The main reason he writes bad comments for all of them is
because like a true communist, he doesn't want a fascist dictator, and wants them all to combine. At this
point Stalin should try and keep with this scheme and then he could change it after Lenin's death, Stalin
then makes one mistake which could disqualify him completely.
Following the testament, Lenin's wife phones Stalin to ask why her husband has wrote
negative comments about him. Stalin is then extremely rude, using malicious swear words and nasty
comments. When Lenin eventually finds out about this he almost has his third stroke in fury (which is
why his wife tried to hide it from him). Lenin hastily adds a comment to his testament about Stalin,
announcing him 'too rough'. This could be the end for him.
What followed was a series of battles (not physical) between them. The first one in 1923-5 was
a big turning point for Stalin.
Zinoviev + Kamenev + Stalin Vs. Trotsky (1923 - 5)
To take part in this battle Stalin had to regain the trust of the CPSU following Lenin's
comments. Miraculously he managed it through his friend Zinoviev, who stood up for him and argued
that Lenin was very ill and this may cloud or alter his judgment. Zinoviev states that he has found it a
great pleasure working with him. All Stalin had to do for the minute was defeat Trotsky, which was
basically done for him.
Leon Trotsky (1879 - 1940) had really dug himself into a hole dispite his good reference from
Lenin, and the advantage of being Minister of War. There were a few major points leading to this.
Firstly he was arrogant, and offended senior party members, and also failed to take the
opposition seriously. He made little effort to build up support in the ranks of the party as Stalin had and
didn't realise this until it was too late He also led people to fear him by arguing that the future of Russia
depended on the theory of permanent revolution. The people of Russia feared this would create new
conflicts in the form of revolutions worldwide.
This was the main theory of permanent revolution was this.,
Stalin argues with this theory that the Communists start to consider, by exclaiming that if you
increase capital goods you are not producing any consumer goods, so the money that workers are
earning is of no use to them. This is an example: A worker works hard in a factory producing wood, so
that the country has a good supply. When he gets paid he wants to buy a new table, but all there is in
his country is wood.
Stalin comes up with criticisms for both Trotsky's ideas, he says that we should stick with
LENIN'S New Economic Policy because he made it therefore it must be right. He also said that we
should leave the world alone because that is what LENIN wanted therefore it must be right. Stalin new
too well that Lenin was the Communists idol, and that by saying that his way was Lenin's way, would
attract the attention he needed.
Trotsky then by chance fell ill with Malaria just when Lenin was dying, this is when he would
need all his energy to defeat Stalin so this was not good. Stalin also played tricks on Trotsky including
the time that Stalin told Trotsky the wrong date for Lenin's funeral. Stalin was there, Trotsky wasn't,
who looked like a true friend and supporter?
As if all this was not bad enough, in January 1925, after 7 years Trotsky gave up the army, this
was his finish. He tried to show that he was still strong without the army, and he wasn't.
For Stalin this first battle had been a pushover, firstly Zinoviev had saved him, then Trotsky
defeated himself. The next battle should be a lot easier.
Stalin + Bukharin Vs Zinoviev + Kamonev + Trotsky (1926-7)
Firstly Trotsky is already totally finished so he is no threat, but Zinoviev who was a former
friend of Stalin, has changed sides because he found that he had been stealing his supporters, making
out Stalin was running Zinoviev and that they therefore should support him. Kamonev is really a
package deal with Zinoviev so he changes also.
Because Bukharin is a strong character and Stalin had built up a lot of support throughout the
ranks they immediately take the advantage. The others were expelled from the party with a little help
from the Trotskyists also, and went their separate ways.
Later on in 1929 Stalin and most of the CPSU exiled Trotsky to Mexico, here he was killed by
the secret service under the order of Stalin in 1940.
Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev was also seen as a threat by Stalin and was quickly associated
with the murder of Bolshevik leader Sergei Kirov and was tried and shot in 1936.
Lev Borisovich Kamenev was also killed presumably by Stalin. He was also arrested after
Kirov's assassination, he was tried and sentenced, then later in 1936 also shot for allegedly plotting
Stalin's murder.
Again Stalin's pathway to rule is getting ever easier, think about his position 2 years ago when
he could have lost it all, and now he's up against one last person. This is what happened.
Stalin Vs. Bukharin (1928 - 9)
The advantage he had made himself at the very beginning had helped him all the way through
and its going to help him again now. Stalin cleverly built up tremendous support throughout the ranks
of the CPSU and especially the Politburo. They were to elect one of the two, and Bukharin really had no
chance at all.
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin was obviously also considered a threat as he was executed by
Stalin in 1938 on suspicion of treason. Stalin after becoming dictator had securely fastened his place
by assassinating all opposition.
Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvili who adopted the name Stalin meaning 'steel' was now in
the clear and polished off his image by writing a book on Leninism and also ordering that Lenin's body
be put on show.
This is how Stalin won the struggle for power, a combination of many events, some helping
him more than others, but what were the key events.
I think that the most crucial aspect was Stalin's people skills, especially in 1922 when Stalin
started to build up alliances, because these alliances helped all the way through, especially through the
battles. He was kept in because of his doctoring of the Politburo. For example, if he had not transferred
all opposition outside the CPSU he would not have succeeded in 1926 or 1928. He would also not have
been supported by Zinoviev. Trotsky was a fine example of how Stalin could have ended had he not
been the way he was.
Linked in with this and the second most important factor was Zinoviev supporting Stalin in his
worst period. When Stalin was challenged by Lenin, who at this point was the Communist idol, he had
no chance other than Somebody making a stand for him. Luckily they did and it got a lot easier for him
from then on in. All he did was change alliances in a way he was almost unbeatable. If Zinoviev had not
have stood up for him, I doubt anybody else would, and the members of the CPSU might come to their
senses and realise they are not choosing the right leader.
Lastly, after he has gained all his alliances and defeated Lenin, all that is left are the others.
Zinoviev he was the main help for Stalin and unfortunately finds out too late that he was being
misled. If only for him he had seen it sooner, maybe he would be where Lenin was.
Kamenev was never really a threat because he was close to Zinoviev and if Stalin could defeat
him Kamenev would pose no real threat. Though he could of spotted Stalin taking Zanoviev's
supporters. Kamenev would never have any chance of being dictator because no matter how far he got
Zinoviev would have wiped him out, unless they had become joint dictators.
Bukharin was about as much threat as Trotsky before he gave up the army. Bukharin doesn't
really have a lot of support so would not defeat Stalin in the final popularity contest.
Trotsky was a big threat had he kept the army and tried harder to make alliances. He failed both
of these and therefore had no chance.
This is the main way all the stages of succeeding combine,
Overall I think that Stalin's struggle for power was one big popularity contest. Through
popularity, most possible problems that he could/did come across were solved.
Firstly he organised the CPSU in such a way that not only were they all supporters of him, but
they were continuously trying their hardest to prove themselves and move up the ranks. In any election
they would vote, if not only to go up a rank.
Next, he took turns befriending each of the opposition when he needed to, so he was in
control. Only he saw the big picture, he could even set them off at each other if he wanted. As a result
of this Zinoviev saved him, then he took Bukharin's side in the debate on the NEP in order to help get
rid of Trotsky, then he opposed Bukharin using the same arguments Trotsky had used.
Lenin had helped him gain his position aswell, by becoming ill at the worst time, because Stalin
convinced the public that he was his best friend and would follow in his successful footsteps. There
was just as much Lenin could do about it when he was alive as dead because he could barely talk or
move.
It was a fairly smooth journey for Stalin, he had a few hiccups, but knew exactly how to solve
them.
The reason that Stalin won the struggle for power was his manipulation of people in a way that
they supported him.