Why was Stalin able to establish his dictatorship in Russia?
by
historystudent (student)
Why was Stalin able to establish his dictatorship in Russia?
There are a number of reasons as to why Stalin was allowed to establish a dictatorial rule in Russia, which can be attributed largely to his skill and achievements of a politician. The political manoeuvrings of Stalin that allowed him to gain political influence were fundamental in terms an increased official authority. Stalin demonstrated excellent initiative in both cultivating his own popularity and exploiting the failures of his opponents, but we should not overlook the power he attained due to the appeal and success of his policies and ideals. These factors combined allowed Stalin a strong basis for the establishment of a dictatorial regime, but it was likely his use of terror, corruption and propaganda that finally rendered him a position of unchallenged dictator.
The political manoeuvrings of Stalin that allowed him to gain victory over his rivals was the first important step in his rise to power that preceded his dictatorship. The first instance of this may be seen in Stalin’s pure deviousness in achieving an advantage over his main competitor, Trotsky. Stalin informed Trotsky of the incorrect date for Lenin’s funeral, meaning that Trotsky missed the funeral on the 26th of January 1924 and appeared to lack respect for his predecessor, while Stalin acted as chief mourner. The further destroying of Lenin’s ‘Final Testament’ that warned of Stalin gaining too much power and various other criticisms ensured that Stalin retained a flawless background, keeping him the most eligible candidate for power. These portrayals of Stalin as being Lenin’s truest comrade-in-arms and thus chosen successor would have been very helpful in his bid to gain a dictatorship, given the atmosphere of near ‘Lenin Worship’ of the time. His series of lectures on ‘The Foundations if Leninism’ at the Moscow Communist University in April 1924 would have further rendered his image as being an expert and informed, logical successor for Lenin’s dictatorship. Through this establishment of Stalin as the dominant, most dedicated Bolshevik, we can see why he was able to establish himself as a future dictator. In the lead up to Lenin’s death, Stalin had risen to prominence with several boring but highly important and influential roles, those of Commissar for Nationalities, membership of the Politburo and Orgburo, as well as the Commissariat of Workers’ and Peasants Inspection. These made Stalin a well-known and reliable character within the Party bureaucracy which undoubtedly lent him much support in his eventual bid for dictatorship, however it was his post of General Secretary of the Party’s Central Committee in 1922 that allowed him true political manipulation. He was able to control party membership and allocation of roles, meaning that supporters of his rivals were frequently assigned remote posts or denied membership. A new generation of ‘Stalinist’ politicians dominated the Politburo and Central Committee, and later on allowed him to conduct great purges to ‘cleanse’ the party of any remaining opposition. The fact that no other Bolshevik at this time could rival Stalin’s political weaponry made his potential for dictatorship unsurpassable, and it is through his ability to alter the party machinery that he was able to expel the competition of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Trotsky from the Party and found an unchallenged dictatorship. The final aspect of Stalin’s political manoeuvrings that saw him rise to dictatorship lies in his exploitation of his opponents’ errors. It is widely considered that Trotsky’s largest flaw was an excess of confidence and self-assuredness, echoing Lenin’s departing opinion in the ‘Final Testament’, and as such he likely didn’t make a true effort in the competition to succeed nor acknowledge the calibre of his rivals, thinking them beneath him. An example of Stalin’s utilising of such a flaw may be seen in Trotsky’s criticism of the ‘New Economic Policy’ in 1924, a misreading of the environment of exaltation surrounding Lenin’s death that Stalin had created. The death of Kirov, too, was used by Stalin to his own ends. Though the circumstances under which Kirov died are uncertain, his death on the 1st of December 1934 acted as an excuse for Stalin to initiate the Great Purge. Fourteen men were executed, and further rivals were imprisoned on charges pertaining to his death, giving the undeniable impression that he was completely in charge. It is through this political opportunism that Stalin was able to cement his dictatorship, taking every opportunity to assert himself and meaning that he surpassed any serious opposition within a few years of Lenin’s death. The subsequent placing of competent supporters in the positions of Kirov and those whose deaths followed soon meant the entirety of Russia was at the order of Stalin, his authority reaching to all corners of the Government and proving the dominance of an undeniable dictatorship.
