Nicola Phillips Historical Investigation
Why was Stalin successful in the power struggle to succeed Lenin?
In order to gain power in Russia, Stalin had to remove all opposition including Trotsky, Bukharin, Kamenev and Zinoviev who were all hoping to succeed Lenin. Trotsky was almost certainly Stalin’s main rival and relationships between them were extremely difficult. Trotsky openly criticised the growing power of the bureaucracy, and even though his views were valid they were extremely unpopular especially with those party members who saw their newfound privileges and status threatened. This highlighted Trotsky’s lack of popularity and support within the party and also contrasted with Stalin’s position as head of the bureaucracy. Trotsky did not take advantage of several opportunities, which would have helped him to crush Stalin politically, and instead Stalin manoeuvred himself into a stronger position within the party by allying with Zinoviev and Kamenev. Stalin then manipulated them into crushing Trotsky, which in turn eliminated his strongest opponent in his path to power. Stalin’s personality was without doubt better suited to the position as leader as he was a sensible and effective administrator who always showed keen judgement. All of his rivals had personality traits, which prevented them from making the most of the circumstances that arose after 1924, which enabled Stalin to outmanoeuvre his them.
