Stalin and Trotsky Essay
Stalin took over as the leader of the USSR in 1928, getting rid of all his rivals in the process. How far do you agree with this?
Although, Trotsky appeared to have the upper hand over Stalin in terms of leadership and intellect, however in the end Stalin replaced Lenin as the leader of the USSR. This was not only due to Stalin’s strengths and politically cunning mind but also due to Trotsky’s own mistakes and Stalin’s use of circumstances to his advantage.
It can be said that it seemed unlikely for Stalin to succeed Lenin as he was considered dull and humourless by other communists. In terms of leadership qualities, he was not an intellectual and was not an inspiring speaker. Whilst, Trotsky, on the other hand, was the only leading communist who could rival Lenin as a speaker and writer of Communist ideas. Trotsky was a great organiser and a great example of this was the way he organised the Red Army which allowed them to win the Russian Civil War. According to Lenin’s will, Trotsky appeared to the natural successor while Stalin was described as power hungry and should not be put into power. Yet Stalin was the General Secretary of the Bolshevik Part y which allowed him to undermine Trotsky’s support and gain more support for himself. He expelled the younger, wilder and more radical elements more likely to support Trotsky while he placed his supporter of powerful position which would allow him to win more votes in the Congress. Trotsky, on the other hand, was the leader of the Red Army and therefore had their support and of the younger party members, but the older communists did not support him and were worried about him becoming the leader as they were concerned that he would become a dictator especially with the support of the Red Army. They doubted his loyalty to the party as he did not join until November 1917. They thought that his extremist ideas would break up the party when unity would be needed the most. They did not want an extremist like him running the country. Stalin was not only the General Secretary of the party, but also was the editor of Pravda which was the only newspaper in Russia. This allowed to the control information about himself and his opponents to make him look good and ruin the reputation of his political opponents. It can be said that Stalin’s position as the General Secretary was the most important factor that allowed him to replace Lenin as the leader of the USSR as it allowed him to undermine Trotsky’s support and place his supporters in powerful positions which allowed him to gain more votes in the Congress and then get rid of the various groups that played off against each other. It can be said that the difference in their aims also allowed Stalin to gain more support.
