How Did Lenin Cause Leon Trotsky Rise To Power

In the final days of 1922, Vladimir Lenin wrote a letter called Lenin's Testament. In this document, Lenin attacked Stalin while endorsing Leon Trotsky cautioning that Stalin might be unable of using the authority granted to him by his position with restraint. At the same time, he said that Trotsky was the “the most capable man”. Trotsky also lead the Red Army against the White Army, something which likely boosted his popularity. It is clear that these factors meant Leon Trotsky was the expected person to rise to power, however, none of this lead to Trotsky’s rise to power. Firstly, due to clever scheming on Stalin’s part, Trotsky was not in Moscow for Lenin’s funeral. Then Stalin began to mourn publicly, popularizing him with some of Lenin’s
more intense followers. Secondly, Trotsky did not take full advantage of Lenin’s Testament. Instead of ensuring that it was followed, he was more lax. Stalin and two other members of the Politburo, a group of seven individuals who helped lead Russia, Zinoviev and Kamenev, helped to prevent Lenin’s Testament from being followed. This took most of the power out of Lenin’s Testament. Thirdly, Trotsky was a member of a rival party to the Bolsheviks called the Menshevik, which served to further alienate him from Lenin’s base. Fourthly, despite the fact that Trotsky had lead the Red Army to victory over the White Army, he never used this to his advantage, preferring to remain aloof.