How Important Was Stalin’s Use of ‘Lenin’s Legacy’ in Explaining His Victory in the Power Struggle in the Years 1924 – 1929?
How important was Stalin’s use of ‘Lenin’s Legacy’ in explaining his victory in the Power Struggle in the years 1924 – 1929? Stalin’s use of Lenin’s Legacy helped him majorly in winning the power struggle from 1924 to 1929.
Stalin used the legacy at Lenin’s funeral. He was firstly able to make the speech by making sure that Trotsky was not present at the funeral. Due to Trotsky’s absence Stalin was able to praise the work of Lenin, making out that he was going to carry on Lenin’s work, which gave him extra support from the public, due to the fact after Lenin’s death the entire nation was in mourning and believed that Lenin was a good man giving his all to make the USSR a better place. It also gave Stalin the chance to criticize his biggest rival, Trotsky who was not at the funeral to defend himself, or to make out to the public that he was the leading man; the one that Lenin believed was the best candidate to carry the USSR forward. Stalin also promised to continue Lenin’s road to communism by using NEP until it started to fail.
NEP was an economic policy brought in by Lenin as a temporary solution to the USSR’s financial problems which was causing famines and massive unemployment at the time. As NEP was only considered a temporary solution by Lenin, Stalin was able to support NEP whilst it was working and when it started to fail as a solution he wanted to get rid of it. This helped him to remove some rival candidates as it wasn’t going against Lenin, and the other candidates that continued to support NEP weren’t going with Lenin’s ideas as he would have removed it once it had stopped working.
The position’s given to Stalin by Lenin was also used to his advantage. He was made General Secretary by Lenin which allowed him to control recruitment into the party, so he was able to surround himself with loyal supporters, which made him able to create factions and increased his personal power. Stalin was also the Protector of Lenin, so he was able to prevent other
Stalin used the legacy at Lenin’s funeral. He was firstly able to make the speech by making sure that Trotsky was not present at the funeral. Due to Trotsky’s absence Stalin was able to praise the work of Lenin, making out that he was going to carry on Lenin’s work, which gave him extra support from the public, due to the fact after Lenin’s death the entire nation was in mourning and believed that Lenin was a good man giving his all to make the USSR a better place. It also gave Stalin the chance to criticize his biggest rival, Trotsky who was not at the funeral to defend himself, or to make out to the public that he was the leading man; the one that Lenin believed was the best candidate to carry the USSR forward. Stalin also promised to continue Lenin’s road to communism by using NEP until it started to fail.
NEP was an economic policy brought in by Lenin as a temporary solution to the USSR’s financial problems which was causing famines and massive unemployment at the time. As NEP was only considered a temporary solution by Lenin, Stalin was able to support NEP whilst it was working and when it started to fail as a solution he wanted to get rid of it. This helped him to remove some rival candidates as it wasn’t going against Lenin, and the other candidates that continued to support NEP weren’t going with Lenin’s ideas as he would have removed it once it had stopped working.
The position’s given to Stalin by Lenin was also used to his advantage. He was made General Secretary by Lenin which allowed him to control recruitment into the party, so he was able to surround himself with loyal supporters, which made him able to create factions and increased his personal power. Stalin was also the Protector of Lenin, so he was able to prevent other