Joseph Stalin Research Paper

How far does Stalin’s position as General Secretary explain his success in defeating his rivals in the years 1924 – 1929?

Following Lenin’s untimely death in 1924, the Communist Leadership in Russia was thrown into disarray. Months of ideological confusion, full of proposals of ideas for the future of socialism, brought about potential contenders for party leadership and amongst these was Stalin. Through the next 5 year period, a great power struggle occurred between the contenders, but Stalin eventually emerged successful as the new leader of the USSR. Stalin’s position as General Secretary and other factors all contributed to this appointment.
Prior to the start of the power struggle, Stalin had already used sly tactics to trick Trotsky
into not attending Lenin’s funeral which hindered Trotsky’s reputation as it showed total disrespect for Leninism. Soon after, the Triumvirate was set up, consisting of Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin; it was in this organisation that Stalin’s true movements for power became clear. The Triumvirate were heavily opposed by Trotsky who was the head of the Red Army in the USSR. It is important to note that if Stalin had not had acquired the position of General Secretary, then he would not have been able to access the Bureaucratic parts of administration allowing his scheme of patronage to succeed. Stalin used his position to appoint people he knew would grant him unwavering support, to the politburo. Through this method, Trotsky’s distaste for the Lenin enrolment and call for the end of bureaucracy was outvoted.
The patronage scheme that Stalin had employed helped him dodge the attack by Lenin’s wife, concerning the derogatory comments in Lenin’s testament. However, Stalin’s position was not the only reason the attack was dodged. Zinoviev and Kamenev also urged that the testament should be kept secret in a bid to protect themselves from the degrading comments Lenin had made about the two being cowards. Luck was also a major factor too as at this point; Trotsky did not speak out against Stalin.
Trotsky was finally defeated in 1924 and again, Stalin’s General Secretary Role was imperative to aid this defeat.
Although Trotsky’s speeches were brilliantly received and a great deal of people criticised the Triumvirate, who were now in power, Trotsky was easily swept aside in the congress because of the large number of Stalinist Delegates. On the other hand, there were other factors holding Trotsky at bay. Zinoviev and Kamenev for example still had relatively strong power blocks in the congress. It is also arguable that Trotsky brought about his own demise as he kept quiet about Lenin’s testament and failed to stick to the ban on factions, essentially tearing himself apart politically.
In 1924 Zinoviev and Kamenev carried out a campaign against Trotsky which more or less finished him off, whilst Stalin stood back and watched. This may seem like a weakness for Stalin in the power struggle, but it was key to his victory. Whilst he sat back and watched, he was also asserting his role as General Secretary by bringing in more supporters to the politburo and by doing this, building an unstoppable, formidable power base. Scores of Stalinists were instated in this time and the building of this powerbase was eventually enough to overcome Trotsky and put him out of the leadership
race.
After this event however, Zinoviev and Kamenev left the Triumvirate due to Stalin’s policy of ‘Socialism in One Country’. They saw the NEP as weak and unnecessary – therefore in 1925 they attacked Stalin with a vote of no confidence. At this time though, Stalin was not alone as he had teamed up with the right wing of the party, alongside Bukharin who was very popular with the people. By doing this he aimed to help boost the NEP popularity. Together they were a duumvirate and resulted in the eventual political demise of the left wing side of the Communist Party.
It was to be a closely fought battle though, as Zinoviev and Kamenev were highly supported with opposition to the NEP and vote of no confidence. Since the Scissors Crisis of 1923, the widening gap between agricultural and industrial prices, was seen to be weakening the efficiency of the New Economic Policy, support for it was declining and if Stalin had not utilised patronage, they may have won a majority vote. This was not the case and consequently Stalin’s role as general secretary made sure Zinoviev and Kamenev met failure in the Party Congress. However, Bukharin did aid their political demise as without his economic prowess and widespread popularity, Stalin may have been outvoted.
Later, the weakened Zinoviev and Kamenev created the United Opposition in conjunction with Trotsky. Due to the demonstrations they led in Moscow, they were accused of factionalism – something Lenin had completely banned prior to his death. As a result, all three lost their positions of power. Stalin’s role as General Secretary did not come into effect here; it was the mistakes of the United Opposition which led to their demise, and not Stalin’s position or cunning. Although Stalin did weaken the three with his use of patronage they cumulatively failed themselves. Throughout this seemingly quiet political time on Stalin’s front, he was building his powerbase the entire time, carefully and slowly. This powerbase would achieve him victory in the coming months.
And indeed this preparation was exceedingly useful; in 1928, Stalin turned right around and began to blast the NEP and favoured quick industrialisation and force for the ‘kulaks’ – ironically these were the same policies the left enjoyed before being wiped out. As a result, he attacked Bukharin and his now firm powerbase stopped Bukharin and his allies Tomsky and Rykov – the entire political structure was dominated by ‘Stalinist delegates’ that ensured the vote was in Stalin’s favour.
Stalin, who was described as ‘the grey blur’, had quietly defeated major political opponents and had secured the leadership of the USSR until his death in 1953.
And this was completed without threat of the gulags, without the threat of imprisonment and without the threat of murder – political prowess gained him victory alongside other factors. It would be ignorant to solely admire Stalin for his climb to power – he was helped along by luck as the death of Lenin came along at an advantageous time, the weaknesses of his opponents in terms of Trotsky tearing himself apart at some points of the struggle and the help of his early allies Zinoviev and Kamenev, who were key to the dismantling of Trotsky in the early years of the struggle. But all along Stalin had ensured he was allied with the stronger players and continued to build up his powerbase through the trickiest of times. Although there were other factors associated with Stalin, for example he was loyal to the proletariat and excruciatingly cunning and the position of General Secretary was absolutely paramount to his rise to power after Lenin’s death as it gave him the ability to appoint whoever he liked to the Politburo. Without this patronage, Stalin would most likely have not gained the power of the USSR and would have been overcome at many an
occasion.
In conclusion, Stalin’s opponents did make mistakes, Stalin’s personal attributes were important, luck was a major factor and he was helped along the way. But his position of General Secretary made sure that he could not be defeated politically in the struggle for power 1924-1929.