Lenin, the leader of Russia died from ill health in 1924, without choosing a successor, but how did Stalin, one of the least likely people to take over become leader of the Ussr?
His role as General Secretary was used by Stalin to great advantage. It allowed him to see all important documents flowing in and out of the party. This fortunate for Stalin, included Lenin's last testament, which stated Lenin's desire for a dictatorship of the party as well as the fact that Stalin should not rule. His role also allowed him to recruit people who were loyal to him, remove members who weren't and also to collect information on every party member.
After Lenin's death he waited, allowing other Politburo members to state their preferred policies - he then ganged up on groups of them, using his alliances and his party contacts to destroy the opposition. His did this twice in the 1920s, destroying Trotsky and his supporters and Zinoviev and Kamenev and their supporters.
Stalin's character in the role also helped him to degrade other candidate's reputations. This can be seen when Stain tells Trotsky the wrong date for Lenin's funeral. He also changed his allegiance. At first he disagrees with the idea of NEP to disagree with Trotsky but later opts for it.
He became the disputed leader of the USSR in 1928. Once he was the undisputed leader - the Vozhd he continued to use the position of General Secretary of the Communist Part to promote loyal supporters and demote, or expel from the party those who he could not be sure about. From the mid 1930s began to use show trials - public events where the accused had to follow a script, nearly always ending in a guilty verdict, and purges - expelling great numbers from the party and arresting people arbitrarily. Fear became one of the main weapons Stalin used against the Soviet people. Stalin also bugged the offices of the other members of the Politburo and collected information on them.
Stalin later implanted the use of fear, as well as the use of a secret police force to keep the people in check. He also placed a ban on factionalism and branded all opposition as traitorous. As a result Stalin was left as the ruler of the Ussr.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
In the lead up to Lenin’s death and the years that followed, it would seem Stalin was in a weaker position than several of his opponents, as many doubted his role in the Revolution and, therefore, his role as a leader of the Party. Several factors played a role in allowing Stalin to be victorious, however, comparatively they hold varying significance. Despite the odds appearing to be stacked against him, Stalin’s ruthless personality and devious strategies allowed him to tactfully defeat his opponents, by manipulating his position within the Party, without having any real party appeal or Government powerbase and he ultimately emerged as leader of the Party in 1929, ending the leadership struggle.…
- 1220 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
The personality of those involved in the power struggle should however not be disregarded as they played a role in Stalin’s ensuing victory. Stalin was known to some members of his party as the grey blur as supposedly there was nothing remarkable about him. His role in the October revolution and the Russian civil war was minimal however his true aptitude lay in administrative positions, his skill in the clerical field was so great that Lenin came to rely on Stalin’s administrative capability and loyalty. Even so when Lenin became ill Stalin began to oppose him. Lenin’s testament was highly critical of Stalin and encouraged that he be removed, however as the testament was never made public this was never carried out. The fact that Stalin was not seen as threat and was underestimated by his peers meant that he was able to gain authority without raising the suspicions of other party members.…
- 1502 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
In 1922, when Vladimir Lenin died, someone needed to step up and the Soviet Union. As he was slowly dying, a power struggle emerged between Leon Trotsky, and Joseph Stalin. Even though Trotsky “had been widely viewed as the heir of Lenin, it was relatively easy for Stalin to combine with the other Bolshevik leaders in order to head off this threat” (Paley 10). In Lenin’s “Final Testament”, Lenin could already see that Stalin was quickly and surreptitiously gaining power. Stalin’s position of General Secretary gave him the ability to appoint people to important positions. Lenin was also reluctant to see Stalin as his successor because he thought that Trotsky could do a much better job. Lenin believed that Trotsky was the best man in the central…
- 199 Words
- 1 Page
Good Essays -
Like Hitler, Stalin first became active in politics when he joined a militant political party. The party Stalin joined was known as the Russian Social Democratic Party. Stalin was arrested in 1902 and was deported to Siberia but escaped and was back in Georgia two year later. Stalin first met Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Social Democratic Party, when he returned to Georgia. Lenin was a political mentor to Stalin and had great respect for him. In 1912, Lenin nominated Stalin to the Central Committee of the Bolshevik party. However, Stalin was arrested once again and exiled to Siberia in 1917 where he would remain until the Czar was overthrown. After the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, Lenin became the new ruler of Russia and named Stalin the Commissar of Nationalities. Over the years, however, Lenin’s health began to deteriorate. In 1924, Lenin died and the party now known as the All-Union Communist Party was headed collectively by several of Lenin’s cabinet members. Like Hitler, Stalin was a very clever manipulator and was able to turn the members against each other. After successfully obtaining more power, Stalin had the few political enemies he had left shot and he assumed power of the Soviet Union (“Joseph Stalin”,…
- 1278 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Explain why at the time of Lenin’s death there was no obvious successor to lead the USSR? (12)…
- 813 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Stalin used the job of General Secretary to promote people loyal to him, to remove from the party people who were disloyal and to collect information on every party member.…
- 445 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
It was not just his popular policies that saw Stalin replace Lenin as the leader of the USSR. It was also partly due to the mistakes and weaknesses made by the other leading Bolsheviks such as Trotsky. Trotsky was seen as too powerful because he was the leader…
- 885 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
He was the leader of the Soviet Union, he ordered every citizen to the Soviet Union to not surrender and to use a single drop of blood. By saying this he is ordering a massacre killing 27 million soviets in WW2. He killed dissidents, sent millions of untrained Russians into the war and industrialized the Soviet Union, which required more killing. Overall, Stalin proves a stunning example of how men can take some idea like equality and cooperation and completely go against it. He also proved, along with Mao, Pol Pot, Ho Chi Minh, and Castro, that communist dictators are generally…
- 317 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In the beginning, as Lenin end grew nearer, there were five potential leaders, Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev, Trotsky and Stalin. It seemed so obvious that there only was one man to take over Lenin's reign - Trotsky. He was Lenin's right hand man, but a close second was Stalin. People saw him as the one who came second, that's all he was; there was no way that he would beat Trotsky in the race for leadership, but what they didn't know that Stalin's cunning would overtake then all and he would end up being the leader of Russia.…
- 707 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Trotsky was important in organising and coordinating the actual take over Petrograd in November, but Lenin was even more important because he was a strong leader who guided the Central Committee of the Party and pushed to make the takeover happen. For example, he produced the April Theses, which gave the Bolsheviks clear goals and made them better focused and organized, which was vital if they were going to take over successfully. He also put together the slogan ‘Bread, Peace, Land, and All power to the Soviets!’ which was designed to appeal to a broad range of people and he gave speeches and led rallies to inspire people to join the party. This meant that the Bolsheviks grew in popularity because they were offering people what they wanted – in particular they were the only party who opposed the war and all the other parties were associated with the much-disliked Provisional Government, which seemed to be doing…
- 713 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
At the time, Stalin seemed like he was the greatest person on Earth. He made himself seem as if he was above everybody, both physically and mentally. After all of the revolts that were occurring in Russia, he just took over. He went into power right after Lenin had died and took his place, over Trotsky who also wanted to rule over Russia. Well he didn’t and we can’t change that. All we can do is remember Stalin and remember all of the things he did to make people support him and his cause to industrialize Russia.…
- 873 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
As he went up in ranks in his Democratic party, he soon became the “secretary general of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, a role that embedded him to appoint his allies to government jobs and grow a base of political support”(C). When Lenin, the first leader, died, Stalin was placed into power, where he then became the absolute ruler of Russia. As a leader, he was fierce, a go getter. No matter what the cost, he did whatever he needed to do for the revolution and went to jail more than 18 times. However, he adapted a personality that was rude, sullen, and many other characteristics that cause people to push him away and or shun him, “He became more dedicated because of this isolation”(C).…
- 893 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Stalin had a grip on Russia and had enough power to change the entire country. Lenin appointed Stalin for the first Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party.…
- 986 Words
- 4 Pages
Better Essays -
Stalin was known as the leader and overall ruler of the Soviet Union after he took power…
- 1744 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
From the beginning of Joseph Stalin’s college career he was seen as a leader. He started a committee in his college because he did not like the school’s curriculum. He recruited members so that they could study the Russian Tsanst government as apposed to the Orthodox school’s curriculum. Joseph Stalin’s first role in the government came in 1898 when he united with a secret Marxist revolutionary committee. He then also worked for a writing company where he had articles published over time. After this in 1901 he was accepted into the Russian Social Democratic Labor party. Between the years of 1902 and 1913 Joseph Stalin was arrested numerous times for several different crimes. Luckily he was able to escape quite often and by the end of his sentence of being exiled in Siberia Joseph Stalin had been appointed by Lenin to the Bolshevik Central Committee. Joseph Stalin was able to take charge of the Bolsheviks when Lenin went into hiding, fearing arrest. When Lenin came back he had decided that he would have Stalin whom he trusted be one…
- 1407 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays