Why Did Stalin Come to Power and Not Trotsky
History Essay: Why Stalin Not Trotsky
Stalin’s race to become the all mighty ruler fully started after Lenin died of a stroke on the 21st of January 1924. With Lenin gone, Stalin started to eliminate the other members of the Communist Party: Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Rykov, Tomsky and Bukharin. He very cleverly switched between the left wing and the right wing, by making alliances with one wing the suddenly breaking with them, only to join the other wing, going against everything that they had just achieved. Stalin knocked out all other party members along the way even those who were considered to be his friend. His violent childhood, misguided early life and the death of his first wife caused him to lose all sense of emotion turning him into a vicious competitor in the Communist Party. Trotsky was one of Stalin’s major competitors for the title of all ruling leader, however even he could not stop this man of steel, a name that Stalin quite fittingly gave to himself as he joined the party. One of the main reasons as to why Stalin came to power and not Trotsky, was that Trotsky did not attend Lenin’s funeral. This was due to the fact that Trotsky himself was sick and so he took a rest holiday in Sukhumi in the south of Russia. Stalin told Trotsky the wrong date for the funeral, so he thought he would not be able to make it back in time. However really Trotsky could have made it to the funeral but Stalin used this against him. He made Trotsky look like he had committed a cardinal sin, disrespecting Lenin’s death. Stalin made it look as if Trotsky was sun bathing in Sukhumi and could not be bothered to come to the funeral. This accusation seriously damaged Trotsky’s political reputation and was ultimately the beginning of Trotsky’s down fall. With Trotsky not at the funeral, Stalin was able to proclaim himself Lenin’s disciple saying he would carry on ruling for the sake of their once great leader. One of the ways Stalin paid his “respects” to Lenin was one of
Stalin’s race to become the all mighty ruler fully started after Lenin died of a stroke on the 21st of January 1924. With Lenin gone, Stalin started to eliminate the other members of the Communist Party: Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Rykov, Tomsky and Bukharin. He very cleverly switched between the left wing and the right wing, by making alliances with one wing the suddenly breaking with them, only to join the other wing, going against everything that they had just achieved. Stalin knocked out all other party members along the way even those who were considered to be his friend. His violent childhood, misguided early life and the death of his first wife caused him to lose all sense of emotion turning him into a vicious competitor in the Communist Party. Trotsky was one of Stalin’s major competitors for the title of all ruling leader, however even he could not stop this man of steel, a name that Stalin quite fittingly gave to himself as he joined the party. One of the main reasons as to why Stalin came to power and not Trotsky, was that Trotsky did not attend Lenin’s funeral. This was due to the fact that Trotsky himself was sick and so he took a rest holiday in Sukhumi in the south of Russia. Stalin told Trotsky the wrong date for the funeral, so he thought he would not be able to make it back in time. However really Trotsky could have made it to the funeral but Stalin used this against him. He made Trotsky look like he had committed a cardinal sin, disrespecting Lenin’s death. Stalin made it look as if Trotsky was sun bathing in Sukhumi and could not be bothered to come to the funeral. This accusation seriously damaged Trotsky’s political reputation and was ultimately the beginning of Trotsky’s down fall. With Trotsky not at the funeral, Stalin was able to proclaim himself Lenin’s disciple saying he would carry on ruling for the sake of their once great leader. One of the ways Stalin paid his “respects” to Lenin was one of