How Did Lenin Lead Stalin Rise To Power

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Communism was the sole ruling party in the USSR during the periods between the First World War and the Second World War. This was due to the loyalty and left-wing focused government that was established after Lenin led the Bolsheviks to victory during the October revolution. Stalin had succeeded in inheriting the legacy that Lenin had left behind by becoming the leader of the USSR after Lenin’s death. This paper will address the following points: Stalin’s powerful position in the government, Stalin’s use of tactics and deceit to manipulate his image in order to associate himself to Lenin, and Stalin’s dominant reputation which eventually led to his triumph over Trotsky enabled him to be the sole leader of the single-party led USSR. This paper will argue that following the death of Lenin, the USSR was in a time of need for new leadership which offered the perfect conditions for Stalin to rise to power given his position of influence in the USSR. Stalin would not become the sole leader of the USSR by being a low …show more content…

Lenin’s appointment of him as the General Secretary of the Central Committee had benefitted him greatly in terms of support that he had gathered when he would succeed Lenin as the leader. Lenin’s death gave Stalin the opportunity to further improve his image by publicly showing his respect for Lenin and therefore garnering the approval of the grieving public. Another factor is Stalin’s superiority in terms of ideals and reputation which had assisted him in defeating the only threat to his rise to power, Trotsky. These conditions and the dire need of a new leader after Lenin’s death aided Stalin in his pursuit of power in the USSR by letting him replace the deceased Lenin as the leader of the Communist Party and the

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