"Analyse the methods used and the conditions which helped in the rise to power of Joseph Stalin“. Stalins rise as a dictator over the USSR in 1929, was a struggle for power. It was set by Lenin, in his testament, that Stalin was not to takeover control as the party leader, and to be removed from his position as General Secretary, as Stalin in Lenins eyes had lack of loyalty, tolerance, and politeness. However, different factors, such as Lenins funeral, Stalins position as General Secretary and the rise of bureaucracy, and Stalins relationship to Kamenev and Zinoviev, made it possible for Stalin to become the undisputed leader over the USSR in 1929. This essay will discuss the methods and the conditions, which helped Joseph Stalin rise to power. Stalin was able to damage Trotsky’s reputation and political prestige, by tricking Trotsky for not showing up at Lenins funeral. After Lenins death, on the 21st of January 1924, on over three days, about three and a half million people queued to see Lenins body. Although many people felt hatred towards the regime, many felt a bona fide affection towards Lenin, which was comparable with the affection the people had to the Romanov dynasty, before the October Revolution. Throughout Lenins funeral, Stalin hoped that he could strengthen his position in the Party and remove Trotsky from his powerful position, which he was in. Trotsky turned ill just before Lenin’s death, and had settled in the south of Russia, to recover. Stalin contacted Trotsky about Lenins death and meant that Trotsky would not make it to the funeral. For Trotsky not attending the funeral, caused his reputation and political prestige, within the party, to be damaged. During Lenins funeral, Stalin made a speech referring t... ... middle of paper ... ... into the Party system, outvoted Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky. Only under certain conditions, as listed above, and careful planing, Stalin was able to declare himself undisputed leader in 1929. Works Cited: E. H. Car and Moshe Lewis. Political undercurrents in Soviet economic debates: from Bukharin to the modern reformers. 1974. Print Hite, John, and Chris Hinton. Communist Russia Under Lenin and Stalin. London: John Murray, 2002. Print. "Internet History Sourcebooks." Internet History Sourcebooks. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. . Levine, Isaac Don. Stalin. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corp., 1931. Print. "On The Death Of Lenin." On The Death Of Lenin. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. . Hiroaki Kuromiva. Stalin. Tokyo. 2005. Print.
Tucker, Robert C. "Stalinism as Revolution from Above". Stalinism. Edited by Robert C. Tucker. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1999.
death in 1953. But how is it that Stalin emerged as the new leader of
By 1928, Stalin had ousted Trotsky and the rest of the Left opposition. In four years, Stalin had single handedly taken major steps away from Lenin’s collective leadership and free inter party debate and replaced them with his autocratic dictatorship. Stalin began to secure predominant power over the communist party and the state by destroying passive opposition from the peasantry and former Lenin supporters. He won growing support from the working class who were impressed with the initial five-year plan. As it promised increased industrialization, which would lead to socialism in one country within their lifetime.
Stalin’s hunger for power and paranoia impacted the Soviet society severely, having devastating effects on the Communist Party, leaving it weak and shattering the framework of the party, the people of Russia, by stunting the growth of technology and progress through the purges of many educated civilians, as well as affecting The Red Army, a powerful military depleted of it’s force. The impact of the purges, ‘show trials’ and the Terror on Soviet society were rigorously negative. By purging all his challengers and opponents, Stalin created a blanket of fear over the whole society, and therefore, was able to stay in power, creating an empire that he could find more dependable.
Joseph Stalin was a realist dictator of the early 20th century in Russia. Before he rose to power and became the leader of Soviet Union, he joined the Bolsheviks and was part of many illegal activities that got him convicted and he was sent to Siberia (Wood, 5, 10). In the late 1920s, Stalin was determined to take over the Soviet Union (Wiener & Arnold 199). The main aspects of his worldview was “socialism
When most people hear the name Joseph Stalin, they usually associate the name with a man who was part of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the deaths of millions of people. He was willingly to do anything to improve the power of the Soviet Union’s economy and military, even if it meant executing tens of millions of innocent people (Frankforter, A. Daniel., and W. M. Spellman 655). In chapter three of Sheila Fitzpatrick’s book, Everyday Stalinism, she argues that since citizens believed the propaganda of “a radiant future” (67), they were able to be manipulated by the Party in the transformation of the Soviet Union. This allowed the Soviet government to expand its power, which ultimately was very disastrous for the people.
Joseph Stalin was one of the Soviet Union’s most influencial leaders. When he came to power after Lenin’s death he began suppressing opposition to his rule and sought to create an economy that was based on command. This resulted in the Soviet Union being able to withstand the invasion of the Germans in the Second World War. It also enabled them to come out of the war as a Superpower. This paper will look at Stalin’s new society and how it effected the citizens of the Soviet Union before the war.
Hughes, James. Stalin, Siberia and the Crisis of the New Economic Policy . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Son of a poverty-stricken shoemaker, raised in a backward province, Joseph Stalin had only a minimum of education. However, he had a burning faith in the destiny of social revolution and an iron determination to play a prominent role in it. His rise to power was bloody and bold, yet under his leadership, in an unexplainable twenty-nine years, Russia because a highly industrialized nation. Stalin was a despotic ruler who more than any other individual molded the features that characterized the Soviet regime and shaped the direction of Europe after World War II ended in 1945. From a young revolutionist to an absolute master of Soviet Russia, Joseph Stalin cast his shadow over the entire globe through his provocative affair in Domestic and Foreign policy.
Stalin managed to do this not simply because of his personal strengths or brilliances, neither was it purely down to luck. It was due to a combination of factors, some concerning Stalin's actions and his opportunist ways, some to do with his opponents. as Trotsky and their fundamental weaknesses, and other factors. were simply out of Stalin's control. Stalin's background and personality played a large role in Stalin's rise to the power of the world.
Langley, Andrew. "The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The End of an Empire." In The Collapse of the Soviet Union: The End of an Empire, by Andrew Langley, 53. Mankato: Compass Point Books, 2007.
Stalin control over the juries and convictions saw to the death of 500,000 or imprisonment of any sort of opposition he thought of as a threat to his leadership. Stalin had supports in key jobs, juries, solicitors and all important judges who saw to Stalin being right on all his false accusations. The accusations he set forward were to clean out any oppositons with in or out of his party and any doubt of his ruling ways. Another factor which led on to Stalin keeping power in the USSR was his cult of personality, he played it in such a manner that the general public didn’t fear him rather they admired him. Also communism was extremely popular amongst the people and they saw him as “dictator of the people”.
After the death of Lenin, his chief lieutenant Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin fought for control of the country. Stalin was able to win out over Trotsky and gain control of the Russian government. He felt that Lenin and Trotsky’s socialistic ideas were flawed in that they were to wait for other countries to revolt and become socialistic as well. Staling believed that a single country could make socialism .
With the Bolshevik’s rise to power before and after the revolutions of 1917, Stalin also rose to prominence through Lenin who had seen Stalin’s competence and proficiency in completing important party jobs. “Without Lenin’s support, however, Stalin might still not have been elected to the Central Committee. Most delegates hardly knew him...Stalin had climbed to the party’s summit: he came third after Lenin and Zinoviev in the votes for the Central Committee” (Service, Stalin 131). Political prominence comes with a hectic political work load, but Stalin was up to the challenge. He wasn’t an exceptional orator and he knew this as he stayed away from giving public speeches. Stalin’s strength was in policy-making and organization. Stalin’s strength