Stalin Case Study

To what extent was Stalin’s success in becoming the leader of Russia due to the political weakness of his rivals?

Stalin became the Leader of the USSR in 1929. To do so he competed against his political opponents to gain the position after Lenin’s death. Of those attempting to take power after Lenin’s death many considered Trotsky as the natural successor. Stalin, however, achieved victory over his adversaries. The extent to which this was caused by the political weakness of Stalin’s rivals is debatable as Stalin outmanoeuvred them for a multitude of reasons. Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev all failed to win against Stalin even though they had done more for the party. The reasons for this are not limited to merely weakness but also Stalin’s

Immediately after Lenin died Stalin went against both Lenin’s and Lenin’s Wife’s wishes by organising a staged ceremony where he could take on a leading role to show his support to the Communist party. The ceremony also led to a decrease in Trotsky’s popularity with controversy as to whether this was because Stalin told him the wrong date or that Trotsky simply did not want to go. With Stalin's previous training as an Orthodox priest he had created an important monument for the Russian people who all now knew Stalin as the one who made it possible. He further increased his reputation with the public through his policy of socialism in one country. The Russian people felt more secure and self-confident with the idea that they would perfect it for themselves

Even with all the manipulation and the underestimation, Trotsky was still far more qualified in the eyes of the public. He had played a key role in the civil war and was well known throughout the nation unlike Stalin. He did, however, not win because he was reluctant to participate and was politically weak. His policy of immediately proceeding to spread socialism was unattractive compared to the ‘socialism in one country’ policy and furthermore, even though he had the Military backing him, he was hesitant and unprepared for the fight for leadership. The Trotsky model for the future of the Soviet Union was to advocate industrial growth through “accumulation of capital” from peasants selling grain to the government at low prices. This was not favoured by the peasants who made up 80% of all citizens as they would receive less for their grain than selling to a private sector. Furthermore, Trotsky “ had never been very skilful at intra-party manoeuvring: he was too impatient, too rationalistic, too proud” which made him vulnerable to someone who was skilled at the patient approach to manipulating the course in their favour. Trotsky’s attitude in politics played directly to Stalin’s greatest strengths and, together with errors on Trotsky’s part as well as everyone viewing him as the biggest threat, allowed him to quickly be outmanoeuvred. He was up against the Triumvirate by himself as the members who formed it all had