Why Stalin Emerged as the Sole Leader of the U.S.S.R. and Not Trotsky Trotsky was a leading Bolshevik and played a pivotal role in the revolution, persuading Lenin to delay the revolution until the Bolshevik’s had a much stronger place in the country. He also was crucial to the civil war, as he organised the troops and motivated them. Stalin on the other hand was in charge of all the dull jobs within the Bolshevik party and In Lenin’s last Testament, he was referred to as rude and he needed to be removed. So why did Stalin, and not Trotsky emerge as Lenin’s successor. It’s a mixture of Stalin’s luck and skill, and Trotsky’s misfortune, which will be explained in the following paragraphs. …show more content…
These Were: · Factionalism · The N.E.P. · Socialism In One Country/ permanent Revolution · His Power Base Factionalism was the Idea that if a member of the party discusses ideas which did not have the majority vote by the party. There were 2 main Ideas about the N.E.P. , these were the left wing and the right wing. The left wing said it should go and the right wing said it should stay as it would aid Industrialisation, as it allowed free trade to sell goods on the open market which would give money into the open market. Stalin’s powerbase was due to him being the general secretary, who was in charge of recruiting people, so when the Lenin enrolment scheme was introduced, Stalin recruited “malleable recruits who wouldn’t be impressed by Trotsky’s intellect. This was skill on Stalin’s part, but also a mistake on Trotsky’s behalf, as he had paid no attention previously to Stalin, calling him a “grey blur” Permanent Revolution was the idea that Russia would change, but at the same time help other countries to change and receive their help. Stalin had an opposing idea to this, which was socialism in one country, which was basically that Russia revolutionise on it’s own with no input from other countries. 1924 was the first stage of the power struggle When Zinoviev, Kamenev and Stalin sided against Trotsky, as Zinoviev and
Throughout the 1920's and 30's Joseph Stalin was able to rise to power and build a totalitarian state. After Vladimir Lenin died in 1924, Stalin was able to maneuver his way to the top. Stalin was able to rise to power, build a totalitarian state, and was able to disrupt and transform soviet society by using propaganda.
Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the national government takes control of all aspects of both public and private life. During the 20th century, when Stalin took power, he transformed the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state. To dominate an entire nation, totalitarian leaders devise methods of control and persuasion like propaganda and censorship. From nursery schools to universities, Stalin controlled all education to mold people’s minds. Stalin aimed to replace religious teachings with the ideals of communism. Stalin worked to establish total control of all aspects of life in the Soviet Union by building a police state to maintain his power.These were some of the strategies he took to establish a totalitarian country.
The factors that contributed to Stalin becoming the next leader are plentiful and can mostly be divided into Stalin’s own strengths and the weaknesses of his most important rival, Trotsky. All the factors can also be linked in one way or another, as shall be seen in this answer.
Throughout the millennia that humans have been forming societies with leaders, there have been many different kinds of leaders, some effective and others not. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar shows examples of leaders who prevailed over time and leaders who didn’t. This information combined with knowledge of other past leaders can be used to establish common traits among effective leaders and common traits among ineffective leaders. Although Joseph Stalin is primarily considered a cruel tyrant, he also exhibits several of the leadership traits deemed most effective. While most can agree that his practices were immoral, it is often forgotten that due to his organization, practicality, and determination, Stalin was a decidedly effective leader.
Almost everyone knows what a monster Adolf Hitler was, but most people do not know that one of the great ally leader of World War II, Joseph Stalin, had committed even greater atrocities than Hitler. Joseph Stalin was a ruthless and yet diligent dictator of the Soviet Union, whose rise to power influenced a multitude of major events in his country’s history. Due to Stalin’s impactful reign, he made the Soviet Union become a global superpower, underwent difficult hardships such as the Great Famine in the Soviet Union, and after his death, caused the Soviet Union to go through a process known as de-Stalinization.
Joseph Stalin greatly influenced Russia in the years 1924 through 1932. His rise to this power can be explained by the Russian Revolutionary experience that allowed him to gain authority in Russia. Although historians often refer to Stalin as a ruthless, mindless dictator, he redirected the Russian Revolution to major economic development. Stalin’s character in Russia during the Revolution catalyzed the many events that took place during the time period. Because of Stalin’s ability to both appeal to the masses, and take advantage of events, like Lenin’s death, Stalin was able to rise to power. Essentially, the Russian Revolution fostered the development of Stalin’s dictatorship leading the country into a state of economic growth and influence. The Revolution fostered Stalin’s ability to maintain a central leadership, use violence to gain control, and regenerate a previously disconnected economy.
Stalin was frequently captured and sent to Siberia, but, he managed to escape. “Stalin played a key role in the Russian revolution he gained control over the party newspaper Pravda and helped Lenin to escape Finland” (Joseph Stalin Bio, biography.com Editors, bio.com website). Stalin was one of the five Lenin appointed in the Russian civil war against anti-Bolshevik policies. Stalin frequently clashed with Leon Trotsky and Stalin advocated harsh measures to ensure discipline and loyalty. In 1922, Lenin fell ill and Stalin became one of the main links between Lenin and the outside world. Lenin became increasingly distrustful of Stalin, disliking his arrogance and love of power. In Lenin’s testimony he wanted Stalin removed from power. However, with great skill Stalin formed alliance’s with other key Communist party members, he outmaneuvered Trotsky and had him expelled from the Soviet Union. On the death of Lenin, Stalin was able to assume the position as leader of the Soviet Union, He quickly strove to consolidate
In 1917, Tsar Nicholas ll is the current ruler of Russia. Russia’s economic growth is increased by the czar’s reforms of the production of more factories. Since, Russia desperately needed to keep up with the rest of Europe’s industry. This reform worked out perfectly, but the working conditions of these factories didn’t please factory workers. After the events of the Russo-Japenese War, “Bloody Sunday”, and WW1, all of Russia was in utter chaos under the czar’s ghastly leadership. With no signs of the czar’s attempt to solve the problems that kept coming up, all of Russia banded together and filled the streets with strikes and riots. A revolution was peaking among the peasants. The uprising brought Nicholas ll no choice but to abdicate
During the course of history, great leaders have coerced the world to the brink of war; this was the case for Joseph Stalin, who forced the world to the unprecedented Cold War. To a large extent, Stalin’s actions were responsible for the onset of the Cold War. Stalin displayed a lack of trustworthiness, evident in the Yalta conference during February 1945, and spread communism into eastern European states. This led to mutual distrust between the USSR and the United States. In 1948, Stalin further escalated tensions between himself and the United States, by enforcing the construction of the Berlin blockade, created to weaken the United States supplies in West Germany. Stalin was a strong believer in militarism, because of this Stalin ordered the creation and consolidation of the USSR’s nuclear arsenals in 1947, inflaming the arms race that could have potentially inflicted total devastation throughout the globe. Stalin’s impetuous actions caused great tensions between himself and other leaders, subsequently causing him to be responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War.
Joseph Stalin was the political leader of the Soviet Union during the twentieth century. Stalin’s leadership style was most commonly defined as brutal due to him abolishing private ownership, as well as his numerous political purges that resulted in the deaths of thousands of officials within the communist party. While in the end Stalin did lead the Soviets to win World War II, a large number of lives were lost in the process.
It’s ok to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really really brave. In Crispin Cross Of Lead he did something really really brave. Everyone agrees that the kingdom needs a good ruler, however some feel like Crispin should not have stayed to be king.
no one saw him as a real threat. This was important and enabled him to
It is undeniable that Stalin had a profound impact on the Soviet Union following Lenin’s death. His rise to power within the Soviet Union has provided historians with a hotbed of political intrigue for many years. He was an opportunist, coming to dominance by manipulating party politics and influential figures in the politburo to eliminate his opposition by recognising and exploiting their weaknesses thus becoming the dominant leader of the Soviet Union. He was severely underestimated by other members of the Politburo about his potential within the party, leading to missed opportunities to ally and stand against him- a mistake that Stalin never made. He gained support from the public by exploiting the idea of ‘the Cult of Lenin’ in 1924 at Lenin’s funeral, and then adopting this concept for himself, thereby likening himself to Lenin; and, more importantly, gained support from other party members by following the wishes of Lenin, for example, initially supporting the continuation of the NEP and supporting the idea of factionalism. This essay will also argue that he was ideologically flexible as he was able to change his ideas for the party according to who he needed as an ally, in order to achieve dominant status in the party. He sought out which individual was the biggest threat, and eliminated them before they could stand against him.
Joseph Stalin's Leadership Through World War Two Stalin (1927-1953) led the Soviet State through the challenges of World War II. Although the war was a terrible drain on the already impoverished and exhausted society, it resulted, paradoxically in strengthening the Soviet dictatorship.
Lenin believed that Trotsky was the best suitable to take the Communist party to the next level. Trotsky was not all that popular among party members though and Stalin was in a position as Gen Sek, or General Secretary, to place his people in powerful positions throughout the party. Also, Stalin worked extremely hard at achieving power whereas Trotsky was rather lazy. Because of these reasons along with Stalin's "zero tolerance" attitude towards everyone, he was able to seize control.