One reason why Stalin was able to rise to power was because of his advantageous position in the communist party. His role as Party Secretary was important beacuse it was a sign of lenin's favour. As party secretary, stalin had authority over more than 700 officials. He also controlled all party appointments, promotions and demotions. He also made sure that the local trade unions, coorperatives and army units were led by loyal communists, who were responsible to stalin in all cases. Even the secret police came under Stalin. Stalin's position allowed him to appoint his supporters to influential postions while Trotsky was busy fighting the civil war. Furthermore, Trotsky was considered complacent and arrogant because he only drew hiss supporters from a narrow base : The youths, the students and the red army. This caused Trotsky to not have much support from the party members.
Another reason why Stalin was able to rise to power was because of his easily understood political ideas. Stalin mantained that socialism was possible within one country. This meant that russia would be the world's shining example of socialism until a world revolution took place. Stalin was born into a lower class family, and thus he was able to relate to and understand the needs of the people. Furthermore, Stalin's idea of "socialism within one country" was more easily understood than Trotsky's idea of spreading communism to the other parts of the world. As more people were able to understand what Stalin was conveying, stalin was able to gain more support than his rival trotsky. Trotsky's idea also seemed to imply that russia would be involved in more fighting. The russians felt that stalin's idea was more practical and chose to support him instead.
The third reason for Stalin's rise to power was because of the development of the cult of Lenin. After Lenin's death, Stalin tried to show that he was close to lenin. This was because Lenin was a widely respected figure, and by doing so, Stalin hoped to gain the support of Lenin's supporters. Lenin's body was enbalmed and displayed. Stalin also presented himself as Chief mourner. This caused lenin's supporters to see stalin as a man who was true to lenin right until the end and stalin was able to gain support from them. Trotsky, on the other hand, was not evven present for Lenin's funeral as Stalin gave him the wrong date. Trotsky's absence from the funeral was deemed as an act of disrespect for lenin. This allowed Stalin to present himself in a more positive light than trotsky and he was able to gain the support he needed to rise to power.
Lastly, Stalin's political maneuvers allowed him to rise to power. Stalin made use of the rival groups in the party. He coorperated with Kamenev and Zinoviev to get rid of Trotsky. Once trotsky was removed, he joined with bukharin to get rid of kamenev and zinoviev. Stalin emphasized on the fact that they voted against the insurruction in 1917. Once they were dealt with, stalin went against bukharin. With trotsky exiled, lenin dead, kamenev, zinoviev and bukharin taken care of, stalin was now ready to take over the USSR. Eventually, there was no real challenge, and thus stalin was able to emerge as the unchallenged ruler of the USSR.
Purely from memory :D half an hour friday, half an hour today .
Everything except the name Bukharin which is totally ugh.
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