From Lenin to StalinHow did it happen?Lenins death, Jan 1924

RECALL..1922: Russian Civil War ended.1924: The Soviet Union was established. The Bolsheviks becomes the Communist Party.

Communist hard-linersModeratesRadicals

Jan 1924 the inevitable happened.

For FIVE years after Lenins death, a power struggle took place within the Politburo of the Communist Party. #Politburo the committee that decides the countrys policies

Lenins Potential SuccessorsLeon Trotsky Lev KamenevGrigory ZinovievJosef StalinNikolai Bukharin

Who do you think deserves to be Lenins successor?

RANKING FORMGet into groups of 5.Rank your choices and explain why.

GUESS WHAT?DESPITE ALL OF STALINS FLAWS, HE MANAGED TO BECOME THE SUPREME LEADER OF THE SOVIET UNION!

JOSEPH STALINOne of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history

Tens of millions died during his reign.

JOSEPH STALIN

From Lenin to StalinHow did it happen?Lenins death, Jan 1924

How did Stalin become the Supreme Leader of the Soviet Union? THE RISE OF STALIN

STALINS MANIPULATIONSCHAPTER 2: STALINS SOVIET UNION

Pretended to be close to LeninControl over Party organisationExploitation of ideological divisionsGave Party members impression that Lenin favoured and trusted him.Organised Lenins funeral and established himself as the chief mourner.Prevented Trotsky from attending Lenins funeral by giving him the wrong date.Hence, Stalin portrayed himself as the natural successor to Lenin.Stalin: Secretary-General of Communist Party Had the authority to appoint and re-assign Party membersUsed his position to replace allies of his opponentsControlled the Chekarenamed it Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD)Hence, Trotsky support base shrank. Stalin had Trotsky expelled from the Party in 1927.Communist Party split into two main groupsStalin took advantage of these ideological divisions to eliminate his competitors.He allied himself with both sides at different times.With his political opponents and competitors discredited or executed, Stalin emerged the supreme leader of the Soviet Union in 1929.

Stalins Appointment as Secretary-General Stalins appointment as secretary general contributed to his rise to power.Stalins appointment as secretary general meant that he had strong control over Party organization as he could appoint and re-assign Party members. He was able to admit his own supporters and appoint them to influential positions within the party, while expelling or sidelining his opponents, especially those were Trotskys supporters.

Source A Attributed to Stalin by his former secretary Bazhanov in 1923

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.

As secretary-general, Stalin would also have the influence over the officials appointed to manage and count the votes.

As a result, he would thus be able to manipulate the outcome of the votes in his favour, even if it did not accurately represent the actual will of the other Party members.

PRETENDED TO HAVE BEEN CLOSE TO LENINStalins pretense to have been close to Lenin also enabled Stalin to rise to power.

Stalin visited Lenin often when he was ill, and he cleverly made it seem like he had been very close to Lenin. When Lenin died in 1924, Stalin organized Lenins funeral and made it a grand affair by ordering Lenins body to be embalmed and displaying it in a mausoleum in the Red Square in Moscow. He gave the funeral speech and established himself as the chief mourner, showing himself deeply sorrowful over the loss of Lenin.

He also arranged for the city of Petrograd to be renamed Leningrad in Lenins honour. Stalin also kept Trotsky from attending Lenins funeral by giving him the wrong date. The Party members viewed his absence as a lack of respect for Lenin.

Spot Stalin!

Such calculated moves gave his fellow Party members as well as the general public, the impression that Lenin had favoured and trusted Stalin when he was not.

As a result, this made Stalin seem like the next obvious choice to succeed Lenin and it also made him more favorable to the Party members, helping him get their support and backing to support his rise to power.

EXPLOITATION OF IDEOLOGICAL DIVISIONSAnother factor that contributed to Stalins rise to power was his ability to exploit ideological divisions within the Party. Ideological divisions existed within the Communist Party, which was divided between the moderates and the radicals. Stalin was not only willing to get involved in party politics, but also effectively exploited the ideological divisions within the Party to eliminate his competitors.

First he formed a troika alliance with Kamenev and Zinoviev to get rid of Trotsky; then he allied himself with the moderates to isolate both of them; next, he switched over to the radicals to undermine Rykov and Bukharin.

Communist hard-linersModeratesRadicals

By exploiting the ideological divisions within the Party, Stalin was able to set his rivals against one another and to stop them from combining against him. It also allowed him to get rid of his rivals in an efficient and systematic manner. This made him all supreme and unthreatened by the presence of any political rivals, thereby leading to his rise to power.

Favourable circumstancesFavourable circumstances contributed to Stalins rise to power.Stalin was able to exploit the autocratic features of Lenins government to build his power base. For example:Lenin banned opposition parties and arrested members of opposition parties. This allowed Stalin to focus on party politics to build his power base instead of having to spend time dealing with other rival parties.Lenin controlled media through state-run newspapers such as Pravda. This gave Stalin the opportunity to use the press to promote his own status among the Russians and attacks his enemies. It also gave Stalin the opportunity to prevent criticism or opposition to him from circulating across the country.

TB page 38Comrade Stalin, having become Secretary-General, has unlimited authority concentrated in his hands, and I am not sure whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution. Comrade Trotsky, on the other hand, is distinguished not only by outstanding ability. He is perhaps the most capable man in the present C.C (Central Executive Committee), but he has displayed excessive self-assurance

Stalin is too rude and this defect becomes intolerable in a Secretary-General. That is why I suggest that the comrades think about a way of removing Stalin from that post and appointing another man in his stead

Non-disclosure of Lenins TestamentLenins Testament.In it, he voiced criticisms on his leading successors but was especially clear in advising that Stalin be removed from his position as Secretary-General of the Communist Party.

The Testament was read out at a meeting after Lenins death.

However, the Party agreed that:Testament was not to be made public.No notes were to be made when it was read out.There would be no mention of the Testament in future meetings.

NON-DISCLOSURE OF LENINS TESTAMENTLenins testament was read out at a meeting of the Central Executive Committee, where Lenins potential successors were present.However, the Party agreed that the Testament was not to be made public, as Lenin had criticised all of them. They decided to ignore Lenins warning.Thus, Stalin retained his position as Secretary-General.

CHAPTER 2: STALINS SOVIET UNIONRead Lenins testament. From his Testament, write down in your own words what Lenin thought of Stalin and Trotsky

In addition, the obscuring of Lenins Testament ensured that Stalin kept his Secretary-General position, which he used effectively to build up his power base and isolate Trotsky.Lenins illness and death gave Stalin the opportunity to create an impression that he was favoured and trusted by Lenin when he was not. Such favourable circumstances contributed to Stalins rise to power as it gave Stalin opportunities to exploit the weaknesses of his competitors and make use of his power and position even more effectively. This enabled him to rise to power.

TROTSKYS WEAKNESSESTrotskys weaknesses also contributed to his rise to power.He was very outspoken in his criticisms of Lenin and the Party. He had argued with Lenin and the Party on several topics, such as Lenins New Economic Policy and the increasing control of the Party by the Politburo and Central Executive Committee.

These criticisms openly challenged the organisation and policies of the Party. Trotsky was viewed as being disloyal to Lenin and the Partys decisions.

Trotskys WeaknessesTrotsky also held on very strongly to his idea of permanent revolution, which sought to promote and incite revolutions all over the world. On the other hand, Stalins socialism in one country, called for the strengthening of the Soviet Union first before spreading revolution to other countries.

Stalin made sure that he had the support of his other Party members on this, and cleverly made it seem like Trotsky was moving away from the Partys decisions and ideas. This further affected Trotskys credibility within the Party.

Trotsky also chose to remain silent on Lenins criticisms of Stalin, reflected in Lenins Testament.Unlike Stalin, Trotsky was unable to organise his supporters as he fell very weak around Lenins death.As a result, Stalin was able to exploit Trotskys weaknesses to weaken his position, eventually causing him to be expelled from the Party, leading to his rise to power.