When Lenin suffered a stroke in 1922, Stalin
visited him often and acted as his connection to
the rest of the world.
They often quarelled and Lenin
became suspicious of Stalin's
character. He made it clear in his
statement to remove Stalin as
Secretary-General of the
communist party.
Party decided to
ignore Lenin's
warning , as Lenin
had criticised all of
them
Stalin retained his position as
Secretary General and used it to
great effect during his rise to
power.
Established
Troika
alliance with
Kamanev
and Zinoviev
against
Trotsky.
Trotsky's unpopularity in
the Politburo
Trotsky was
Stalin's
strongest
competitors: he
was seen as
Lenin's
right-hand man..
The support of the Red Army gave Trotsky a
great deal of power and he was seen as the
biggest threat by others in the Politburo.
Troika alliance aimed to remove Trotsky from power by discrediting him.
Trotsky seen as disloyal to Lenin and to the Party's
decisions. Eg. Trotsky criticised Lenin's New
Economic Policy and the increasing control of the
Party by the Politburo and Central Executive
Committee.
Stalin cleverly made it seem like Trotsky was moving
away from the Party's decisions and ideas. Trotsky's
credibility within the Party was thus affected.
Trotsky was unable to make his own supporters
as he fell very ill, thus unable to deal with Party
politics as the other members of the Party
excluded him from decision-making and
undermined his position within the Party.
Stalin's Manipulations
Pretended to have been close to Lenin
Stalin cleverly made it seem like he
was close to Lenin, apart from his
frequent visits that Stalin made to
Lenin
Gave the public and Party
members the impression that
Lenin had favoured and trusted
Stalin.
Stalin organised Lenin's
funeral,making it a grand affair.
Ordered Lenin's body to be
embalmed and displayed in a
mausoleum in the Red Square in
Moscow.
Stalin gave the funeral speech and made
himself the Chief Mourner, showing himself
deeply sorrowful over the loss of Lenin.
Stalin kept Trotsky from attending Lenin's funeral
by giving him the wrong date. To the people, it
looked like Stalin was the natural successor of
Lenin.
Control over Party
organisation
Stalin was made Secretary General of the
Party in 1922
Gave Stalin the authority to apppoint
and re-assign Party Members. He was
thus able to replace allies of his
opponents , esp Trotsky , with his own
allies.
Stalin also gained control of Cheka.
Thus, Trotsky's support base shrank. With his reputation destroyed, his
ideas discredited and his lack of support within the Party, Trotsky was
forced to resign as the head of the Red Army in 1925. Stalin had Trotsky
expelled from the Party in 1927.
Trotsky continued to criticise Stalin through writings that criticised
Stalin's control over the Party, his policies and supporters. Stalin
thus had Trotsky assassinated in 1940 while he was staying in exile in
Mexico.
Exploitation of ideological divisions.
Party was divided between the moderates and the Radicals
Moderates followed
Lenin's leadership and
ideology closely
Radicals formed new ideas
and challenged the system
To eliminate his opponents, Stalin took advantage of
the ideological divisions in the Party , allying himself
with both sides at different times
Step 1: Expelled Trotsky
Allied himself with
the moderates of the
Politburo, who saw
Trotsky as a radical.
Caused Trotsky to be
expelled.
Step 2: Isolated Kamenev and Zinoviev
Broke Troika Alliance.
Convinced the moderates
that Kamenev and
Zinoviev were plotting
with Trotsky to overthrow
the Government. Kameve
and Zinoviev discredited
and isolated.
Step 3: Attacked Bukharin and Rykov
Switched over to win support of Radicals
Bukharin and Rykov who were moderates , opposed Stalin's measures for
Rapid Industrialisation and central control of the economy.
Rest of Politburo sided with Stalin and
removed Bukharin from Politburo in
1929.
Rykov removed from the position of
Premier in 1930.