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Why did Stalin, and not Trotsky, emerge as Lenins successor?

Describe the circumstances of Lenins death and the struggle for power: reasons for Stalins emergence as leader by 1928. Lenin, as the leader of the Soviet state of the USSR, had died on January the 21st, 1924. He was 53 years old. In the past he had suffered from many numerous strokes and finally could not resist anymore. At this time, the main two opponents who were likely to be the next leader of the Soviet Union turned out to be Stalin and Trotsky. During Lenins living life, he had made a political will. This will, also known as the testament, was a document that was to be read out after his death. In this testament, he had included criticisms of the Communist Party itself. He voiced out his opinions about Trotsky and Stalin. His will stated that he believed Trotsky was the most capable and able person in the whole central committee of the Communist Party at the current time, however he noted down that Trotsky was also a bit too self-confident of himself. Lenin also talked about Stalin in his will. He wrote along the lines of, Stalin, having the position of General-Secretary, he has concentrated enormous power in his own hands I am not sure if he will know how to use that power with caution This statement was further supported by a post script which Lenin added into his will in January 1923, after Stalin had an argument with Lenin, and insulted his wife. This post script warned the party of Stalin, and Lenin wrote down that he wanted the communists to find a way to remove Stalin from his current position as General-Secretary. Lenin said that the party should find another person to replace Stalin who is more tolerant, loyal, polite, and considerate Therefore this would be a big threat to Stalin if this was read out to the general public. The differences between Stalin and Trotsky: Stalin, being a loyal member to the Communist Party, had over 20 years of membership in the party. Many communists saw him as a reliable and trust-worthy person. His position of GeneralSecretary was quite important. It allowed him to remove members from the central committee of those who were supporters of Trotsky. He was allowed to do this because many other communist members feared Trotsky, as due to his heavy popularity and respect in the Red Army, they feared he might become a dictator. Therefore he was allowed to remove those people, and secretly put in his own supporters. On another aspect, his impression was a dull and hard-working person. He had a mask on, as he would wait until the moment came to take power gradually. He was the type of person who would wait at the back and not be in the spotlight; he was happy to be at the background behind all of the actions. Furthermore, his idea of Socialism in one Country was seen as less extreme, radical, and more acceptable compared to Trotskys idea of a Permanent or a World Revolution. On the other hand, he was not a good public speaker and could not motivate inspire his audience the way Trotsky does with his. On the other side, we have Trotsky. Trotsky was a great speaker and was able to inspire and motivate his audience through his exciting speeches, unlike the dull speeches Stalin gave and offered to his audiences. He was the leader of the Reds during the Civil War. He has been well known for his great victory of the Civil War, and was very popular and well-known in the Red Army. This made many older communists in the party concerned that he might become a dictator. Furthermore, his ideas of a Permanent or World Revolution, seemed to be too radical and extreme for many people,

and the majority of the communists believe that this will do more harm to Russia than good. Man communists in addition feared that his extreme views may divide the party up. In addition, he was very arrogant and too self-confident of himself. He would not look up to people who he believed were stupid. In addition, due to his gradual old age, he began to have more sickness as a result, which was a disadvantage towards him. Stalin gained the upper hand at the time of Lenins funeral. At that time, Trotsky was in a train far away, sick from malaria. Stalin wrote to him and told him of the wrong funeral date. This lie, as a result, made Trotsky absent from the funeral. At that time, Lenins body was carried to Moscow, where his body was being embalmed in a glass case like a Saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Trotsky was absent. Many people thought he would not be bothered to turn up, and many others saw this highly offensive too. Stalin gained the advantage of this by making a big, loyal speech about Lenin, and saying he was the disciple of Lenin. He acted as though he was in charge of the funeral process. Furthermore, to his relief, the Communist Party did not make Lenins testament public because it also contained criticisms of the party itself. Stalins cunningness was also contributed to his success in becoming the next leader after Lenin. In 1924, Stalin joined forces with Kamenev and Zinoviev in the First Party Congress to defeat Trotsky. Although Kamenev and Zinoviev shared the same views with Stalin regarding the New Economic Policy, they mistrusted Stalin because of his Menshevik background. Stalin was able to pack the congress with his own people as he was General Secretary and won all the votes. As a result, not only did Trotsky lost the votes, he was also dismissed from his position as the Commissar of War; he no longer controlled the Red Army anymore. Stalin now changed sides and sided with Bukharin in 1926. He went against Kamenev and Zinoviev, and said that the USSR becomes a strong nation, then to try to create a world revolution. Once again, he packed the congress with all of his own people, and won the votes. Therefore, Zinoviev and Kamenev lost their jobs at the politburo. The politburo was an executive 18 man committee, also known as the Supreme Soviet. These were the people who had the highest and most powerful authority in the whole of the USSR. They were policymakers that directly affected the daily workings of the Communist Party. These 18 members were selected from the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Russia. Stalin then replaced them with his own people. In 1927, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky were officially banned and expelled from the Communist Party. Eventually Stalin went against Bukharin in 1929, and argued that the NEP was being un-communist. By doing so, he got Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky removed from office and dismissed. He was finally the only leader of the USSR. Trotsky went into exile in 1929. Differences between the leftists and the rightists of the Communist Party: The left side of the Communist Party was led by Kamenev and Zinoviev and other MPs. They were Bolsheviks and believed that they should stop using the New Economic Policy. They wanted to have quick, rapid industrialization using shock brigades of workers, in addition to force workers to produce the grain needed. They shared the same idea as Trotsky; however they mistrusted him because of his Menshevik background.

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