Stalin's Rise to Power

Socialism in One Country:

1) responsive to the mood of the times as many were unhappy with the capitalist qualities of the NEP (turned against the NEP + Bukharin in 1928)

2) many communist party members were impatient to go down the route of 'true socialism'

3) people saw him as 'one of the people' due to his humble origins in the poverty-stricken provence of Georgia                                                                                                         - Lenin's Enrolment attempted to increase Proletariats from 1923-25 (continuing Lenin's legacy)

Rapid Industrialisation:

1) Stalin planned to catch up with western society, appealing to nationalism and patriotism

2) workers hoped it would bring more jobs + raise the standard of living

Trotsky's Failures:

- failed to read out Lenin's Testament in 1924, which described him as 'coarse' + 'intolerable' and would have almost ensured Stalin's downfall

- agreed to the 'Ban on Factions' in 1921, and consequently removed from the party after forming the 'United Opposition' in 1926 with Zinoviev and Kamanev

- didn't like getting involved in the 'drudgery' of politics and no good at political intrigue

Policies:

- many feared Trotsky's policy of Permanent Revolution would lead to his dictatorship (labour units would be organised along military lines)

Manipulated:

- Stalin used Zinoviev & Kamenev (forming a Triumvirate in 1926) in order to removed Trotsky

Stalin's Personality:

- Lenin had been impressed by Stalin's incredible organisational skills + insensibilty to suffering

- percieved to be a mediocre 'grey blur' + played the left-wing against each other from the sidelines (seen as a less extreme version of Trotsky)

- cirticised by Lenin on a few occassions (Lenin had to intervene personally to prevent the loss of Georgian support in 1922 + Stalin personally insulted Lenin's wife, Krupskaya)

General Secretary (1922):

- he built up documents on every party member which gave him significant knowledge of any potential opposition

- control of party membership (increased to 600,000 in 1923 and therefore increased the power of his patronage + produced a reliable body of votes)               1. proved successful as Bukharin was outvoted in 1929 & the left/right wing removed