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Stalin's Rise to Power (Trotsky's Unpopularity in Politburo…
Stalin's Rise to Power
Trotsky's Unpopularity in Politburo
Was unpopular as he had the backing of the Red Army, as he had led them to victory previously in the October Revolution and thus had a lot of power and was arogant
His ill health made it difficult for him to participate in political decisions and hence Stalin was able to take over his position and influence decisions
Wanted to spread communism quickly to other countries; vs Stalin who wanted socialism and strengthen Russia first before spreading influence (this was more appealing to the rest of Politburo and the people of USSR)
Seemed like Trotsky was moving further from original aims of Party, thus he lost a lot of support from people
Had previously criticized Lenin's New Economic Policy heavily --> disrespect to Lenin?
Stalin used troika alliance with Kamenev and Zinoviev to remove Trotsky from power
Non-disclosure of Lenin'sTestament
Lenin (previous leader of USSR) had criticized all his potential successors, but had most heavily warned about Stalin who he claimed to be unable to be trusted to use his power properly
As all of them in Politburo were criticized by him, they chose not to disclose as if the public was aware, Party would lose support among people and risk being overthrown
Hence, the Testament was not disclosed and Stalin was able to retain his position as Secretary-General which he used to his favour as he removed his opponents one by one
Nobody had thought of Stalin as a large threat as they were more concerned about Trotsky's power
Stalin's Manipulations
Pretended to be close to Lenin
Made many initiatives to honour Lenin's death: like naming Leningrad and being chief mourner --> he appears to have greatly respected Lenin and was probably the successor to the people
Even prevented Trotsky from attending funeral to pitch himself as main successor and main person who was grieving
Control over party organisation
As Secretary-General, he could appoint and remove people within the Politburo
Put his supporters in power while removing potential threats: reducing Trotsky's support base within Party
Trotsky was discredited, became not trusted and thus was forced to resign from the Party
Exploitation of Idealogical Division
Due to division between radicals and moderates, he aligned himself with different sides at different sides
Became Supreme Leader of USSR in 1929