 When
we examine the reasons behind the
rise of Stalin, there are TWO MAIN FACTORS
RESPONSIBLE:
 Stalin’s Cunning Personality
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Stalin Outwitted His Rivals
Stalin Pretended to have been Close to Lenin
Made Alliances
Used His Position as Secretary-General of the
Party
 Favourable
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Circumstances
Trotsky’s Weaknesses
1)
Stalin Outwitted His Rivals
 When
Lenin died, there were four
contenders to his place – Leon Trotsky, Lev
Kamenev, Grigory Zinoviev and Joseph
Stalin.
 Although
Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev
were much more capable than Stalin, Stalin
managed to outwit them and claim
leadership despite Lenin’s will criticising
Stalin and naming Trotsky as a successor.
1)
Stalin Outwitted His Rivals
 Stalin
used Kamenev and Zinoviev to get
rid of Trotsky before turning on Kamenev
and Zinoviev in later years.
 Stalin
was able to outwit all his rivals
because no one saw him as a threat to
their rise in power. As a result, Stalin was
able to use them against each other and
rise to power.
2) Stalin Pretended to have been Close to Lenin

Stalin tricked Trotsky and made him miss
Lenin’s funeral which reflected very badly on
Trotsky.

Stalin also organised Lenin’s funeral and made
himself the chief mourner which gave people
the impression he was very close to Lenin.

As a result of pretending to be close to Lenin,
many party members supported Stalin’s rise
to power.
3) Trotsky’s Weaknesses

Stalin was also able to rise due to Trotsky’s
weaknesses. Trotsky had a narrow support base
limited to youths, students and the Red Army. As
he was too confident of replacing Lenin, he did not
bother to build a Party support base unlike Stalin.

He was not well liked in the Party and his views on
world revolution were not popular as the Party
members preferred the more practical Stalinist
view of working on Socialism within the country
first.

As a result, Stalin was more popular with the
party members and was able to rise to power.
4) Made Alliances

Stalin made alliances with Kamenev and
Zinoviev to have Trotsky removed and exiled
from Russia.

Once he had achieved his purposes, Stalin
turned on Kamenev and Zinoviev using other
alliances and had them removed from the
Party.

With all these threats removed, Stalin was
able to rise within the party.
5) Used his Position as Secretary-General

Stalin used his position as Secretary-General of the
Party to appoint his supporters to important posts,
ensuring their loyalty.

By controlling the central Party machine, he was
able to exert great influence on the Party members
and get them to vote on his policies or initiatives
(e.g. voting out of Trotsky in 1925).

As a result Stalin was able to rise in power
because he was able to gain loyal supporters and
influence the party to vote for decisions that
would benefit him.
 History
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Package:
Question 7 (a)
Question 8 (a)
Question 14 (b)
Question 17 (a)
Question 19 (a)
Question 27 (a)
Question 30 (a)
 Explain
the GIVEN FACTOR
 Explain TWO OTHER FACTORS
 Total: Each ESSAY in this case MUST HAVE
THREE FACTORS EXPLAINED