HOW DID STALIN SUCCEED?
KEY MNEMONIC TO REMEMBER PILLR
P ositions. Stalin had them all : politburo,
orgburo, party secy, Komissar of Nationalities
Each of these gave him a distinct advantage
 Ideology: Socialism in one country
 LUCK: in spades. Funeral and Will are the two
that he used very effectively
L : First group he eliminated. Trotsky and the
Zinoviev and Kamenev. Issue was Scissors Crisis
and then NEP
 R Thisis the group he eliminated in 1928 and his
control complete: Bukharin, Rykov etc. This time
he ends NEP

2 CANDIDATES THAT SEEMED TO BE THE MOST
LIKELY TO SUCCEED WERE BUKHARIN AND
TROTSKY.
BUKHARIN WAS THE THEORIST AND TROTSKY
THE MAN OF ACTION
SO HOW DID STALIN TAKE CONTROL
1. Date of the funeral
 2. Very public funeral much against the wishes of
Nadia Krupskaya
 3. Lenin’s Will
 4. Lenin Enrolment
 5. In Policy debates Stalin would refer to the
Factionalism issue. Lenin’s rule: Party over
personal view. So promotion of a personal view
was bad!! Trotsky frequently accused of
Factionalism
 6. Trotsky now in open confrontation on Party
matters with Zinoviev and Kamenev against him
in 1924

HOW DID STALIN TAKE CONTROL?






6. 14th Party Congress in 1925, Trotsky’s anti NEP policy
attacked. ‘Socialism in one country appeals more
Trotsky loses control of Red Army. Appointed Kommissar
to deal with electrification project. Essentially sidelined
7. Trotsky tries to defend himself with K. and Z. while
Stalin watches
8.United Opposition against Trotsky, who is now accused of
factionalism, all three expelled from the Party by 1927
9. IN 1928 he turns against NEP and advocates a policy of
rapid industrialization.
10. Opposition by Bukharin and others useless, Stalin
simply has them removed, more new members are
introduced, among them Khruschev, Yagoda and Yeshov
BY 1929
Stalin in control and celebrates his 50th Birthday in
style
Volgograd is renamed Stalingrad in his honour.
Why was Leningrad or St Petersburg not renamed?
WAS THERE ANY POINT AT WHICH
STALIN COULD BE STOPPED?
2 ISSUES
Will
 Trotsky’s illness. Was it a sham? Or an
acknowledgement of Stalin?

WHY DID STALIN SUCCEED?
Grey Blur: Did not push himself forward until
1925. So he was seriously underestimated
 Propaganda : Lenin’s heir
 Exploited Party rivalries Trotsky v/s Zinoviev
and Kamenev
 Party Positions which taken together gave him
enormous power
 Death of 2 possible rivals : Sverdlov and
Dzerzhinski by 1921
 Trotsky lacked political acumen. Intellectual.
Man of action but not infighting
 Trotsky a Jew and ex Menshevik

WHY DID STALIN SUCCEED?

Additional factors
Need for peace and stability promised by ‘socialism in
one country
 Fear of a takeover by Trotsky who had seemed very
powerful as long as he controlled the Red Army

FACTORS FOR RISE TO POWER
External: War since 1914. need for peace
 Stalin had promoted himself and Lenin’s heir
 Stalin a very shrewd manipulator and used every
advantage very effectively
 No clear heir designate that allowed for the
machinations of Stalin
