Stalin’s Rise to Power

Lenin to Stalin After the Civil War Trotsky’s efforts gained him some popularity which scared Lenin b/c he believed Trotsky wanted to be the leader Lenin then employed Stalin to build up a base of support for him. Stalin did this but also at the same time, built up a body of supporters that were loyal to him In 1921, Stalin was appointed to the position of General Secretary. This gave him great power in the Party. Stalin began appointing a network of people loyal to him Lenin disliked the brutal methods of Stalin in his native Georgia, where he brutally repressed those who opposed Bolshevism However, unlike Lenin and Trotsky, Stalin was not an intellectual and had the common touch and was well-liked by many

Lenin to Stalin cont… Lenin had a stroke in 1922 and was never the same again Stalin as General Secretary of the Communist Party was one of the few people who had access to him Stalin used his position to cut Lenin off from the party and isolate him  In Lenin’s final testament he denounced Stalin as self-serving and seeking to amass personal power  and called for the removal of Stalin as General Secretary. Before Lenin could publish the testament, he suffered a heart attack and was paralyzed Stalin received the testament from one of Lenin’s secretaries, who was actually his agent. Stalin repressed Lenin’s criticism of him, if it had come to light Stalin’s career would have been finished

Lenin to Stalin cont… Lenin died of a stroke on 21 January 1924 Stalin was in charge of the funeral and he told Trotsky the wrong date, so he missed the funeral and this made him look bad As General Secretary Stalin built up political alliances because in his position he was tasked with appointing people to positions within the Communist party Stalin began advocating "Socialism in One Country” in order to first strengthen Russia, and this got many of the rank and file Communists on his side Trotsky favored immediately spreading Communism around the world which was not the popular position Trotsky began to organize public protests, but this made him seem like he was creating disunion and it isolated him further Trotsky was also Jewish, and in Russia anti-Semitism was not uncommon, so that added to his growing unpopularity

Final Acts From 1921-1928 Stalin was amassing power and basically serving as the leader but shared power with Trotsky By 1927 Stalin had amassed so much support and Trotsky was losing support, so Stalin had the ability to send Trotsky into exile (Mexico City) By 1928 Stalin was the undisputed leader and would begin murdering, imprisoning, or kicking out whoever was seen as an obstacle to his desires for the Soviet Union Stalin’s title of General Secretary would now be the title of the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Organization of the Communist Party of The Soviet Union Congress of the Communist Party: Meets only once annually and consisted of 1000-1500 people (Changes over time because of growth of the country). They direct all party and government activities, and elect the Central Committee Central Committee of the Communist Party: Meets two times annually and consisted of 25 to 300 people (Changes over time for the same reason the Congress grows). They propose broad policy and have free debate on policy ideas, and they also elect the members of the Politburo. Politburo of the Central Committee: Meets regularly throughout the year and consisted of anywhere from 12-15 people. The politburo makes all of the policy decisions, and appoints the General Secretary. General Secretary: The Leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union