“to What Extent Was the Rise to Power of Stalin Due to...

â€Å"To what extent was the rise to power of Stalin due to personal appeal and ability†? Lenin died in January 1924 and Stalin emerged to power in 1929. Stalin has been described as a â€Å"grey blur† that rose to power. It’s quite hard to pin point the main reasons how Stalin got to power. Some historians may say that Stalin was lucky that he got to power and he benefited off events such as Lenin’s death and that his rival’s weaknesses such as Trotsky who was considered likely successor to Lenin, but Trotsky lacked the will for a political fight. However you just can’t become the leader of Russia just from good luck, Stalin used his ability to place himself in a great position within the party. This essay is going to look at the ways in which†¦show more content†¦Trotsky in 1918 became the war commissar and he created the red army, and was a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War 1918–20. He was a great public speaker and war tactician. However many Bolsheviks were afraid that he would become a m ilitary dictator such as Nicholas 2nd was. Also he had a reputation for being arrogant which made him unpopular within the party, also after Lenin died the triumvirate group established this group was made up of Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin their aim was not to get Stalin into power but to keep Trotsky out of reach of power. Stalin’s used his position as general secretary to gain support and power. As the general secretary of the soviet communist party which controlled the membership of the party. Through a series of appointments, gained the power of patronage over many parts of the Bolshevik Party, between 1923 - 25 the Party had expanded by recruiting more members, this was called the Lenin enrolment. â€Å"It increased from 300,000 in 1922 to 600,000 in 1925†. The new members were poorly educated; they thought that promotion and party privileges came from loyalty to the person who appointed them which in this case was Stalin; also they had to be loyal to Stalin because if they went against him they would lose their job. The expansion of the Party increased Stalin s power of patronage. InShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesthe Contributors †¢ 343 _ IN TR OD UC TIO N Michael Adas B y any of the customary measures we deploy to demarcate historical epochs, the twentieth century does not appear to be a very coherent unit. The beginnings and ends of what we choose to call centuries are almost invariably years of little significance. But there is little agreement over when the twentieth century c.e. arrived, and there were several points both before the year 2000 (the collapse of the Soviet Union