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How did Joesph Stalin come to power?
Stalin used a number of tactics to gain control of the communist party: exploiting his opponents and their weaknesses; gathering a power base while party secretary under Lenin; and manipulating other party members by playing them against each other; controling the press apparatus. After Lenin's death, it was clear that the leadership race was between Stalin & Trotsky (a leading bolshevik, popular and powerful from before and through the revolution). The majority of people favoured a collective leadership or rule by committee, fearing a 'dictator' would emerge. THeir biggest fear was not Stalin, but Trotsky who was viewed as arrogant and had an imperial manner that seemed to show a conviction that he knew what direction of the party should take. Party members were also worried about the unity of the party and how any divisions would tear both the party and the country apart again. Stalin seemed the lesser of evils to many party stalwarts. Another main issue with the leadership of the party was that of NEP (new economic policy) and the industrialisation debate. The left of the party, including opposition in Trotsky, Zinoviev & Kamenev wanted to end NEP and go for rapid industrialisation. The right wing, such as Bukharin wanted to continue with NEP and encourage the peasants to become richer and spend money on consumer goods, allowing industry to grow at a normal rate. It is argued that Stalin became party leader because of his central views that looked after both sides' opinion. He was a bit of a oportunist, changing his views depending on public opinion, which helped build up support for him from a variety of areas. Stalin's ability as a co-ordinator allowed him to build his power base. He had access to the innerworkings of the party as the party secretary, a job seen as unimportant. But this seemingly insignificant job gave him control of the politburo (communist top body) - he drew up agendas, giving him power to control discussions and information members received. Basically by controling the flow of information, he was able to isolate his enemies and funnel more powers and information to his own supporters. His positions in the Orgburo and the Secretariat, which gave him control of appointments to positions of responsibility in the party structure, allowed Stalin to move his supporters into key positions, thus further consolidating his powerbase. These people included party secretaries at regional level and party secretaries elsewhere, such as in the Ukraine, who were powerful enough to decide how lower level party members voted. Stalin's control of the party organisation meant he could influence the section of delegates sent to annual party congress where major issues of policy were discussed. He could pack congress with his supporters, meaning Trotsky received a hostile reception at conferences from 1924 onwards. Stalin also had control of the party membership; this allowed him to get rid of radical elements - students and soldiers - who were likely to support Trotsky. Stalin aimed to encourage young urban workers and poorly educated ex-peasants, for whom Stalin's practical policies on nationalism appealed. This large powerbase - spread out over Russia, helped to ensure Stalin's supporters far out numbered his opponents. Trotsky found himself isolated and supported by the red army only. Stalin was also the master manipulator when it came to public opinion. He was quite devious in his ability to manouver better press coverage and further isolate his enemies. A good example of this was when Stalin persuaded Trotsky to not show up for Lenin's funeral, damaging his political prestige and reputation. Lenin was seen as the father of the revolution, and by not appearing at the funeral, Trotsky appeared to be insulting Lenin's legacy. By controlling the press, Stalin controlled public opinion.
How did Josef Stalin gain power?
Firstly he was elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party to aid Lenin, however when Lenin became incapacitated, Stalin employed ruthless political tactics and used his power as General Secretary to dismiss supporters of Trotsky and other leaders. He then replaced the vacant positions with his own supporters. Another of his ruthless tactics was when he told Trotsky the wrong date of Lenin's funeral making him hated. He also began to play the two halves of the politburo against each other first he allied with the leftist part Zinoviev and Kamenev whom wanted world revolution to force Trotsky into exile and then joined the rightists Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky and advocated Socialism in One Country which stated that Russia should first become strong in order to dismiss the leftists Zinoviev and Kamenev. After this he argued that the NEP ( New Ecomomic Policy ) was anti-communism and had Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky dismissed. Stalin schemed his way to power using ruthless tactics: 1. Firstly he dismissed all his political foes supporter's and replaced them with his own 2. Then he sided with the Leftists to have Trotsky exiled 3. Then he sided with the Rightists to have the Leftists dismissed 4. and finally he argued that the NEP was anti-communism nd had the leftists dismissed Stalin merely eradicated his enemies and culminated his own supporters in order to become supreme ruler of Communist Russia.As Communist Party general secretary from 1922 he concentrated control of the party apparatus in his own hands during and after Lenin's final illness, favouring his sympathisers. After Lenin's death he successfully urged a policy of early industrialisation and collectivisation of agriculture in opposition to his rival Trotsky, who sought to expand the revolution abroad before concentrating on socialisation of the Soviet economy (though much of Stalin's programme ironically echoed that of Trotsky's 1920s ally Preobrazhensky). With Trotsky defeated within the party, Stalin turned to repression to crush his opponents, first exiling Trotsky and then launching a series of party and government purges culminating in the execution on trumped-up charges of key leaders and thousands more party members as well as hundreds of thousands of officials, specialists and other citizens.Stalin tried to live up to the ideal of a man who united political power and intellectual acumen. Between the end of the Second World War and his death in 1953 he intervened in scientific debates in fields ranging from philosophy to physics.2 In late 1946, when Stalin was sixty-seven years old and exhausted from the war, he schooled the USSR's most prominent philosopher on Hegel's role in the history of Marxism. In 1948, while the Berlin crisis threatened an irreparable rift between the United States and the USSR, Stalin wrote memos, held meetings, and offered editorial comments in order to support attacks against Mendelian genetics. In 1949, with the first Soviet atomic bomb test only months away, Stalin called off an effort to purge Soviet physics of "bourgeois" quantum mechanics and relativity. In the first half of 1950 he negotiated a pact with the People's Republic of China and discussed plans with Kim Il Sung about invading South Korea, while also writing a combative article on linguistics, carefully orchestrating a coup in Soviet physiology, and meeting with economists three times to discuss a textbook on political economy. In some cases he denounced whole fields of scholarship, leading to the firing and occasional arrest of their proponents. His efforts to unmask errors in science were paralleled by an equally intense drive to show how each discipline could contribute to building communism and serve as a symbolic weapon of Soviet superiority in the battle with the West along an "ideological front."
How did Joesph Stalin come to power?
Stalin used a number of tactics to gain control of the communist party: exploiting his opponents and their weaknesses; gathering a power base while party secretary under Lenin; and manipulating other party members by playing them against each other; controling the press apparatus. After Lenin's death, it was clear that the leadership race was between Stalin & Trotsky (a leading bolshevik, popular and powerful from before and through the revolution). The majority of people favoured a collective leadership or rule by committee, fearing a 'dictator' would emerge. THeir biggest fear was not Stalin, but Trotsky who was viewed as arrogant and had an imperial manner that seemed to show a conviction that he knew what direction of the party should take. Party members were also worried about the unity of the party and how any divisions would tear both the party and the country apart again. Stalin seemed the lesser of evils to many party stalwarts. Another main issue with the leadership of the party was that of NEP (new economic policy) and the industrialisation debate. The left of the party, including opposition in Trotsky, Zinoviev & Kamenev wanted to end NEP and go for rapid industrialisation. The right wing, such as Bukharin wanted to continue with NEP and encourage the peasants to become richer and spend money on consumer goods, allowing industry to grow at a normal rate. It is argued that Stalin became party leader because of his central views that looked after both sides' opinion. He was a bit of a oportunist, changing his views depending on public opinion, which helped build up support for him from a variety of areas. Stalin's ability as a co-ordinator allowed him to build his power base. He had access to the innerworkings of the party as the party secretary, a job seen as unimportant. But this seemingly insignificant job gave him control of the politburo (communist top body) - he drew up agendas, giving him power to control discussions and information members received. Basically by controling the flow of information, he was able to isolate his enemies and funnel more powers and information to his own supporters. His positions in the Orgburo and the Secretariat, which gave him control of appointments to positions of responsibility in the party structure, allowed Stalin to move his supporters into key positions, thus further consolidating his powerbase. These people included party secretaries at regional level and party secretaries elsewhere, such as in the Ukraine, who were powerful enough to decide how lower level party members voted. Stalin's control of the party organisation meant he could influence the section of delegates sent to annual party congress where major issues of policy were discussed. He could pack congress with his supporters, meaning Trotsky received a hostile reception at conferences from 1924 onwards. Stalin also had control of the party membership; this allowed him to get rid of radical elements - students and soldiers - who were likely to support Trotsky. Stalin aimed to encourage young urban workers and poorly educated ex-peasants, for whom Stalin's practical policies on nationalism appealed. This large powerbase - spread out over Russia, helped to ensure Stalin's supporters far out numbered his opponents. Trotsky found himself isolated and supported by the red army only. Stalin was also the master manipulator when it came to public opinion. He was quite devious in his ability to manouver better press coverage and further isolate his enemies. A good example of this was when Stalin persuaded Trotsky to not show up for Lenin's funeral, damaging his political prestige and reputation. Lenin was seen as the father of the revolution, and by not appearing at the funeral, Trotsky appeared to be insulting Lenin's legacy. By controlling the press, Stalin controlled public opinion.
How did Josef Stalin gain power?
Firstly he was elected as General Secretary of the Communist Party to aid Lenin, however when Lenin became incapacitated, Stalin employed ruthless political tactics and used his power as General Secretary to dismiss supporters of Trotsky and other leaders. He then replaced the vacant positions with his own supporters. Another of his ruthless tactics was when he told Trotsky the wrong date of Lenin's funeral making him hated. He also began to play the two halves of the politburo against each other first he allied with the leftist part Zinoviev and Kamenev whom wanted world revolution to force Trotsky into exile and then joined the rightists Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky and advocated Socialism in One Country which stated that Russia should first become strong in order to dismiss the leftists Zinoviev and Kamenev. After this he argued that the NEP ( New Ecomomic Policy ) was anti-communism and had Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky dismissed. Stalin schemed his way to power using ruthless tactics: 1. Firstly he dismissed all his political foes supporter's and replaced them with his own 2. Then he sided with the Leftists to have Trotsky exiled 3. Then he sided with the Rightists to have the Leftists dismissed 4. and finally he argued that the NEP was anti-communism nd had the leftists dismissed Stalin merely eradicated his enemies and culminated his own supporters in order to become supreme ruler of Communist Russia.As Communist Party general secretary from 1922 he concentrated control of the party apparatus in his own hands during and after Lenin's final illness, favouring his sympathisers. After Lenin's death he successfully urged a policy of early industrialisation and collectivisation of agriculture in opposition to his rival Trotsky, who sought to expand the revolution abroad before concentrating on socialisation of the Soviet economy (though much of Stalin's programme ironically echoed that of Trotsky's 1920s ally Preobrazhensky). With Trotsky defeated within the party, Stalin turned to repression to crush his opponents, first exiling Trotsky and then launching a series of party and government purges culminating in the execution on trumped-up charges of key leaders and thousands more party members as well as hundreds of thousands of officials, specialists and other citizens.Stalin tried to live up to the ideal of a man who united political power and intellectual acumen. Between the end of the Second World War and his death in 1953 he intervened in scientific debates in fields ranging from philosophy to physics.2 In late 1946, when Stalin was sixty-seven years old and exhausted from the war, he schooled the USSR's most prominent philosopher on Hegel's role in the history of Marxism. In 1948, while the Berlin crisis threatened an irreparable rift between the United States and the USSR, Stalin wrote memos, held meetings, and offered editorial comments in order to support attacks against Mendelian genetics. In 1949, with the first Soviet atomic bomb test only months away, Stalin called off an effort to purge Soviet physics of "bourgeois" quantum mechanics and relativity. In the first half of 1950 he negotiated a pact with the People's Republic of China and discussed plans with Kim Il Sung about invading South Korea, while also writing a combative article on linguistics, carefully orchestrating a coup in Soviet physiology, and meeting with economists three times to discuss a textbook on political economy. In some cases he denounced whole fields of scholarship, leading to the firing and occasional arrest of their proponents. His efforts to unmask errors in science were paralleled by an equally intense drive to show how each discipline could contribute to building communism and serve as a symbolic weapon of Soviet superiority in the battle with the West along an "ideological front."
