How did Stalin emerge as leader of Russia? Flashcards
Who were the contenders on the right of the power struggle?
Rykov
Tomsky
Bukharin
Who were the contenders on the left of the power struggle?
Trotsky
Kamenev
Zinoviev
What previous positions had Stalin held?
Party secretary
Positions in the Orgburo and Secretariat.
Control of the Party organisation
Control of Party membership
What did previous experience as party secretary mean for Stalin?
Gave him control over the meetings of the Politburo
He could control what was being discussed and the information other people received.
What did previous experience in the Orgburo and Secretariat
mean for Stalin?
He could put his supporters in key positions.
Would help him control how people voted.
What did previous control of the Party organisation mean for Stalin?
He could pack the congress with his supporters.
This was responsible for the hostile reception Trotsky received.
His ability to control votes made him a valuable ally.
Gained him support from Kamenev and Zinoviev.
What did previous control of the Party membership mean for Stalin?
He could get rid of those likely to support Trotsky, such as students and soldiers.
He supervised the ‘Lenin enrolement’.
This increased the Party’s membership by double to 1 million.
The new members were uneducated and were likely to do as they were told.
What were Trotsky’s weaknesses?
He didn’t attend Lenin’s funeral.
He had only joined the Bolshevik party in August 1917.
People saw him as a new member, and did not trust him to remain loyal.
He was no good at making alliances.
He was ill for most of the power struggle.
He was regarded as arrogant and dismissive of his colleagues.
He did not go out of his way to build up his power base in the Party.
He allowed Stalin to erode any allies he did have.
He underestimated Stalin’s true danger, like many in the Party had.
