Stalin - Rise to Power

Rise to power

Argument 1: Stalin took control of the party machine.

Argument 2: Stalin eliminated his opponents.

Historical context

1. The October Revolution of 1917 and the Civil War subsequently established a revolutionary government under the Bolsheviks in Russia.
1. The revolutionary government was chaotic and lacked structure, however the main characteristic was that the Party ruled.
2. Membership in the Party was essential.
2. At the same time, Lenin, who was leader of the Bolsheviks and hero of the revolution, was in failing health.
1. The future of the party after Lenin’s death was uncertain.
3. This uncertainty –in the government, the structure of the party and in the future in general, set the stage for Stalin to take power in the USSR.

Argument: Stalin took control of the party machine.

1. Stalin became Liaison Officer between Politburo and Orgburo in 1919.
1. Stalin was in the unique position to monitor both the party’s policy and its personnel. This position contributed to his understanding of the party structure and helped determine his shrewd political actions while coming to power.
2. Stalin became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922.
1. This placed him in a position of significant power because he was able to build up personal files on all members of the Party. He would use this information later to incriminate and antagonize his enemies in the Party.
3. The combination of all of Stalin’s posts gave him the “power of patronage”.
1. He had the ability to hire and fire key officials into the Party. He expanded his base of power by hiring his supporters, and he secured their loyalty by making clear that he could also fire them.
4. The “Lenin enrolment” saw the addition of 600 000 members to the CPSU by 1925.
1.  The responsibility of hiring fell to key officials who worked directly under Stalin, and so the Lenin enrolment saw the mass growth of Stalin’s power of patronage. His base of power grew significantly.
5. Stalin took advantage of the “attack on factionalism” propagated by Lenin, and carried this policy into the years following 1924. Resolution on Party Unity 1921
1. This made it extremely difficult to mount serious opposition to Stalin within the CPSU, and provided Stalin with the means of resisting challenges to his authority.
6. The government under the Bolsheviks following the Revolution and the Civil War was revolutionary in nature.
1. The lack of order in the structure of the government facilitated Stalin’s rapid advancement in positions within the Party. At a more stable time, his quick rise to power would not be possible.

Argument: Stalin eliminated his opponents.

7. Stalin established the Triumvirate with Kamenev and Zinoviev to oppose Trotsky.
1. He was able to skilfully play on existing rivalries within the Politburo to pit his enemies against each other. He used Kamenev and Zinoviev to wage a propaganda war on Trotsky, which removed him as the Commissar of War.
8. Until 1917, Trotsky had been a Menshevik and Stalin used this fact to his advantage.
1. Stalin propagated suspicions that Trotsky was not true to the Bolshevik party. He used this in his propaganda war against Trotsky and alienate him from other Party members.
9. Stalin advocated “socialism in one country”, whereas Trotsky argued for a “permanent revolution”.
1. In Stalin’s concept, the USSR needed to overcome its agricultural and industrial problems through its own efforts in order to build a nation that was equal to the western powers. Since Trotsky opposed this, Stalin was able to characterize Trotsky as an enemy of the USSR.
10. When Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev formed the “New Opposition” in 1926 Stalin was able to skilfully remove them from power.
1. He used his control of the party machine to gain the support of the Right and outvote the opposition bloc.
11. In his battle with the Right, Stalin advocated an aggressive economic and industrial program. Bukharin and the Right opposed direct involvement of the State in economy.
1. Stalin gained support over the Right because he stressed that an aggressive economic policy was necessary to secure the safety of Russia from outside invasion.
2. His stance also showed his shrewd understanding of the Party mentality because he realized they would rather return to hard-line policies that carried them through desperate times, like that of the Civil War.

Michael Lynch “Trotsky was brilliant and flamboyant, and Stalin was unspectacular” Stalin and Khrushchev: USSR, 1924-64.

E.H. Carr “from the elite party of Lenin to the mass party of Stalin” The Russian Revolution from Lenin to Stalin, 1917-29.

Robert Conquest ,  Stalin “represented a continuity …with the old party of the underground” The Great Terror: Reassessed (1991)

Lynch: “Politics is the art of possibility. After 1924, all the possibilities belonged to Stalin.” Stalin and Khrushchev: USSR, 1924-6 (2001).