stalin

1. Stalin’s Rise to Power
Alyssa Campa | Daniel De La Rosa | Ryann Puente | Jessy Regueiro

2. Timeline of key events that outline Stalin’s rise to power
1922- Stalin is named The General Secretary of the Communist party
1922- Lenin’s Stroke
Writes a testament.
1922- Lenin Partially retired
Due to his health Lenin was not involved as much as he used to be
1922- Triumvirate is created
Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Stalin come together to prevent Trotsky from rising to power
1923- Lenin suffers another stroke

3. 1924- Testament is revealed to the Central Committee
Zinoviev and Kamenev convinced them not to act on or publish the testament
1924/1925- Stalin publicly attacks Trotsky
For being unfaithful to “lenism”
1924- Stalin reveals concept of “socialism in the country”
Trotsky went against this so stalin accused him of lacking faith in the country and it’s
people. This allowed Stalin to diminish Trotsky's importance
1925- Zinoviev and Kamenev oppose NEP
Are supporting industrialization
1925- Begins to attack Zinoviev

4. 1927- Stalin made “Five year Plan”
Allowed people to change their views on Stalin
1928- Stalin’s “five year plan” starts being implemented
Meant to industrialize Russia
1928- Stalin begins to removes Bukharin’s supporters from the party
1929- Bukharin makes a speech
He mention Lenin’s testament
1929- Stalin removes Bukharin from Politburo
Stalin accuses him of factionalism to the Central Committee
1929- Stalin deports Trotsky

5. 4. Kamenev and Zinoviev
Kamenev and Zinoviev were the least important figures in Stalin's rise to power.
They just sat idly by, watching Stalin take down Trotsky, and basically waiting for
him to take them down as well.
He finally did that when they decided to side with Trotsky for some reason and
form the “United Opposition" which called for the removal of the NEP.
Stalin's control over the party was too strong however, so he had the idea recalled,
and the two of them kicked off their respective posts.

6. 3. Rykov, Tomsky, and Bukharin
These men were Stalin's main backers from the right communists.
They helped Stalin in taking down any opposition for the NEP, which included the
“United Opposition.”
They also helped Stalin remove Kamenev and Zinoviev from their posts.
They basically stood in the way of Stalin's plans to control industry and agriculture.
Stalin exploited their ideas and look them down as well.

7. 2. Vyacheslav Molotov
Stalin's right hand man and faithful henchman.
Helped rally people in Moscow to take down any right communists.
He was basically Stalin's “enabler.”
Most would argue that he is the most important in Stalin's rise to power due to his
undying loyalty.

8. 1. Trotsky
Leon Trotsky was the most important in Stalin's rise to power.
He was being bashed by everyone from almost every side due to:
His Jewishness
The rest of the Politburo seeing him as a threat
His abdication for a ““Party democracy"
His views towards the NEP
All of these things allowed for Stalin to take advantage of Trotsky’s supposed
weakness and make himself look good in the process, becoming the “Alpha" of the
members of the Politburo.

9. Trotsky Was to Blame for Stalin’s Rise to Power
Throughout the summer of 1923, Lenin was close to death.Trotsky seemed to hold the most powerful position,
thanks to his close friendship with Lenin before his strokes, but an opposition had already begun to emerge. On
January 21, 1924, Lenin died. Trotsky was away in the Caucasus that month, and Stalin telegraphed him and
said that the funeral would be held immediately, so there was no point in undertaking the long trip back to
Moscow. Stalin forced Trotsky to be absent for the funeral. While this isn’t technically Trotsky’s fault, Stalin
gained a lot of power due to his involvement in Lenin’s funeral.
In January 1925, Stalin was able to arrange for Leon Trotsky to be removed from the government. Some of
Trotsky's supporters pleaded with him to organize a military coup. As the former commissar of war, Trotsky
was in a good position to arrange this; however, Trotsky rejected the idea and instead resigned his post.

10. Trotsky Was to Blame for Stalin’s Rise to Power
With the decline of Trotsky, Joseph Stalin felt strong enough to stop sharing power with Lev Kamenev and
Grigory Zinoviev. Stalin now began to attack Trotsky's belief in the need for world revolution. He argued that
the party's main priority should be to defend the communist system that had been developed in the Soviet
Union. This put Zinoviev and Kamenev in an awkward position because they had Trotsky's supporters for a
long time. They were reluctant, however, to speak out in favour of a man whom they had been in conflict with
for so long.
Stalin seized every opportunity and managed to outmanoeuvre Trotsky.
Trotsky’s main weakness was that he could not lead his fellow Bolsheviks.
Trotsky was not fully involved in the Politburo meetings, and would rather read instead of put in his opinion.
Trotsky did not have much support from other Bolsheviks as he had been a Menshevik up until 1917.

11. We Underestimated Stalin
Stalin was sometimes referred to as the “grey blur” because people often overlooked
him, failing to see him as a threat.
One reason he was underestimated by his rivals was he lacked the charisma and
brilliance Trotsky possessed.
Because of this the other leading party figures has their eyes on Trotsky rather than
Stalin and were focused on preventing Trotsky from gaining control of the Party.
Without contenders suspecting him, Stalin was able to learn about his opposition
and strategically plan out his political moves without being noticed.

12. To What Extent Does This Explain Stalin’s Rise to
Power?Being underestimated did work to Stalin’s advantage, but it was a combination of
factors that ultimately led to his rise to power:
Stalin’s years gaining experience by working in positions no one wanted such as
People’s Commissar for Nationalities and General Secretary
These titles ultimately allowed him to place his loyal supporters in other key
positions that would help him gain control
Stalin’s ability to play different factions against each other
The fact that he was underestimated by other Party leaders
His appearance at Lenin’s funeral where he gained the trust and respect of many