Question

hey i was wondering if anyone has done an essay on "how significant were the weaknesses of stalins opponents in causing stalin to succeed lenin as the leader of soviet russia" or anything similar as i have a ca coming up and i am really stuck!!!! thankss xxx

Answer 1

Stalin's opponents often underestimated him as a crude thug. Opponents such as Trotsky and Zinoviev were highly educated individuals by comparison, though Stalin was far more politically astute than they first gave him credit for. By not taking him seriously as a threat until it was too late, they became the first victims to his ambition.

He rose up through seemingly unimportant posts which gave him experience in organizing followers (as well as carefully observing those around him, taking note of those he could trust and use and those who might prove dangerous later) eventually rising up to become General Secretary of the Party which allowed him to appoint favored allies into positions of power. Lenin eventually saw through to his true character, but by then, Lenin was suffering from a stroke and unable to do much about it.

When Lenin died and the struggle for leadership of the Soviet Union ensued, Stalin was in a position to outmaneuver everyone -- which he did -- by building alliances of convenience, denouncing enemies with the help of allies, and then throwing his fair weather friends out when they proved to be a problem.