How Did Stalin's Cunning Bring Him To Power In 1929

A. Plan of Investigation

This essay discusses the significance of Stalin's cunning in bringing him to power in communist Russia in 1929. This consists of the study of Stalin's actions from when Lenin died right up to when he came to power in 1929. It also includes how Stalin outmanoeuvred his rivals. The two sources to be focussed on are J.V Stalin Collected Works from Stalin's speech at Lenin's funeral and Stalin rev. edn by I. Deutscher 1966. These will be evaluated for their origins, purposes, values and limitations.

Word Count: 85

B. Summary of Evidence

The Bolsheviks came to power in 1917 with Lenin in charge. During his reign he introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP), which made the country much more stable, even though it was not considered the Bolshevik's perfect idea of communism.

Lenin died in 1924 and because he did not leave any clear successor to lead the party, a power vacuum was left for a new leader to emerge. The possible contenders were Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky, who all held high positions within the party. It is certain that Stalin was not who Lenin wanted for leader, as before Lenin died they had a strained relationship. He had realised how much power Stalin had gained and was very worried because if Stalin, was to become leader, he believed that he would misuse his power. Stalin was desperate to see Lenin and called Krupskaya, Lenin's wife and secretary, who would not let him visit. Stalin insulted her, in which Lenin was very upset and Lenin added something to his testament, which would have ruined Stalin. However, this was never made public as Lenin died before giving this speech.

Of all the possible contenders, Rykov and Tomsky never really got involved in the power struggle due to not being strong enough and so never had a chance to gain power. Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev led the left wing and wanted to end the NEP. Bukharin led the right wing and wanted to keep the NEP going. At Lenin's funeral Stalin gained more popularity because of the actions he took. Firstly, he contacted Trotsky and told him that he [Trotsky] wouldn't be able to make it in time to the funeral. This made Trotsky look like he did not care and could not be bothered. Stalin carried the coffin and made a speech, which illustrated how he really wanted to carry on Leninism. He also set himself up as Lenin's disciple, the person who would carry on Lenin's mantle. During the next few years, the power struggle continued. In 1925, an economic crisis was caused by agriculture prices falling and industrial prices staying the same (a repeat of the scissor crisis of 1923).

Trotsky believed in Ð''permanent revolution' but in 1924 Stalin introduced the policy Ð''socialism in one country'. This was a popular policy within the USSR and party members, because it meant the country could find peace within their country and not get into international conflict.

In 1925, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin successfully removed Trotsky as Commissar of War. Zinoviev and Kamenev remained against giving into the peasants but Bukharin and Stalin were in favour of cutting industrial costs even further. Consequently, Zinoviev and Kamenev lost every vote as Stalin now had Ð''well instructed Stalinist delegates'. They realised the power of Stalin and in 1926 joined their old enemy Trotsky and formed the Ð''United Opposition'. They campaigned against Bukharin and Stalin and tried to organise demonstrations in Moscow by the workers and party masses. This was a fatal error on their behalf as they were accused of Ð''factionalism' and lost their positions of power. In 1927, all three of them were expelled from the party; as a result Stalin changed his opinion about the NEP in 1928 and used force to make the peasants comply with what he had just crushed of the left wing policies. Bukharin was still in favour of the NEP but in 1929 Stalin supporters outvoted him. Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky were removed from the politburo and other party bodies. In December 1929, Stalin was now the leader of the USSR , but how much of this was due to his cunning?

Word Count: 607

C. Evaluation of Sources

J.V Stalin Collected Works from Stalin's speech at Lenin's funeral in 1925. In this speech Stalin praises Lenin and says that he will obey Lenin's ideology Ð''keep the unity of the party'. This speech was made at the height of the power struggle, therefore Stalin realised that if he was involved directly he could influence the situation in his favour. The speech makes Stalin look like he really cared about Lenin and his views. The purpose of this speech was to convince Lenin supporters to follow him by setting himself up as Lenin's disciple, the person who would carry on Lenin's work, therefore it may not have been the truth and consequently is unreliable. The speech's value is that it shows us how Stalin manipulated the situation by using Lenin's popularity to gain further support. We know, with the knowledge of hindsight, that Stalin and Lenin did not have a good relationship towards the end of Lenin's life. Stalin would have more than likely have been demoted if Lenin had not had died. The limitation is that it was a speech made in public, therefore he used it for propaganda means and therefore could have been lying or holding back information or his true feelings to gain support, whereas if it had been a private conversation it may have shown Stalin's true colours.

Stalin rev. edn by I. Deutscher 1966 is a book written nearly forty years after the event. Isaac Deutscher was a Polish poet, who was part of the communist movement but was expelled in 1932 for being critical of Stalin and then moved to England. The purpose of the source is to inform the public of Stalin's cunning and how he did what he needed to become popular. The value is it shows us the opinion of someone who was affected by the communist regime at the time but is written some time after and so can offer a non-censored opinion. The limitation of the source is it is written by a former member of the communist party, who was expelled and therefore will have a coloured view of the communists and Stalin in particular. Deutscher had been critical of the communist party in Russia for a long time and openly criticised Stalin's ruthlessness in dealing with political opponents.

Word Count: 382

D.