Stalin rose to power in the Soviet Union through a combination of factors. He carefully maneuvered himself up the party ranks with appointments from Lenin. As General Secretary, he consolidated power by appointing allies. After Lenin's death, Stalin further isolated opponents by allying with different factions and turning them against each other, removing Trotsky, the Left, and the Right from power. Through ruthless manipulation, Stalin was able to eliminate all political rivals and become the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union by the early 1930s.

1. Stalin's Rise to Power
Savannah Criado
Ryan Fernandez
Sydney Howard
Ricardo Ruiz

2. Lenin’s Role In Stalin’s Rise to Power
● Stalin was highly regarded by Lenin and played a central role in the Bolshevik
Party
● Stalin’s experience in the command of the Bolshevik party, thanks to Lenin’s
appointments, allowed him to gain control
● These positions included
● 1917: People's Commissar for Nationalities: was in charge of the officials in the
many regions and republics that made up the USSR
● 1922: General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party
○ a role that enabled him to appoint his allies to government jobs and grow a base of political
support
○ Allowed him to record and convey Party policy

3. Lenin’s Role In Stalin’s Rise to Power
● The Lenin Enrollment
○ a process in which there was a concerted drive to get more of the proletariat an
the Communist party, and become active in party affairs
○ Provides stalin with a reliable body of votes in the various Party Committees
● The attack upon factionalism
○ This referred to Lenin’s disapproval of party divides in 1921
○ It frustrated attempts for anybody to criticise the Bolshevik Party
○ This gave Stalin the power to resist any sort of opposition against his policies o
Party in general
● The Lenin Legacy
○ Stalin became the heir to Lenin’s legacy
○ Lenin had become the measure of correctness within the Bolshevik party
○ They wanted to find a leader that could continue on his legacy and Stalin began to do just that

4. Lenin’s Role In Stalin’s Rise to Power
● 1924 Lenin dies of a stroke;
● Politburo, inner cabinet of the ruling central committee, come out and said they
have the intention to collectively lead the party
○ Stalin, Trotsky, Rykov, Tomsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev
○ Inside they were all fighting for power
● Stalin immediately gains an advantage by delivering the oration at Lenin’s
funeral
○ Him being the leader at this funeral made people believe there was a special connection
between Stalin and Lenin
○ To make matters better for himself, inside the speech he dedicated himself to follow in the
tradition of Lenin
● This was the first crucial move to prove himself as Lenin’s successor

5. To what extent should Lenin be blamed for Stalin’s rise to power?
Lenin’s Fault-
● Ban of Factions- Put in place by Lenin, the
ban removed an opposition and conflict of
views within the Bolshevik party, which
Stalin then abused to rid himself of
competitors
● Appointing Stalin to General Secretary-
With this power, Stalin was able to appoint
his loyal supporters to positions of
authority
● Failure to Act- Lenin was slow to display his
disapproval towards Stalin, which
eventually caused Lenin’s Testament to be
suppressed and never considered when
putting Stalin into power
Not Lenin’s Fault-
● Lenin was dying- Lenin could not be
politically active in his last two years of
power, and he cannot be blamed for that.
His health was an extreme limiter to his
strength
● Lenin’s funeral- Lenin could not control the
fact that Stalin oversaw his funeral, and
that was a big part of Stalin’s rise to power

6. What Best Explains Stalin’s Rise to Power by 1930?
● When looking at how Stalin rose to power it is hard to pinpoint one single
event. But instead you can say that it was Stalin’s ruthless, manipulative, and
determined attitude that got him to the position of leader of the Soviet Union.
In a general summary the bolshevik party could be seen as a ladder. Stalin was
able to slowly rise to the top and kick everyone else off who was at the top.

7. How Stalin Rose to the top?
● Before the time period of 1917 Stalin was behind a great number of violent
campaigns that provided money for the party. During this time the party only
had a few thousand members and Lenin knew many personally he was
impressed by Stalin’s organization, insensitivity to suffering, and willingness to
obey orders.
● With Lenin's support Stalin became of of the six members of the Central
Committee (Policy making body)
● During the time of civil war Stalin’s non Russian background was usefull, his
knowledge of minorities led to him becoming Commissar for Nationalitities
(1917).

8. Rise
● Stalin rose up the ladder during Lenin's Time: Commissar for Nationalities
(1917), Liaison Officer between Politburo and Orghuru (1919), Head of the
Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspectorate (1919), and General Secretary of the
Communist Party (1922).
● In terms of position in the party no one matched Stalin he always found a way
to eliminate opposition within the party
● When Lenin died he left a testament saying Stalin should not be allowed to
take power however this was covered up by Stalin

9. Struggle for Power Left
● On the left the main contender to take control after Stalin was Trotsky. His
failure in the propaganda war during the 1920s made it that he didn't have
either the Politburo or the Central Committee on his side to vote for his
proposals. By 1925 a vote against him in the Party congress was passed and
he lost his position as Commissar for War. Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev
(Chairman of Moscow and Leningrad) who got to their position by Stalin played
a role in this.
● By 1925 Stalin had a major part in the party and had people appointed in his
favor.

10. Struggle for Power Right
● In the right three main figures stood out they were Rykov, Tomsky, and
Bukharin and they were all loyal to Trotsky and actually helped Stalin against
Trotsky and the Left. The right had little organisation, they were unable to
gather real support, and their ideas weren't that great. By 1928 they stood in
the way of Stalin industrial and agricultural plans. They were easily removed by
Stalin.

11. Key reasons for Stalin's rise (prioritized)
1. Stalin played one side against the other to take power:
a. He allied with Zinoviev and Kamenev (leftists) who hated Trotsky as they thought he was too
ambitious.
b. Together, they covered up Lenin’s will which stated that Stalin was dangerous and should be
dismissed. They also caused Trotsky to be dismissed and exiled (1928) for his criticism of party
organization.
c. Stalin then advocated “Socialism in one country” and allied with the Rightists to have Zinoviev
and Kamenev dismissed (1927) as they often disparaged him in private.
d. Stalin then argued that the NEP, which rightists supported, was uncommunist and caused
Bukharin, Rykov, and Tomsky (Rightists) to be dismissed (1929).
2. Moving up the party ladder:
a. During the Bolshevik power in Russia, Stalin had continued to move up the party ladder.
b. In 1922 Stalin became secretary general of the Central Committee of the Communist Party,

12. Key reasons for Stalin's rise (prioritized) cont.
3. Trotsky’s unpopularity:
a. He was known as too big-headed
b. He was given the wrong date for Lenin’s funeral by Stalin so he missed it which made him even more
unpopular.
c. Trotsky wanted to cause a world revolution which many Russians feared would ruin Russia.