“Explain how Stalin was able to establish himself as leader of the USSR by 1928”

By 1928, Joseph Stalin, “the man of steel” had emerged as the new leader of the
USSR. This was achieved in phases which firstly started with a gradual and silent
power base with the aid of the party and his secretariat powers. Afterwards it was
consequently attained after the struggle for power between the most powerful
opposition: Trotsky and the subsequent purging of Stalin’s past and hence any real
oppistion. The skills and connections he had possessed during the party organisation
proved completely useful for the sabotage of information and manipulation of
knowledge with power which ultimately promised his leadership and his cult of
personality.

The power was firstly established with the main organisation by Lenin, Trotsky and
the revolution along with the civil war with further organisation. The Bolsheviks were
a group of revolutionary communists, who through better organisation and effective
communication gained power of the whole disorganised and backward Russia. Lenin
was secretly transported to Russia, with hope to spark Stalin at this point was in the
background of the party, and shuffling along to whatever movement that occurred.
However, his position greatly expanded, as his regular involvement and participation
in the party was seen. With this involvement, Stalin developed a close link with Lenin
and showed his ability to be a man of social ability and his instant linkage with the
common workers. What sparked the final involvement in the party came after the
revolution and during the periods of civil war and hence the party’s organisation.
While the Bolsheviks had grasped power, resigned from war and initiated their
socialism progress the problem of the ‘whites’ still lied, or in other words the non-
communist. This resulted in civil war, between the disorganised and somewhat
devised of capitalists versus the ‘reds’, the communists who had with power over
driving force of the country: workers. The skills shown by Stalin in this period were
crucial, as Lenin found him to be extremely organised and the right man he needed for
the structuring and ‘paperwork’ of the party.

Following his success in the civil war with his skills of organisation and personality
his appointment to general secretary of the central committee in 1922 provided him
with the power to shape the party. With the civil war over and the party’s power
secured, the country still lied backward with poverty and hunger. Lenin worked to
dictate policy, Trotsky continued to lead the army while Stalin performed the ‘paper
work’. Stalin’s ability to keep quiet and do his work was a priced act, as he stayed in
the background while slowly building his power base. It was exactly this element in
his behaviour which allowed him to learn various aspects of paperwork/records while
silently building a party to his suiting; to hire and fire who he wishes. In addition to
this power Stalin had place in the ‘politburo’ – the top bureau which decided policies
and the ‘orgburo’ which organised the party. Being behind of most all the time, Stalin
was able to build his power base, which would power him sufficiently as the real
power struggle began. The base consisted of appointing people who suited Stalin, and
would perform according to his needs and orders. This is specifically seen in the
secret information he planted in his own people, slowly accepting the author and
centre as Stalin.

The death of Lenin bought an end to his fatherly revolution, and hence the fight of
Stalin and first Trotsky to continue the revolution. Following the death of Lenin in
January 1924, the rivalry of Stalin and Trotsky accelerated, and the fight for the rule
of Russia and the fight of the strength of Lenin’s relationship truly started. In this
case, Stalin had allied with the Kamenev and Zinoviev to help him defeat Leon
Trotsky’s left communism. The first task for this current ‘team’ was to weaken
relationships of Trotsky and Lenin, which involved Stalin even at a period before this
modifying data and events to draw Trotsky away and make Stalin in Lenin’s shadows.
This further lead to raising opposition towards Trotsky, signalling him as an outsider
and eventually establishing him as the enemy to the revolution. Everything he would
do in future years would now be to protect the revolution from Trotsky and in this
case destroy the strongest opposition towards Stalin. This assault resulted in the end
of Trotsky in the party. The second task was the event of Lenin’s death and his final
testament which was to be treated carefully and acted out precisely. Lenin’s death
most importantly for Stalin raised a vacant spot in the party, but at the same time
dangerously insisted party members to ‘remove Stalin from that position’1. Stalin
succeeded in suppressing this suggestion found in the testament and rather focusing
on eliminating Trotsky and using Kamenev and Zinoviev to ‘settle in’. This was all
outmanoeuvred with an embarrassing blow when the various other copies of the
testament appeared and was announced publicly in a party meeting. However this
again was not a disaster, as everyone was given flaws, and finally Zinoviev offered his
insight into Stalin being ‘loyal’ and overall cleaning up his act. This all resulted in the
present centralisation of Stalin, while wiping out Trotsky kept him closer to the leader
seat.

The final stage of this power struggle was the eventual ‘purging’ of his previous
supporters and hence deleting any real memory of the past which proclaimed Stalin as
leader of USSR. Stalin shifted his theory to what suited him best, as in this case he
turned on Kamenev and Zinoviev in 1927 and shouldered them out of power. The idea
Stalin played with seemed to be the elimination of memory and the planning of the
future, which in this case would allow less chance of overturn from the two members
against Stalin. This was firstly done through Stalin allying himself with Bukharin who
stayed at the ‘right side’ in the party. The purpose of this brief alliance only served the
purpose to hold enough power to eliminate Kamenev and Zinoviev out of the party
and hence wipe out any real opposition. As this task was completed, Stalin undertook
the final purge of the party in which he had enough power to act solely and eliminate
any future threats. This even included changing his theories once again to deprive
Bukharin of his power and finally establishing himself as the head of the state. This
process was essential in the reaching the top, as it silently reshaped the party and
manipulated existing members into fear or ignorance to Stalin’s method of rise. By
1928, many members had been removed, many new faces initiated and the grasp of
the USSR in his now ultimately powerful hands.

Conclusively, Stalin had risen to power in the USSR by 1928 by performing his
power in various steps. It firstly involved the slow creation of a power base through
the recognition of himself as an efficient and organised worker and with that silently
shaping the party to his future needs. It secondly involved the elimination of his
enemies with propaganda and instinctual fear as soon as enough power could be
grasped following Lenin’s death. This elimination resulted in the party’s structure
rigidly supporting Stalin, and the instilling of no future challenge to his now ruthless
yet powerful regime.

1- Lenin’s Testament found in Joseph Stalin by Caulkins, Janet