History
Essay #6
Assess the main difficulties of two would-be rulers of a single-party state in their bid for power.
Two rulers that I decided to talk about in this essay are Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Leon Trotsky faced many problems in his bid for power. One well-known reason was due to an opponent, Joseph Stalin. The ideas that Trotsky had for the country couldn’t compare to what Stalin had in store for the country. Not to mention that Stalin tried to depict Trotsky in the worst light possible. Secondly, Trotsky was not an old Bolshevik. For Stalin, two major problems that he faced dealt with the collectivization of agriculture and the “Scissors” crisis.
Though Stalin’s method for reaching his goal for power was an old and simple one “divide and rule,” it fooled his adversary, who never thought of combining against him until it was too late:
• First Stalin joined Zinoviev and Kamenev to form a Troika (triumvirate) directed against Trotsky
• The tactic achieved complete success
• Trotsky, faced with the implacable opposition of a majority within the Politburo, resigned as commissar for war
• This was one of the strongest positions of power in the Soviet Union, controlling whole organization of the armed forces
• It never occurred to Trotsky to rally the Red Army for his own defense(too much of a civilian and an ideologue)
• He was far too loyal to the communist party to resort to any such putschist tactics
• With Trotsky’s power broken, the Troika fell apart
Also Trotsky’s idea of “permanent revolution” was no match for Stalin’s “socialism in one country.”
• In 1924 Lenin’s Bolsheviks wanted the revolution in China to maintain momentum
• Stalin’s “socialism in one country” stated that Russia could create socialism alone, without help or support from the outside
• In Stalin’s campaign he depicted Trotsky’s as a man of little faith and dangerous adventurer
• He said that with his doctrine of “permanent revolution” would lead the country into needless peril
Thirdly, Trotsky was not an old Bolshevik:
• In 1917 when personal loyalties and associates were first forged, he had been the lone wolf of the Russian Left
• Even after proving his organizing abilities by launching the revolution itself and beating the Red Army into shape he remained isolated
• He was too much of a visionary for the routine task of running a would-be socialist society
• Too self-assured to share power easily with colleagues
• He also lacked understanding of how political power actually operated
• Trotsky, along with Zinoviev and Bukharin fancied that with Lenin’s death, control of the party would revert to the rule of a committee
• And Stalin would play a subordinate role
Trotsky’s fate was sealed in November 1927:
• During this time was the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution
• The opposition made its last public effort to stem the Stalinist tide
• Trotsky was expelled from the party’s ranks, and bravely refused to bow and was exiled
• Sent to one of the soviets republics of Central Asia and later abroad
• L
Assess the main difficulties of two would-be rulers of a single-party state in their bid for power.
Two rulers that I decided to talk about in this essay are Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Leon Trotsky faced many problems in his bid for power. One well-known reason was due to an opponent, Joseph Stalin. The ideas that Trotsky had for the country couldn’t compare to what Stalin had in store for the country. Not to mention that Stalin tried to depict Trotsky in the worst light possible. Secondly, Trotsky was not an old Bolshevik. For Stalin, two major problems that he faced dealt with the collectivization of agriculture and the “Scissors” crisis.
Though Stalin’s method for reaching his goal for power was an old and simple one “divide and rule,” it fooled his adversary, who never thought of combining against him until it was too late:
• First Stalin joined Zinoviev and Kamenev to form a Troika (triumvirate) directed against Trotsky
• The tactic achieved complete success
• Trotsky, faced with the implacable opposition of a majority within the Politburo, resigned as commissar for war
• This was one of the strongest positions of power in the Soviet Union, controlling whole organization of the armed forces
• It never occurred to Trotsky to rally the Red Army for his own defense(too much of a civilian and an ideologue)
• He was far too loyal to the communist party to resort to any such putschist tactics
• With Trotsky’s power broken, the Troika fell apart
Also Trotsky’s idea of “permanent revolution” was no match for Stalin’s “socialism in one country.”
• In 1924 Lenin’s Bolsheviks wanted the revolution in China to maintain momentum
• Stalin’s “socialism in one country” stated that Russia could create socialism alone, without help or support from the outside
• In Stalin’s campaign he depicted Trotsky’s as a man of little faith and dangerous adventurer
• He said that with his doctrine of “permanent revolution” would lead the country into needless peril
Thirdly, Trotsky was not an old Bolshevik:
• In 1917 when personal loyalties and associates were first forged, he had been the lone wolf of the Russian Left
• Even after proving his organizing abilities by launching the revolution itself and beating the Red Army into shape he remained isolated
• He was too much of a visionary for the routine task of running a would-be socialist society
• Too self-assured to share power easily with colleagues
• He also lacked understanding of how political power actually operated
• Trotsky, along with Zinoviev and Bukharin fancied that with Lenin’s death, control of the party would revert to the rule of a committee
• And Stalin would play a subordinate role
Trotsky’s fate was sealed in November 1927:
• During this time was the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution
• The opposition made its last public effort to stem the Stalinist tide
• Trotsky was expelled from the party’s ranks, and bravely refused to bow and was exiled
• Sent to one of the soviets republics of Central Asia and later abroad
• L