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Stalin's rise to power was down to various factors, predominately due to Trotsky’s mistakes and Stalin’s acts of intelligence and betrayal.

Removal of opposition

One factor that had got Stalin to power was the clever tactics of removing his opposition. For example, Stalin originally joined forces with Zinoviev and Kamenev (who were two other choices for the next Communist leader), to outvote Trotsky  in the first Party Congress (while making sure most of the people present at the Congress were their supporters) – which led to Trotsky losing his job. This had significantly increased his chances already since Trotsky was the favorite candidate and eliminating him would leave Stalin as a viable option in comparison to others. To take out Zinoviev and Kamenev, he joined forces with Bukharin (yet another choice for the next Communist leader) to outvote them leading to them losing their jobs too. To take out the final significant threat, Bukharin, he attacked the National Economic Policy, which Bukharin and his followers heavily supported, and weakened Bukharin’s influence, leading to him losing his job and leaving Stalin as the only worthy candidate as no one else stood much of a chance. In this way, he swiftly took out the threats to his rule and confirmed his power over Russia.

Previous Influence

Also, there were other factors that counted towards him gaining power. For example, Stalin had already built up a worthy image of himself and also had a strong, influential post as General Secretary. His post as General Secretary meant that he could sack or demote his rivals and their supporters and also promote his supporters. This was the main reason for the first Party Congress ending in his favour (most of those who were present were set up to be his supporters) and also why he had other Party Congresses in his favour as well.

Trotsky's Mistakes

Even with all of this, Trotsky had made some vital mistakes that made it easier for Stalin to get into power. For example, Trotsky failed to show up at Lenin’s funeral because when he was contacted by Stalin regarding Lenin's death, he was intentionally told the wrong date for his funeral. This made him seem like someone who did not care about the great leader of the Communists, which also made him less popular with people as they thought he was not loyal to Lenin and did not care as much about the Communist Party. Also, despite being a better speaker than Stalin, he did not speak as much as Stalin at meetings and such to raise his popularity or shut Stalin down. He did little to get himself to power compared to what extents Stalin went to.

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