Scheme of Work
Theme 2: Stalin’s Russia, 1924–41
Chapter 1: Why did Stalin gain power from 1924?
1.1 LO: To understand Lenin’s legacy and problems of leadership.
Key question: How far was Lenin responsible for Stalin’s rise to power?
Background: What was the state of Russia when the Bolsheviks took over?
• Economically the nation was in a state of chaos and decay.
• Its industrial output, manufactures & minerals were a small fraction of what they were before the war.
• Its railways were disorganised.
• Due to war communism the peasants, lacking any normal incentive, produced less & less.
• Town populations were low as the result of the wars & many people, unable to obtain food, had scattered throughout the
countryside where they hoped to avoid starvation.
• The least serious situation was the sense of hopelessness & apathy that was taking hold of the people.
• The constant devastation of war, the disorganisation of life & uncertainty about the future all combined to produce an utter
weariness of spirit.
• Unless Russia could find quality leadership that would transform this depression into hope & confidence, no reforms in government
or in economics could save the new Russia from ruin.
Cambridge International AS & A Level History 9489 – from 2021 1
, Scheme of Work
The power vacuum
How had Lenin caused a power vacuum?
1. Decisions were supposedly made collectively but in practice Lenin had dominated
2. His leadership was based on his personality and his authority.
3. Instead of encouraging democracy, he introduced the ban on factions in 1921
4. He had had created a huge bureaucracy carrying out orders from superiors.
How had a power struggle started before Lenin’s death?
1. Lenin had become unwell towards the end of 1921, and in May 1922 he had the first of a series of strokes
2. By mid-1923 it was obvious that Lenin would never return to government.
3. When Lenin died, there was no obvious successor.
4. A collective leadership was therefore established to govern Russia.
The Struggle for Power
•Lenin was very ill for many months before his death in January 1924. During this time the Party elite continued running the country.
There was no mechanism for replacing Lenin.
•Stalin was given responsibility for supervising Lenin’s treatment by the Central Committee. No one visited Lenin as much as Stalin.
However, Stalin offended Lenin by being rude to his wife.
•Lenin and Stalin also disagreed about foreign trade, which Lenin wanted to keep in the hands of the government, but Stalin wanted
to relax. Lenin also disagreed with Stalin’s treatment of the independence movement in Georgia, which had been suppressed.
Cambridge International AS & A Level History 9489 – from 2021 2
, Scheme of WorkTheme 2: Stalin’s Russia, 1924–41
What should have happened with leadership?
1. Marxism suggested that power should be shared in a collective leadership
2. The Politburo had emerged as the most powerful part of the Government.
3. Therefore, gaining a majority on the Politburo was the key to power
4. From 1922 to 1929, a relentless struggle for supremacy was waged by Politburo leaders.
Why did Stalin and not Trotsky become leader of the Soviet Union in 1928?
Lenin's Political Testament
• In 1922, Lenin suffered a serious stroke and was a virtual invalid for the rest of his life.
• This allowed Joseph Stalin to play a much more prominent role in the government of Russia. He visited Lenin regularly to
keep him informed.
• On 25 December 1922 Lenin drew up a Political Testament, in which he summarised the good and bad points of all of the
leading Bolsheviks. He then stated that Trotsky should succeed him when he died.
• Twelve days later Lenin added a further section to the Testament, in which he advised the other leaders to get rid of Stalin.
He then gave the document to his wife with instructions to hand it to the Central Committee after his death.
• In his Political Testament, Lenin named Trotsky as his successor and recommended that Stalin should be dismissed from
the post of General Secretary of the Party.
• The Testament was handed to the Central Committee in May 1924, by Lenin's widow, but the other Bolshevik leaders
decided to keep the Testament secret. They did not want Trotsky to succeed Lenin.
• Trotsky was outspoken and arrogant and unpopular with the other Bolshevik leaders. This gave Stalin the chance to
become the ruler of the Soviet Union.
• In 1924 the Soviet Union was ruled by a committee of Kamenev, Zinoviev and Stalin.
Cambridge International AS & A Level History 9489 – from 2021 3
