This essay plan can be used for both questions:
1. How far do you agree that the growth of the police state was the most important reason for Stalin's consolidation of power?
2. To what extent was the Terror the main reason for Stalin's consolidation of power in the Soviet Union in the 1930s?
...
Assess the Reasons for Stalin’s Consolidation of Power.
Positions within the party
After the 1917 revolution, Stalin had acquired 4 seemingly insignificant posts, but
due to changes in the communist party, they had all become incredibly important by
the time of Lenin’s death.
Due to his positions, Stalin could monitor party policy and personnel, was in charge
of regional officials, and as he was the general secretary for the party, he was able to
build up what were essentially blackmail files against all of his opponents.
Due to these positions, Stalin was able to ensure that his own supports were
promoted/given important role.
This was called patronage, and it ensured that he would have support for his
decisions and policies throughout the party.
As such, he was always able to outvote and outmanoeuvre his opponents.
This was the most important way in which Stalin was able to rise to power, as not
only did it mean he had leverage over other incredibly high-ranking officials, but he
also had support throughout the different levels of central and Bolshevik
government. As such, he could manipulate decisions and people at all levels to
ensure that it put him in a good position to take power.
The Lenin Enrolment is important but is really just a continuation on this.
Manipulation of Rivals
When Trotsky condemned bureaucratisation and criticised Kamenev and Zinoviev for
their past disagreements with Lenin, Stalin was able to bring up Trotsky’s Menshevik
past.
Trotsky was against the NEP. Stalin was able to use this to damage Trotsky’s
reputation, as he could claim that Trotsky was going against Lenin by disagreeing
with one of his policies.
Stalin used Trotsky’s belief in ‘permanent revolution’ – encourage revolutions
abroad (so that the USSR would have foreign allies in case of an invasion) – to make
him appear irresponsible and uncaring, as Stalin was able to claim that Trotsky cared
more about foreign nations than the safety and security of Russia, particularly when
the country was facing threats of capitalist invasion.
When defeating the right, Stalin was able to claim they were weak to the hardliners
in the party, as the right wanted to take a softer line with the peasants.
Although Stalin’s manipulation of the right and left of the communist party is
essential in his rise to power, this would have been impossible for him to even
contemplate had he not already been in a position to do so. As such, although this is
what eventually eliminates his rivals, he would have been unable to carry this out if
he didn’t already have the mechanism with which to achieve this – his positions
within the party. His manipulation of rivals relied on him already having a fair
amount of power over the party.
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