Explain how Stalin was able to rise to power after Lenins death.

Explains factors
Award 4-5m for 1 well-described and explained factor
Award 6-8m for 2 well-described and explained factors
Stalin made himself appear close to Lenin, which contributed to his rise to power.
He organized Lenins funeral to make it seem as if he was very close to Lenin. He
also tricked Trotsky into missing the funeral by giving him the wrong date of the
event. This was a clear move that discredited his biggest rival and thus allowed
Stalin to instead appear as a viable alternative to an already unpopular Trotsky. In
addition, Stalin was able to get rid of Lenins Testament which spoke negatively of
Stalin and called for his removal. This ensured that his authority in the eyes of
the communist party members as well as his position within the communist
party was not threatened. Furthermore, Lenins Testament also named Trotsky
as Lenins preferred successor. In not making the contents known, Stalin was
able to strengthen the perception that he was Lenins choice of successor.
Therefore, Stalins strategy of making himself appear close to Lenin also
contributed to his rise to power.
Trotskys weaknesses also enabled Stalin to rise to power as it played a crucial role
in directing support towards Stalin. While Trotsky had been the clear successor to
Lenin when he died in 1924, Trotsky had several weaknesses. Firstly, he was
arrogant and overconfident as he had assumed that he would be appointed into
power naturally. He thus made little efforts to win over the support of the Communist
Party members. His arrogance and complacency rubbed many people the wrong
way. Thus, even though Trotsky had appeared to be the natural successor, many in
the Communist Party began to doubt his leadership and he was not able to gain the
necessary respect and support. In contrast, Stalin appeared to be a better
choice. He also did not make use of the army, which was under him, to strengthen
his position. In addition, his support base was limited to only the young and radical
elements within the Communist Party and he lacked the support of the important
party members and decision-makers. Furthermore, Trotsky advocated the idea of a
worldwide communist revolution, which placed Russias priority on helping other
countries become communist. This was not popular with many in the Communist
Party as they were tired of war and wanted to focus on strengthening Russia first.
Stalins alternative of socialism in one country, however, was in line with the
popular mood of the day and thus earned him the support that Trotsky had
lost. Trotskys weaknesses thus played a crucial role in helping Stalin rise to
power as these weaknesses ensured that Trotsky lost support of many within
the Communist Party. This loss of support thus created a vacuum in the
leadership position, which Stalin then appeared to be a viable and preferred
alternative to take over.