How far do you agree that Stalin’s position as General Secretary was the main factor in his emergence as leader of Russia?

After Lenin’s death in 1924, the Communist leadership of Russia was thrown into disarray. There were many different ideas for the future of the country, the strongest of which was socialism, which caused many various contenders for the party to emerge. There was a struggle of power between these contenders, but Stalin eventually emerged as the successful new leader of the USSR. Stalin’s position as General Secretary was the main factor in this emergence as leader. Stalin’s position of General Secretary allowed him to use and abuse Lenin’s systems to get to the top. Stalin had the power to control what was discussed and how politburo decisions were carried out, and he also had the significant influence of patronage. This allowed him to access most of the Communist party, his power of patronage allowed him to use his authority to place his most reliable supporters in key positions within the party. As a result, there people were extremely loyal to Stalin as they owed their place to him, and therefore he could count on their support. These people became known as his delegates as they could also be known to vote in Stalin’s favour. Stalin also had other key positions in the party, which allowed him to outmanoeuvre his rivals through a series of alliances. He was head of the Sovnarkom, which allowed him to expel any party members who disagreed with his views and aims. In removing people seen as more extreme, such as soldiers and students, this removed Trotsky’s support, as head of the Red Army. there were important positions within the party, especially General Secretary, and combined it meant that Stalin had a hugely powerful role within Communism, and it was the way that he kept himself in control of there positions which allowed him to control the order of the party. None of his rivals had a power base similar to this, and so whatever the ability of his rivals, he could always outvote and outmanoeuvre them regardless of talent. The way in which Stalin was politically shrewd meant that he was able to carry out a series of shifting alliances, also contributed towards his appointment as leader of the party. Stalin was a centrist who never chose the right or the left wings within Communism, he never gave his views away. The way that he shifted alliances with the different contenders meant that he was simply playing them off each other, until a point where they were no longer in contention for the leadership. In order to reduce Trotsky’s influence, Stalin formed a coalition with Zinoviev and Kamenev, in 1923. This opposed the left wings struggle for power and highlighted key issues within the future of Russia. They discredited Trotsky because it capitalised on the ‘Cult of Lenin’, suggesting that Trotsky was disloyal to the former leader and his ideas. They questioned his loyalty wand ideology, as well as focusing on his lack of activities since the revolution. Stalin then went on to link with Bukharin to oppose Zinoviev and Kamenev. This suited Stalin due to his belief in the policy of ‘socialism in one country’ and because he saw the NEP as weak and unnecessary, finally a chance to get rid of it. By temporary boosting the popularity of the NEP before breaking away from Bukharin later on, it led to the eventual end of the left wing of the Communist Party. Zinoviev and Kamenev were outvoted by Stalinist delegates at the 16th party congress. by doing this his opponents in the leadership struggle had all lost their positions of power. In 1928 Stalin broke his alliance with Bukharin, this was the point where he had eliminated all credible opponents from the leadership battle. Stalin then went on to finish the NEP and favoured rapid industrialisation. Stalin forced Bukharin to admit his political errors, this attacked his power base as party theorist, which also stopped his allies too. This again resulted in a political structure which was completely dominated by his delegates, which meant that Stalin was always going to be in favour. All of this power seemed to have stemmed from his position as General Secretary, as it allowed him to influence people and grow his strength. Another reason for Stalin to be so successful was that he always managed to come out on top when personal rivalries between the contenders occurred. Stalin tricked Trotsky into not turning up for Lenin’s funeral. This undermined Trotsky’s credibility and led to accusations of disloyalty to Lenin. Zinoviev and Kamenev were also willing to attack Trotsky during the triumvirate period, as they had never forgiven him for personal attacks during the 1917 October revolution. Finally, Stalin suggested that as Napoleon had hijacked the revolution to become a military dictator in France, Trotsky could do the same within Russia as he was head of the Red Army. Stalin also had many personal qualities and characteristics which without doubt helped him in his battle to win the power struggle. He was able to cause his opponents to undermine him, which thus allowed him to then form alliances then plying each opponent off each other. Stalin managed to stay in the background and appeared to mainly be a moderate peace maker, as nobody realised that he was a serious contender for power until it was too late. Nobody seemed to realise the massive potential that he hid away. Stalin was tough and ruthless and was determined in his nature not to be cast out of the leadership battle, and his political skills with his cunningness of shifting alliances again, contributed to the reason why he managed to become party leader. Stalin was suited to manage a party which was central, he was less high minded and more down to earth. To conclude, Stalin managed to win the leadership of the Communist Party without the threat of imprisonment or murder, his political power alone gained him victory. The fact that Stalin’s personality meant that he wasn't noticed as a threat until the last moment, meaning that he could literally sneak under his opposition. Whereas his opponents’ weaknesses allowed victory to be almost too easy. However, his position as General Secretary was the most important factor for his rise, despite the others. This position gave him the ability to appoint whoever he wished to the Politburo and Sovnarkom. Without the patronage, Stalin would have struggled to gain power. So i still believe that his role as General Secretary was the main factor in ensuring that Stalin could gain power.