Sunday 25th November 2012
“The Outcome of the power struggle owes more to the weakness of Trotsky than the skill of Stalin.” How far do you agree?
I do not agree with this statement as Stalin’s sheer skill and manipulation meant he essentially managed to wipe out the opposition, in particular Trotsky, which inevitably led to his success. Although it can be seen that Trotsky’s numerous errors and fixed reputation for being lazy and arrogant led to the outcome of the power struggle, his results could have not possibly justified the success over the other candidates. Therefore, the weaknesses of Trotsky alone would not have been enough and the outcome of the power struggle owed more to the skill of Stalin.
Although Trotsky’s errors and negative reputation aided Stalin to succeed, without Stalin’s manipulation and his ability to make the best of them, Trotsky’s faults would not alone have guaranteed him success. It was Stalin’s manipulation skills and ability to make the best of Trotsky’s mistakes that catapulted him into power. Trotsky had a firm reputation for being lazy, arrogant and ignorant; a perception later confirmed when he failed to turn up to Lenin’s funeral. Although many argue that Trotsky was in the Crimea during the funeral and return in time, his absence, whatever the cause had severely negative impacts on his name. However, it was Stalin’s manipulation of Trotsky’s absence and the way he used it to his own advantage rather than Trotsky’s absence alone that led to Stalin’s substantial gain in popularity. Trotsky’s nonattendance gave everyone an opportunity to show their loyalties to Stalin and gain the endorsement of the nation, but it was Stalin who stood out and presented himself as “chief mourner”. Had Stalin not taken any notice and failed to act upon it, Trotsky’s absence would have simply meant a fall in his own popularity rather than a rise in Stalin’s.
In addition to Trotsky’s weaknesses, he also had great strength in many other fields such as extraordinary organizational skills. It was therefore Stalin’s manipulation of the weaknesses Trotsky did have which led to the outcome of the power struggle Despite the fact that Trotsky was a Jewish intellectual and distrusted by ordinary Russians, he also had a highly regarded past. His extraordinary organizational skills meant he was the key figure in the October 1917 revolution and he also had an oratorical flair completely lacked by Stalin. Furthermore, Stalin was a non-Russian and dull public speaker which may have distanced him form the public. However, Stalin was able to use his skills such as his hard and ruthless work ethic, as well as his thirst for power to compensate. He was good at cultivating a “strong, silent” public perception of himself which also meant he gained support from the proletarian. He was then able to play on his public and proletariat support; an advantage that Trotsky did not have as he was a Jewish intellectual and strongly associated with violence and repression. For example, he was responsible for putting down the Kronstad Mutiny where 500 mutineers were shot on the spot, 200 later executed and the rest sent to Siberia. Therefore, although Trotsky’s many weaknesses aided Stalin, Trotsky also had many strengths, and it the way in which Stalin acted upon and manipulated the weaknesses Trotsky did have that led to the outcome of the power struggle.
The fact that Trotsky remained as an unrivaled leader for 25 years cannot just be down to Trotsky’s errrors as alone they could not have possibly justified his success over other the other candidates such as Bukarin and Rykov. Rather, it was Stalin’s sheer skill and way in which he used other’s erroers for his own gain. Stalin liked to let others dig their own graves, for example when he accused Kamenev and Zinoviev of being “Leftists” and communists who wanted to end the NEP. By doing this he managed to persuade his other colleagues to dismiss and disgrace them. Stalin was the wily plodding “tortoise” who overtook brilliant but erratic “hares” such as Trotsky by using their own errors against them. Therefore it was no the weakness of Trotsky but the way in which Stalin used them to his own advantage which led to the outcome of the power struggle.
In conclusion, I do not agree with the statement as it was not Trotsky’s weaknesses but the way in which Stalin cunningly used them to his own advantage that resulted in Stalin’s success.. Although it can be seen that Trotsky’s numerous errors and fixed reputation for being lazy and arrogant led to the outcome of the power struggle, his results could have not possibly justified the success over the other candidates. Therefore, the weaknesses of Trotsky alone would not have been enough and the outcome of the power struggle owed more to the skill of Stalin.
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