How Did Joseph Stalin Rise To Power

Joseph Stalin made taking over an entire country look easy. He was a master in deception and used many skilled tactics to take over the USSR. He had gotten so high up in government positions under Lenin that it may have been impossible to stop his influence from spreading throughout the nation. Stalin had used his position, trickery, and even murder to take over Russia so efficiently. Probably the most important thing that Stalin did was to join the Bolsheviks, a communist faction under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. History.com Staff says by joining them, Stalin was noticed by Lenin who later appointed him to the Bolshevik committee during his exile (“Russian Revolution”). Once the Bolsheviks had taken power in Russia and Lenin was the leader of the country, History.com Staff states that Stalin moved his way up to become secretary general where he could appoint his allies into official positions (“Russian Revolution”). Stalin had used Lenin’s trust and alliance to put himself into a position of power. This was definitely Stalin’s smartest move in getting authority in Russia. He now had the trust of the nation’s dictator

Many people thought Trotsky would be Lenin’s heir since he was his second in command. However, thanks to Stalin’s trickery he was able to outmaneuver him into becoming Lenin’s successor. Stalin did this by lying to Trotsky and made him look bad to the rest of the party and people. The biggest thing that Stalin did was telling “Trotsky the wrong date for Lenin's funeral, so Trotsky turned up a day late” (“Stalin’s Takeover). This would eventually lead to Trotsky being dismissed from the party and being exiled to Mexico (“Leon Trotsky”). Stalin was a genius at deception. By simply lying to Trotsky he was able to secure his position as Lenin’s next in line. This shows how effortless Stalin was able to take over and it is appalling that this happened so