Seq stalin biography wikipedia

Joseph Stalin , the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from to and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from until his death in , governed the country as a dictator from the late s until his death. He had initially been part of the country's informal collective leadership with Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev after the death of Vladimir Lenin in , but consolidated his power within the party and state, especially against the influences of Leon Trotsky and Nikolai Bukharin , in the mid-to-late s.

What is trotskyism in simple terms

Stalin was one of the Bolsheviks' chief operatives in the Caucasus and grew closer to Lenin, who saw him as tough, loyal, and capable of getting things done behind the scenes. Stalin played a decisive role in engineering the Red Army invasion of Georgia. His successes in Georgia propelled him into the ranks of the Politburo in late This decision led to the creation of the office of the General Secretary which Stalin assumed on 3 April.

Stalin soon learned how to use his new office to gain advantages over key persons within the party. He prepared the agenda for the Politburo meetings, directing the course of meetings. As General Secretary, he appointed new local party leaders, establishing a patronage network loyal to him. In , Lenin's health was rapidly deteriorating alongside his relationship with Stalin.

Stalin, through his office as General Secretary , received advanced knowledge about Lenin's Testament and sought to delay its release. Many were members of the Politburo, and rivalries extended beyond that. Several People's Commissars were involved in the Party's internal personal as well as political struggles. The main factions within the party included the intellectual " left wing ", and the trade unionist " right wing ".

Leon Trotsky led a group of his own supporters. In this environment, Stalin painted himself as a moderate labeling his faction "the centre" while quietly building alliances with both sides in the mids.