Stephen Kotkin on Stalin's Rise to Power: Contingency, Ideology, and Institutional Control

Stalin's ascent to unparalleled power was a complex interplay of individual drive and opportune historical circumstances. The collapse of the Tsarist regime during World War I, the subsequent peasant revolution, and the failure of the provisional government created a vacuum. Lenin's "October Coup" in 1917, a seizure of power by the Bolsheviks against other socialist factions in the name of the popular Soviets, provided the initial platform. Stalin, who spent WWI in Siberian exile and was disqualified from military service, was not a direct driver of these initial large-scale processes but was strategically positioned within Lenin's inner circle as the Bolsheviks successfully consolidated power after winning the ensuing Civil War.

A pivotal moment was Lenin's creation of the General Secretary position in 1922, specifically designed for Stalin to manage the day-to-day operations of the new regime. Less than six weeks later, Lenin suffered a major stroke, effectively removing him from active control. This contingent event transformed Stalin's role from a mere "help-mate" to the de facto operational head, allowing him to leverage this newly institutionalized position to systematically build a personal dictatorship within the broader Bolshevik authoritarian structure. His selection by Lenin was based on his exceptional organizational skills and ability to "get things done," rather than perceived brilliance, proving his competence in executive tasks.

Stalin was a "true believer" in communism and a staunch "statist," driven by the ideals of enacting communism and building a powerful Russian state. This ideological conviction, coupled with his dedication and perceived ability to achieve these goals, garnered him significant support among communists and Russian patriots alike. However, his methods were far from idealistic; he employed cunning, ruthlessness, diligence, a phenomenal memory, and resorted to manipulation, violence, lies, slander, and sabotage against rivals. He justified these "any means necessary" tactics by identifying his personal power with the advancement of communism and Russian glory, believing himself to be the only one capable of realizing these ambitions.

The broader geopolitical and economic context of the interwar period significantly contributed to communism's appeal. The Great Depression, the rise of fascism and Nazism, and the pervasive imperialism of democratic capitalist states created widespread disillusionment with the capitalist system. While communism ultimately proved to be a far more destructive alternative, it offered a seemingly viable solution to the pressing problems of the era. This perception only shifted after World War II, when capitalism, revitalized by economic booms and decolonization, presented a more successful and less violent image, making the Soviet model increasingly difficult to compete against.

Stalin as having amassed arguably more power than any man in history.

Stalin is also a product of circumstances not solely his own individual Drive which is very strong.

Lenin does is he does a coup on the left that is to say Soviets or councils as we would call them in English which represent people's power or the masses participating in politics a kind of radical grassroots democracy are extremely popular all over the country and not dominated by any one group but predominantly socialist or predominantly leftist.

Lenin needs somebody to run this new regime in the kind of nitty-gritty way... he makes Stalin the General Secretary of the Communist Party.

A position is created for Stalin to run things on Lenin's behalf and then Lenin has a stroke and so Stalin now has this new position general-secretary but he's the right hand of a person who's no longer exercising day-to-day control over affairs.

Stalin then uses this new position to create a personal dictatorship inside the Bolshevik dictatorship which is the remarkable story I tried to tell.

History is full of contingency and surprise after something happens we all think it's inevitable it had to happen that way.

Stalin was a true believer and this is very important he was also hungry for power and for personal power but just as you said not for powers sake not only for power he was interested in enacting communism in reality and also in building a powerful state.

He was cunning he was ruthless and he was a workaholic he was very diligent he had a phenomenal memory.

Any means right were were acceptable to him to achieve these ends and he identified his personal power with communism and with Russian glory in the world.