Famous Disputes: Joseph Stalin vs. Leon Trotsky
After the White Army party’s defeat in 1921, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky were left as the dominant figures in the new Bolshevik government. Despite the clear rivalry between Stalin and Trotsky (stemming from opposing philosophical and political leadership views), Lenin promoted both and hoped that they would cooperate. Trotsky’s popularity trumped Stalin’s, so he received a more authoritative position and was thus perceived as Lenin’s heir apparent. Lenin gave Stalin the role of General Secretary of the Communist Party, and though this position was less public, he was strategically able to build loyalty within the Communist Party.
When Lenin’s health began to fail in 1922, tensions over who would be the Communist Party’s successor grew seismic. Though Lenin asked for shared power until his death in 1924, Stalin’s strategic takeover was inevitable. By 1927, Stalin had eliminated all of his political rivals and became the head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, Stalin had Trotsky exiled from the Party and deported him from the Soviet Union by 1929. Trotsky was eventually assassinated in August, 1940 in Mexico by Ramon Mercader, a Soviet Agent acting on Stalin’s orders.
