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From the beginning of Stalin's rise to power he was the only person that was moved about into defenseless spots where the threat to the revolution was most imminent he was never found where things were quiet. When the revolutionary situation required it, Stalin was ready to defy any regulation or any order from above.

Lenin wrote in his Testament before he died about his prospective successors, even though he thought that Stalin was an outstanding leader he expressed his concern at Stalin's position of Secretary General. He felt that he wouldn't always be able to use his authority without caution. However the following day Lenin added to this that he found Stalin intolerable and he thought that his opposition should remove him from power.

After Lenin suffered his last fatal stroke there became a power struggle between his potential successors Trotsky, Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev. Lenin's last testament was banned from becoming made public.At the beginning it had seemed that Trotsky was the most obvious to become Lenin's successor, however many of his opponents disliked him as they feared that he may become a military dictator this left Stalin in a strong position. At Lenin's funeral Stalin promised that he would continue with Lenin's policy's and that he would follow on the fight of the proletariat against oppression by other classes. Many people saw Stalin not as a ruthless dictator but as a moderate who wood follow a middle road policy and avoid dangerous situations such as world revolution.

Stalin showed amazing ability to take advantage of the other leader's weaknesses and to play them of against one and another until he was powerful enough to stand on his own. He was very strategic in his fast takeover to begin he allied with the leftists Zinoviev and Kamenev to diminish Trotsky's power. Once he had got rid of Trotsky he changed sides and formed an alliance with Bukharin and the other rightists. Therefore this would enable him to defeat Ziniviev and Kamenev and drive them out of the communist party for good. However Bukharin did not realize at this time Stalin was building up his own support base, so within a year after defeating the leftists he also managed to challenge and defeat Bukharin and took supreme power of the Soviet Union.

It could be said that Stalin's rise to Power can be considered impressive if but gruesome however its ideological aspect should not be forgotten. Stalin built up his support base by not just appealing to the communist's career aspirations but also to the widespread desires of the Soviet Union. The reason for Stalin's success in the takeover was that his enemies never understood what his motivations were. Whilst they themselves cared about principles and policy all that mattered to Stalin was power.

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