He isolated the others such as Leon Trotsky so he could gang up on them and have them removed.
Vladimir Lenin, then Joseph Stalin
Vladimir Lenin was the leader of Russia from 1917 to 1922. He was a communist, and he turned Russia into the Soviet Union. Lenin was predecessor to Stalin.
Stalin was Lenin's successor, even though Lenin didn't actually like Stalin much. Before that, Stalin had been in charge of the Communist Party's administration.
The main persons vying for power were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. There were others, such as Grigori Zinoviev and Nikolai Bukharin, but the first battle was between Trotsky and Stalin. Lenin favored Trotsky over Stalin, but Stalin was too entrenched in the Communist Party for Trotsky to win that struggle.
Joseph Stalin succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party because Stalin had already been made Secretary General of the party before Lenin died. Stalin did not take over as sole leader of the Soviet Union, but he was the leader of the Communist Party.
At first, lenin... then lenin died and Stalin screwed with the succession and seized power.
Joseph Stalin
During the period of Lenin's semi-retirement Stalin acted as his intermediary with outside world. During this time their relationship declined as Lenin despised Stalin's authoritative style and lack of manners. He also did not like Stalin's political views and his ambition for absolute power. He also recommended in his testament that Stalin be removed from the post of Secretary General of the ruling party. However Stalin managed to conceal this testament from exposure and after Lenin's death he successfully gained power.
Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin were two communist leaders of the USSR in the 20th century. Lenin ruled from 1917 to 1924. Stalin ruled from 1924 to 1953.
The Communist Party
Joseph or Josef Stalin did.
He spoke highly of Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin.... You decide.