Leon Trotsky believed that Stalin was not a true Marxist. He believed that with the death of Lenin, Stalin would use the Dictatorship of the proletariat as a mechanism to assert total control of the Soviet Union under his "rule". As Trotsky saw Stalin as a "true" dictator, any handy political & philosophical ideas could be used to obtain & retain full power over the Soviet Union. Trotsky laid down this idea sometime before it became clear that Stalin was a "working man's" Czar. He believed that Stalin's methods would lead to the party organization to substitute itself as the party as a whole. Then the Central Committee would substitute itself for the party organization. Finally a single dictator would substitute a single dictator ( Stalin) for the Central Committee.
After Vladimir Lenin died, Stalin's rivals for power were Leon Trotsky, Grigori Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Bukharin.
Joseph Stalin opposed Trotsky in their struggle for power after Vladimir Lenin died in 1924.
Leon Trotsky had excellent organizational skills and that was the type of duties Lenin needed from him. He was successful in re-organizing the Red Guard, using a combination of discipline and chain of command responsibility to turn them into one of the most feared armies of the time. Although he was Lenin's right hand man, his personality did not win him many friends. After Lenin died, it was not surprising when Trotsky failed to become his successor.
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.
He isolated the others such as Leon Trotsky so he could gang up on them and have them removed.
His closest known associate was Leon Trotsky.
Trotsky never did reign over Russia. Lenin did at first after the Revolution. Then Lenin became ill and Joseph Stalin, Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev ruled together. After Lenin died, Trotsky was supposed to take over according to papers left behind by Lenin, but Stalin prevented that and forced Trotsky first out of the Communist Party then out of the country.
Leon Trotsky died on August 21, 1940 at the age of 60.
Lenin was leader of Bolsheviks and Trotsky was second in command until Lenin died in 1924. Lenin had appointed Trotsky People's Commissar for External Affairs after the October Revolution. Then, when the Russian Civil War broke out, Lenin appointed him Commissar of War. Lenin had picked Trotsky over Stalin to succed him but Trotsky lost out to Stalin and others for the right to succeed Lenin. Stalin managed to expel Trotsky from the Communist Party and then from the country. In 1940, Stalin had a Russian agent murder Trotsky.
Stalin had always supported the Bolsheviks, while Trotsky only switched from the Menshevik party to the Bolshevik party after it was apparent that the Bolsheviks would win. Trotsky was a thinker with brilliant speeches, Stalin used force for votes. Trotsky led the army, while Stalin was the secretary. Stalin had great political appeal, but Trotsky had great militaristic and organisational appeal. Furthermore, Stalin was mentally and physically strong, but after Lenin's death, Trotsky began breaking down. The power struggle between the two sparked a conflict in which Trotsky fled the USSR but was later disposed.
Leon Trotsky was one of the Communist leaders of the Russian Revolution in 1917. He died in 1924.
Joseph Stalin's rival for control of the Soviet Union was Leon Trotsky. Vladimir Lenin died in 1924 and over the next 5 years Stalin would kill or otherwise remove all of his political opponents and rivals and exile Trotsky. He eventually had Trotsky assassinated in Mexico City in 1940.