Why did Leon Trotsky lose the the leadership contest?
There were several reasons. Trostsky was a late convert to
Bolshevism and was not trusted by many of the old Bolsheviks. many
old Bolsheviks considered Trotsky to be too much of an intellectual
for their liking. Many disliked him for being Jewish despite the
fact that many Bolsheviks were themselves Jewish. Grigori Zinoviev,
himself a Jew, hated Trotsky so much he joined with Stalin and Lev
Kamenev (also Jewish) to form a three party ruling block to oust
Trotsky from power. Another reason is that Stalin, as General
Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party as well
as Commissar of other departments in government held the loyalty of
many people he had installed in government and party positions.
Trotsky had few allies in power.