How did Joseph Stalin outmaneuver Leon Trotsky?

Answer 1

When Lenin died in 1924 he left no clear successor for leadership of the Communist Party. A group of potential candidates emerged creating a series of factions within the Party. The 1920's was dominated by vigorous debate within the Bolshevik Party about the vision and path to modernize for the USSR.

Stalin was overall more aggressive than Trotsky, who was very submissive politically.

There were a number of things that aided Stalin in his outmaneuver of Leon Trotsky, these include:

Stalin had a superior political strategy ('Socialism in One Country') combined with his position in the Party at the time enabled him to obtain considerable power and influence after the death of Lenin.

Stalin was ruthless, ambitious for power and possessed a practical ideology, which assisted in his victory over Comrade Trotsky by 1928.

On-top of all of this Stalin was politically flexible aligning himself with key and influential figures of the Party to suit his own interests. He cleverly manipulated both to the left, then the right factions of the Party to eliminate competition for leadership.

Lastly, Stalin's position enabled him to hand-pick Party members and appoint key officials for important Party positions. This meant that because he stocked to Party with individuals who owed him their promotion this enabled him to establish a solid support base from which to draw upon.