How and why was Stalin able to gain power

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…the leadership race, and made serious errors that effectively ruined his own bid. Stalin though seemed to adapt well to a situation, which Lee believes suited his style, mediocrity rather than brilliance. He effectively adopted a centrist approach in the party debates, enabling him to move from one policy to the next with relative ease in order to eliminate his opponents, a policy made easier by the apparent threat to Russian survival from the West.