Stalin's rise to power was a combination of his ability to manipulate situations and the failure of others to prevent him from taking power, especially Leon Trotsky. Trotsky did not take advantage of several opportunities which would have helped him to crush Stalin politically. When he failed to take advantage of these opportunities, Stalin maneuvered himself into a stronger position within the party by allying with Zinoviev and Kamenev. He manipulated them into crushing Trotsky, thus eliminating the strongest opponent in his path to power. Stalin deftly avoided potential political ruin when Lenin formulated his Testament in December 1922. Lenin's Testament described what he thought of the future of the Party and Party leaders, especially Trotsky and Stalin. Lenin warned of a potential split in which Stalin and Trotsky would be the chief factors. When describing Stalin, Lenin felt that he had concentrated "…unlimited authority… in his hands and whether he will always be capable of using that authority with sufficient caution." (Clark 472). The content of Lenin's Testament eventually became more detrimental to Trotsky than Stalin. Coupled with the Lenin incidentally undermining Trotsky, Stalin manipulated the content of the Testament to enhance his stature. By mentioning Stalin as one of the prominent members of the Party, Lenin raised Stalin's stature to that of Trotsky. The equivalent stature of Stalin and Trotsky made Trotsky seem to be less important in relation to Lenin and thus to the Party apparatus. Further damaging Trotsky, Lenin described him as possessing "…excessive self-confidence… and overly attracted by the purely administrative aspects of affairs…" (Clark 472) The latter characterization of Trotsky was one that Stalin employed against him throughout their struggle for power. Lenin then added a postscript to the Testament on January 4, 1923, characterizing Stalin as a poor choice for Secreta...
