Joseph Stalin

=== 1924–1927: Succeeding Lenin ===
[[File:Stalin Rykov Kamenev Zinoviev 1925.jpg|thumb|right|(From left to right) Stalin, [[Alexei Rykov]], [[Lev Kamenev]], and [[Grigori Zinoviev]] in 1925. The latter three later all fell out with Stalin and were executed during the [[Great Purge]]]]

Lenin died in January 1924.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=104|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=219|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=534|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=79}} Stalin took charge of the funeral and was one of its pallbearers; against the wishes of Lenin's widow, the Politburo embalmed his corpse and placed it within a [[Lenin's Mausoleum|mausoleum]] in Moscow's [[Red Square]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=110|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=219|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=542–543}} It was incorporated into a growing [[personality cult]] devoted to Lenin, with Petrograd being renamed "Leningrad" that year.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=130|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=221|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=540}} To bolster his image as a devoted Leninist, Stalin gave nine lectures at [[Sverdlov University]] on the ''[[Foundations of Leninism]]'', later published in book form.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=111–112|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=117–118|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=221|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=544}} During the [[13th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|13th Party Congress]] in May 1924, Lenin's Testament was read only to the leaders of the provincial delegations.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=222–224|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=79}} Embarrassed by its contents, Stalin offered his resignation as General Secretary; this act of humility saved him, and he was retained in the position.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=111|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=93–94|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=222–224|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=546–548|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=79}} According to Stalin's secretary, [[Boris Bazhanov]], Stalin was jubilant over Lenin's death while "publicly putting on the mask of grief".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuromiya |first1=Hiroaki |title=Stalin |date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86780-7 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRV4AAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+swearing+Lenin+testament&pg=PA59 |access-date=10 July 2023 |archive-date=19 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719203558/https://books.google.com/books?id=BRV4AAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+swearing+Lenin+testament&pg=PA59 |url-status=live }}</ref>

As General Secretary, Stalin had a free hand in making appointments to his own staff, implanting his loyalists throughout the party and administration.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=426}} Favouring new Communist Party members from proletarian backgrounds to the "[[Old Bolsheviks]]" who tended to be middle class university graduates,{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=453}} he ensured he had loyalists dispersed across the country's regions.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=455}} Stalin had much contact with young party functionaries,{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=469}} and the desire for promotion led many provincial figures to seek to impress Stalin and gain his favour.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=432}} Stalin also developed close relations with the trio at the heart of the secret police (first the Cheka and then its replacement, the [[State Political Directorate]]): [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], [[Genrikh Yagoda]], and [[Vyacheslav Menzhinsky]].{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|pp=495–496}} In his private life, he divided his time between his Kremlin apartment and a [[dacha]] at Zubalova;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=127|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=235}} his wife gave birth to a daughter, [[Svetlana Alliluyeva|Svetlana]], in February 1926.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=127|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=238}}

In the wake of Lenin's death, various protagonists emerged in the struggle to become his successor: alongside Stalin was Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, [[Alexei Rykov]], and [[Mikhail Tomsky]].{{sfn|Fainsod|Hough|1979|p=111}} Stalin saw Trotsky — whom he personally despised{{sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=136}} — as the main obstacle to his dominance within the party.{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=27}} While Lenin had been ill Stalin with Kamenev and Zinoviev had formed an unofficial [[Triumvirate]] (also known by its Russian name ''[[List of leaders of the Soviet Union#List of troikas|Troika]]''), a political alliance aimed at Trotsky.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=98|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=474|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=52}} Although Zinoviev was concerned about Stalin's growing authority, he rallied behind him at the 13th Congress as a counterweight to Trotsky, who now led a party faction known as the [[Left Opposition]].{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=214–215, 217}} The Left Opposition believed the NEP conceded too much to capitalism; Stalin was called a "rightist" for his support of the policy.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=87}} Stalin built up a retinue of his supporters in the Central Committee,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=225}} while the Left Opposition were gradually removed from their positions of influence.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=227}} He was supported in this by Bukharin, who, like Stalin, believed that the Left Opposition's proposals would plunge the Soviet Union into instability.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=228}}

[[File:Ordzhonikidze, Stalin and Mikoyan, 1925.jpg|thumb|left|Stalin and his close associates [[Anastas Mikoyan]] and [[Sergo Ordzhonikidze]] in [[Tbilisi]], 1925]]

In late 1924, Stalin moved against Kamenev and Zinoviev, removing their supporters from key positions.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=228|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=563}} In 1925, the two moved into open opposition to Stalin and Bukharin.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=240}} At the [[14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|14th Party Congress]] in December, they launched an attack against Stalin's faction, but it was unsuccessful.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=240–243|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=82–83}} Stalin in turn accused Kamenev and Zinoviev of reintroducing factionalism — and thus instability — into the party.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=240–243|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=82–83}} In mid-1926, Kamenev and Zinoviev joined with Trotsky's supporters to form the [[United Opposition (Soviet Union)|United Opposition]] against Stalin;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=126|2a1=Conquest|2y=2008|2p=11|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=614|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=83}} in October they agreed to stop factional activity under threat of expulsion, and later publicly recanted their views under Stalin's command.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=137, 138|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=614}} The factionalist arguments continued, with Stalin threatening to resign in October and then December 1926 and again in December 1927.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=247|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=614, 618|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=91}} In October 1927, Zinoviev and Trotsky were removed from the Central Committee;{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=85}} the latter was exiled to Kazakhstan and later deported from the country in 1929.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=139, 151|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=282–283|3a1=Conquest|3y=2008|3pp=11–12|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=676–677|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=85}} Some of those United Opposition members who were repentant were later rehabilitated and returned to government.{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=164|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=282}}

Stalin was now the party's supreme leader,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=276}} although he was not the [[head of government]], a task he entrusted to his key ally [[Vyacheslav Molotov]].{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=277–278}} Other important supporters on the Politburo were Voroshilov, [[Lazar Kaganovich]], and [[Sergo Ordzhonikidze]],{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=277, 280|2a1=Conquest|2y=2008|2pp=12–13}} with Stalin ensuring his allies ran the various state institutions.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=278}} According to Montefiore, at this point "Stalin was the leader of the oligarchs but he was far from a dictator".{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=39}} His growing influence was reflected in naming of various locations after him; in June 1924 the Ukrainian mining town of [[Yuzovka]] became Stalino,{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=130}} and in April 1925, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad on the order of [[Mikhail Kalinin]] and [[Avel Enukidze]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=130|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=160|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=689}}

In 1926, Stalin published ''On Questions of Leninism''.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=244}} Here, he argued for the concept of "[[socialism in one country]]", which he presented as an orthodox Leninist perspective. It nevertheless clashed with established Bolshevik views that socialism could not be established in one country but could only be achieved globally through the process of [[world revolution]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=244}} 
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