Joseph Stalin

==In Lenin's government==
{{Main|Joseph Stalin during the Russian Revolution, Civil War, and the Polish–Soviet War}}

=== 1917–1918: Consolidating power ===
[[File:Stalin 1917-1.1A.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Joseph Stalin in 1917 as a young [[People's Commissariat|People's Commissar]]]]
On 26 October 1917, Lenin declared himself chairman of a new government, the [[Council of People's Commissars]] ("Sovnarkom").{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=147–148|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=227–228, 229|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=52}} Stalin backed Lenin's decision not to form a coalition with the Mensheviks and [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]], although they did form a coalition government with the [[Left Socialist-Revolutionaries]].{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1pp=28–29|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=148}} Stalin became part of an informal foursome leading the government, alongside Lenin, Trotsky, and Sverdlov.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=228}} Stalin's office was based near to Lenin's in the [[Smolny Institute]],{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=229}} and he and Trotsky were the only individuals allowed access to Lenin's study without an appointment.{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=27|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=226}} Although not so publicly well known as Lenin or Trotsky,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=150}} Stalin's importance among the Bolsheviks grew.{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=157}} He co-signed Lenin's decrees shutting down hostile newspapers,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=149}} and along with Sverdlov, he chaired the sessions of the committee drafting [[Soviet Russia Constitution of 1918|a constitution]] for the new [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=155}} He strongly supported Lenin's formation of the [[Cheka]] security service and the subsequent [[Red Terror]] that it initiated; noting that state violence had proved an effective tool for capitalist powers, he believed that it would prove the same for the Soviet government.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=158}} Unlike senior Bolsheviks like Kamenev and [[Nikolai Bukharin]], Stalin never expressed concern about the rapid growth and expansion of the Cheka and Red Terror.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=158}}

[[File:Moscow Kremlin and Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge late evening 01.JPG|thumb|right|The Moscow [[Kremlin]], which Stalin moved into in 1918]]
Having dropped his editorship of ''Pravda'',{{sfn|Service|2004|p=148}} Stalin was appointed the [[People's Commissariat|People's Commissar]] for Nationalities.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=70|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=148|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=228|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=52}} He took [[Nadezhda Alliluyeva]] as his secretary{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=72|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=151}} and at some point, married her, although the wedding date is unknown.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=72|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=167|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=264|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=49}} In November 1917, he signed the [[Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia|Decree on Nationality]], according ethnic and national minorities living in Russia the right of secession and self-determination.{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=71}} The decree's purpose was primarily strategic; the Bolsheviks wanted to gain favour among ethnic minorities but hoped that the latter would not actually desire independence.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=152}} That month, he travelled to [[Helsingfors]] to talk with the [[Social Democratic Party of Finland|Finnish Social Democrats]], [[Independence of Finland|granting Finland's request for independence in December]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=152}} His department allocated funds for establishment of presses and schools in the languages of various ethnic minorities.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=153}} Socialist revolutionaries accused Stalin's talk of [[federalism]] and national self-determination as a front for Sovnarkom's centralising and [[imperialist]] policies.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=155}}

Because of the ongoing First World War, in which Russia was fighting the [[Central Powers]] of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Lenin's government relocated from Petrograd to Moscow in March 1918. Stalin, Trotsky, Sverdlov, and Lenin lived at the [[Kremlin]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=72|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=150–151|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=259–264}} Stalin supported Lenin's desire to sign an armistice with the Central Powers regardless of the cost in territory.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=75|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=158–161|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=250}} Stalin thought it necessary because — unlike Lenin — he was unconvinced that Europe was on the verge of [[proletarian revolution]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=159–160|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=250}} Lenin eventually convinced the other senior Bolsheviks of his viewpoint, resulting in the signing of the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] in March 1918.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=75|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=161|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=257–258}} The treaty gave vast areas of land and resources to the Central Powers and angered many in Russia; the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries withdrew from the coalition government over the issue.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=161|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=258–259, 265}} The governing RSDLP party was soon renamed, becoming the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party]].{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=259}}

=== 1918–1921: Military command ===
After the Bolsheviks seized power, both right and left-wing armies rallied against them, generating the [[Russian Civil War]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=165|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=268–270}} In May 1918, amid a dwindling food supply, Sovnarkom sent Stalin to [[Tsaritsyn]] to take charge of food procurement in Southern Russia.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=77|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=39|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2003|3p=27|4a1=Service|4y=2004|4p=163|5a1=Kotkin|5y=2014|5pp=300–301|6a1=Khlevniuk|6y=2015|6p=54}} Eager to prove himself as a commander,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=173}} once there he took control of regional military operations.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=164|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=302–303}} He befriended two military figures, [[Kliment Voroshilov]] and [[Semyon Budyonny]], who would form the nucleus of his military and political support base.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=78, 82|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=28|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=55}} Believing that victory was assured by numerical superiority, he sent large numbers of [[Red Army]] troops into battle against the region's anti-Bolshevik [[White movement|White armies]], resulting in heavy losses; Lenin was concerned by this costly tactic.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=81|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=170}} In Tsaritsyn, Stalin commanded the local Cheka branch to execute suspected counterrevolutionaries, sometimes without trial{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=46|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=27|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=305, 307|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=56–57}} and — in contravention of government orders — purged the military and food collection agencies of middle-class specialists, some of whom he also executed.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=78–79|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=40|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=166|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=55}} His use of state violence and terror was at a greater scale than most Bolshevik leaders approved of;{{sfn|Service|2004|p=171}} for instance, he ordered several villages to be torched to ensure compliance with his food procurement program.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=169}}

In December 1918, Stalin was sent to [[Perm, Russia|Perm]] to lead an inquiry into how [[Alexander Kolchak]]'s White forces had been able to decimate Red troops based there.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=83–84|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=172|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=314}} He returned to Moscow between January and March 1919,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=172}} before being assigned to the Western Front at Petrograd.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=85|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=172}} When the Red Third Regiment defected, he ordered the public execution of captured defectors.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=172}} In September, he was returned to the Southern Front.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=172}} During the war, he proved his worth to the Central Committee, displaying decisiveness, determination, and willingness to take on responsibility in conflict situations.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=173}} At the same time, he disregarded orders and repeatedly threatened to resign when affronted.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=173, 174}} He was reprimanded by Lenin at the [[8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|8th Party Congress]] for employing tactics which resulted in far too many deaths of Red Army soldiers.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=185}} In November 1919, the government nonetheless awarded him the [[Order of the Red Banner]] for his wartime service.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=86|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=45|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=331}}

The Bolsheviks won the Russian Civil War by the end of 1919.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=175}} By that time, Sovnarkom had turned its attention to spreading proletarian revolution abroad, to this end forming the [[Communist International]] in March 1919; Stalin attended its inaugural ceremony.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=91|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=175}} Although Stalin did not share Lenin's belief that Europe's proletariat were on the verge of revolution, he acknowledged that as long as it stood alone, Soviet Russia remained vulnerable.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=176}} In December 1918, he drew up decrees recognising Marxist-governed Soviet republics in [[Commune of the Working People of Estonia|Estonia]], [[Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–19)|Lithuania]], and [[Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic|Latvia]];{{sfn|Service|2004|p=199}} during the civil war these Marxist governments were overthrown and the Baltic countries became fully independent of Russia, an act Stalin regarded as illegitimate.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=203, 190}} In February 1920, he was appointed to head the [[Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate]];{{sfn|Service|2004|p=174}} that same month he was also transferred to the Caucasian Front.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=178}}

[[File:Stalin 1920-1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Joseph Stalin in 1920]]
Following [[Soviet westward offensive of 1918–19|earlier clashes]] between Polish and Russian troops, the [[Polish–Soviet War]] broke out in early 1920, with the Poles invading Ukraine and taking [[Kiev]] on 7 May.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=176|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=352–354}} On 26 May, Stalin was moved to Ukraine, on the Southwest Front.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=178|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=357|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=59}} The Red Army retook Kiev on 10 June and soon forced the Polish troops back into Poland.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=176–177}} On 16 July, the Central Committee decided to take the war into Polish territory.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=177}} Lenin believed that the Polish proletariat would rise up to support the Russians against [[Józef Piłsudski]]'s Polish government.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=177}} Stalin had cautioned against this; he believed that [[Polish nationalism|nationalism]] would lead the Polish working-classes to support their government's war effort.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=177}} He also believed that the Red Army was ill-prepared to conduct an offensive war and that it would give White armies a chance to resurface in [[Crimea]], potentially reigniting the civil war.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=177}} Stalin lost the argument, after which he accepted Lenin's decision and supported it.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=178}} Along the Southwest Front, he became determined to conquer [[Lvov]]; in focusing on this goal, he disobeyed orders in early August to transfer his troops to assist [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]]'s forces that were attacking Warsaw.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=87|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=179|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=362|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=60}}

In mid-August 1920, the Poles [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|repulsed the Russian advance]], and Stalin returned to Moscow to attend the Politburo meeting.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=180, 182|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=364}} Tukhachevsky blamed Stalin for his defeat at the Battle of Warsaw.{{sfn|Brackman|2004|p=135}} In Moscow, Lenin and Trotsky also blamed him for his behaviour in the Polish–Soviet War.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=182}} Stalin felt humiliated and under-appreciated; on 17 August, he demanded demission from the military, which was granted on 1 September.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=182|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=364–365}} At the 9th Bolshevik Conference in late September, Trotsky accused Stalin of "strategic mistakes" in his handling of the war.{{sfnm|1a1=Davies|1y=2003|1p=211|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=183–185|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=376–377}} Trotsky claimed that Stalin sabotaged the campaign by disobeying troop transfer orders.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=377}} Lenin joined Trotsky in criticising him, and nobody spoke on his behalf at the conference.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=184–185|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=377}} Stalin felt disgraced and his antipathy toward Trotsky increased.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=185}} The Polish–Soviet War ended on 18 March 1921, when [[Peace of Riga|a peace treaty]] was signed in [[Riga]].{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=392}}

=== 1921–1923: Lenin's final years ===
[[File:Stalin 1921-1.jpg|thumb|right|Stalin wearing an [[Order of the Red Banner]] in 1921]]

The Soviet government sought to bring neighbouring states under its domination; [[Georgian–Soviet War|in February 1921 it invaded]] the Menshevik-governed [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Georgia]],{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|pp=396–397}} while in April 1921, Stalin ordered the Red Army into [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkestan]] to reassert Russian state control.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=388}} As People's Commissar for Nationalities, Stalin believed that each national and ethnic group should have the right to self-expression,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=202}} facilitated through "[[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|autonomous republics]]" within the Russian state in which they could oversee various regional affairs.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=199–200|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=371}} In taking this view, some Marxists accused him of bending too much to [[bourgeois nationalism]], while others accused him of remaining too Russocentric by seeking to retain these nations within the Russian state.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=202}}

Stalin's native Caucasus posed a particular problem because of its highly multi-ethnic mix.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=200}} Stalin opposed the idea of separate Georgian, Armenian, and Azeri autonomous republics, arguing that these would likely oppress ethnic minorities within their respective territories; instead, he called for a [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=194–196|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=400}} The [[Communist Party of Georgia (Soviet Union)|Georgian Communist Party]] opposed the idea, resulting in the [[Georgian affair]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=194–195|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=479–481}} In mid-1921, Stalin returned to the [[South Caucasus]], there calling on Georgian communists to avoid the chauvinistic Georgian nationalism which marginalised the [[Abkhazians|Abkhazian]], [[Ossetians|Ossetian]], and [[Adjarian]] minorities in Georgia.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=203–205|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=400}} On this trip, Stalin met with his son Yakov, and brought him back to Moscow;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=127|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=232}} Nadezhda had given birth to another of Stalin's sons, [[Vasily Stalin|Vasily]], in March 1921.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=127|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=232}}

After the civil war, workers' strikes and peasant uprisings broke out across Russia, largely in opposition to Sovnarkom's food requisitioning project; as an antidote, Lenin introduced market-oriented reforms: the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP).{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=89|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=187|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=344|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=64}} There was also internal turmoil in the Communist Party, as Trotsky led a faction calling for abolition of trade unions; Lenin opposed this, and Stalin helped rally opposition to Trotsky's position.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=186}} Stalin also agreed to supervise the Department of Agitation and Propaganda in the Central Committee Secretariat.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=188}} At the [[11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|11th Party Congress]] in 1922, Lenin nominated Stalin as the party's new [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]]. Although concerns were expressed that adopting this new post on top of his others would overstretch his workload and give him too much power, Stalin was appointed to the position.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=96|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=78–70|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=189–190|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=411}} For Lenin, it was advantageous to have a key ally in this crucial post.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=190}}

{{Quote box |width=25em |align=left |quote=Stalin is too crude, and this defect which is entirely acceptable in our milieu and in relationships among us as communists, becomes unacceptable in the position of General Secretary. I therefore propose to comrades that they should devise a means of removing him from this job and should appoint to this job someone else who is distinguished from comrade Stalin in all other respects only by the single superior aspect that he should be more tolerant, more polite and more attentive towards comrades, less capricious, etc. |source=— Lenin's Testament, 4 January 1923;{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2000|1p=369|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=209|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=504}} this was possibly composed by Krupskaya rather than Lenin himself.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=501}}}}
In May 1922, a massive stroke left Lenin partially paralysed.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=97|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=53|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=191}} Residing at his [[Gorki Leninskiye|Gorki dacha]], Lenin's main connection to Sovnarkom was through Stalin, who was a regular visitor.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=191–192|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=413}} Lenin twice asked Stalin to procure poison so that he could commit suicide, but Stalin never did so.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=192|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=414|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=68}} Despite this comradeship, Lenin disliked what he referred to as Stalin's "Asiatic" manner and told his sister [[Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova|Maria]] that Stalin was "not intelligent".{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=102|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=191–192|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=528}} Lenin and Stalin argued on the issue of foreign trade; Lenin believed that the Soviet state should have a monopoly on foreign trade, but Stalin supported [[Grigori Sokolnikov]]'s view that doing so was impractical at that stage.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=98|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=193|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=483|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=69–70}} Another disagreement came over the Georgian affair, with Lenin backing the Georgian Central Committee's desire for a Georgian Soviet Republic over Stalin's idea of a Transcaucasian one.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=95|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=195|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=71–72}}

They also disagreed on the nature of the Soviet state. Lenin called for establishment of a new federation named the "Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia", reflecting his desire for expansion across the two continents and insisted that the Russian state should join this union on equal terms with the other Soviet states.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=195}} Stalin believed this would encourage independence sentiment among non-Russians, instead arguing that ethnic minorities would be content as "autonomous republics" within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=194|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=475–476|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=68–69}} Lenin accused Stalin of "Great Russian chauvinism"; Stalin accused Lenin of "national liberalism".{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=98–99|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=195|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=477, 478|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=69}} A compromise was reached, in which the federation would be renamed the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (USSR).{{sfn|Service|2004|p=195}} The USSR's formation was ratified in December 1922; although officially a federal system, all major decisions were taken by the governing [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] in Moscow.{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=74|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=206|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=485}}

Their differences also became personal; Lenin was particularly angered when Stalin was rude to his wife Krupskaya during a telephone conversation.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=99–100, 103|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=72–74|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=210–211|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=70–71}} In the final years of his life, Krupskaya provided governing figures with [[Lenin's Testament]], a series of increasingly disparaging notes about Stalin. These criticised Stalin's rude manners and excessive power, suggesting that Stalin should be removed from the position of general secretary.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=100–101|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=53, 79–82|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=208–209|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=71}} Some historians have questioned whether Lenin ever produced these, suggesting instead that they may have been written by Krupskaya, who had personal differences with Stalin;{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=501}} Stalin, however, never publicly voiced concerns about their authenticity.{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=528}} Most historians consider the document to be an accurate reflection of Lenin's views.{{sfn|Suny|2020b|p=59}} According to Stalin's secretary, [[Boris Bazhanov]], Lenin "in general leaned towards a [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collegial leadership]], with Trotsky in the first position".{{sfn|Bazhanov|Doyle|1990|p=62}}