Joseph Stalin

=== 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}}