Joseph Stalin Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === 1921β1923: 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; [[GeorgianβSoviet War|in February 1921 it invaded]] the Menshevik-governed [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Georgia]],{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|pp=396β397}} 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=199β200|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=194β196|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=194β195|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=479β481}} 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=203β205|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=78β70|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=189β190|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=β 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=191β192|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=191β192|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=69β70}} 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=71β72}} 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=475β476|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=68β69}} Lenin accused Stalin of "Great Russian chauvinism"; Stalin accused Lenin of "national liberalism".{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=98β99|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=99β100, 103|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=72β74|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=210β211|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=70β71}} 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=100β101|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=53, 79β82|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=208β209|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}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page