Stalin’s dictatorship – fotocopia dropbox – cata.

Death of Lenin

When Lenin died in 1924, he left no obvious successor. No one man or woman commanded
the full support of all the other Communist leaders. Trotsky was the most effective of the men
at the top but was difficult to like with his arrogance and ice-cold contempt for those who tried
to frustrate him. None of the others had the same brilliance; it looked as if control of the
Soviet Union would be left in the hands of the collective leadership at the top rather than
under the control of a dictator like Lenin.

Man of Steel

Josef Vissarionovitch Dzhugashvili, who later took the name of Stalin (man of steel), had other
plans. He came from Georgia in the south and not from Russia itself. In 1922 he became
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. This gave him control of
the Party organization and meant that he could plan the work of committes so they reached
decisions he had already made.

He first allied himself with Kamenev and Zinoviev against Trosky. Havng discredited Trosky, he
allied himself with Bukharin, a right winger (extrema derecha), against Kamenev andZinoviev.
Lastly, he allied himself with Voroshilov and Molotov against Bukharian. By 1929, he was the
unchallenged dictator of the Soviet Union and acclaimed on his 50 th birthday as True Successor
of Lenin.

Socialism in One Country