Lenin's Letter is Read to the Communist Party

During the May 1924 meeting of the Communist Party, Lenin's letter was read out loud to the Politburo. Stalin's hopes of becoming leader looked very grim. Lenin's unflattering conclusions about Stalin caused great embarrassment:

Eyewitness Account:

Terrible embarrassment paralyzed all those present…Stalin sitting on the steps of the rostrum looked small and miserable…in spite of his self-control and show of calm, it was clearly evident that his fate was at stake."

Author Unknown
May 1924

Fortunately for Stalin, one of his supporters on the committee stood up and spoke in his defense. They told the audience that Stalin was devoted to the Party and to Lenin. Furthermore, he had worked very hard to make sure that Lenin had been properly buried, and was eady to continue to work for the party. This gesture saved Stalin from being eliminated from the role as General Secretary.

Eliminating the Threat of Trotsky

With his position inside the party secure, Stalin began to solidify his power. His greatest adversary was Trotsky, who he battled on the direction that the revolution should now go. Trotsky wanted to spread the revolution around the world as Marx had predicted. Stalin argued that the Party must protect and rebuild Russia first.

By using his supporters, and creating deals with other powerful members of the party, Stalin was able to push Trotsky out of the Party 1925. Trotsky was exiled to Siberia as punishment, and ultimately exiled out of the country. Fifteen years later, Stalin had his secret police assassinate Trotsky in Mexico. Although he was under heavy guard, an assassin was able to sneak in and drive an ice pick into Trotsky's skull. He died one day later. Stalin was was ruthless in his attempt to gain power, and with the elimination of Trotsky, his grip on the Soviet Union became tighter.

Stalin Solidifies Power

For several years after Stalin took over the Party, he spent time and resources to ensure complete dominance over the country. He acheived this by having powerful people near him eliminated. Historians argue over how many people he had liquidated (killed), but it would be safe to assume 10 million Russians were arrested during the 1930s. Of these, millions were executed or died in his special "gulags" detention camps located around the country. Stalin used force and terror to create the new Soviet state and drive his plans for the country forward.

The main tool of enforcement was the state police, called the Cheka. The name was short for the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Sabotage, and Speculation. This organization was created by Lenin to protect the communist dream from those who did not believe in the goals of the Party.

Under Stalin the name changed to the Ogpu (All-Union State Political Organization), and the powers of the organization grew immensely. In fact, it really became an army prepared to fight its own citizens. Anyone suspected of not supporting the communist party would be killed, or exiled to Siberia where he could be worked to death. This internal police force has changed its name several times in the history of the USSR. The KGB remains the latest version of this powerful organization. The brance in charge of watching over the citizens of Russia is now referred to as the Second Chief Directorate of the KGB.

B using the power of the secret police, Stalin purged or cleaned his political party, the army and Russian citizens of those he thought were a threat. By 1940, he eliminated the best and the brightest from the government and army. This left him in absolute control of the Party and the country. Unfortunatly, as a nation, she would be weakened in a future conflict with Germany.

Numbers of Military Officers Purged in the Red Army in one year (1937-38)*

* Of the total of 35,000 officers in the army, about half were shot and the rest were imprisoned.