Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 1924–1928: Succeeding Lenin ===
[[File:Stalin Rykov Kamenev Zinoviev 1925 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|From left to right: Stalin, [[Alexei Rykov]], [[Lev Kamenev]], and [[Grigory Zinoviev]] in 1925. All three later fell out with Stalin and were executed during the [[Great Purge]].]]

Upon Lenin's death in January 1924,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=104|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=219|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=534|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=79}} Stalin took charge of the funeral and was a pallbearer.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=110|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=219|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=542–543}} To bolster his image as a devoted Leninist amid his growing [[personality cult]], Stalin gave nine lectures at [[Sverdlov University]] on the ''[[Foundations of Leninism]]'', later published in book form.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=111–112|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=117–118|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=221|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=544}} At the [[13th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|13th Party Congress]] in May 1924, Lenin's Testament was read only to the leaders of the provincial delegations.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=222–224|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=79}} Embarrassed by its contents, Stalin offered his resignation as General Secretary; this act of humility saved him, and he was retained in the post.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=111|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=93–94|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=222–224|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=546–548|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=79}}

As General Secretary, Stalin had a free hand in making appointments to his own staff, and implanted loyalists throughout the party.{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=426}} Favouring new members from proletarian backgrounds to "[[Old Bolsheviks]]", who tended to be middle-class university graduates,{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=453}} he ensured that he had loyalists dispersed across the regions.{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=455}} Stalin had much contact with young party functionaries,{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=469}} and the desire for promotion led many to seek his favour.{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=432}} Stalin also developed close relations with key figures in the secret police: [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]], [[Genrikh Yagoda]], and [[Vyacheslav Menzhinsky]].{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|pp=495–496}} His wife gave birth to a daughter, [[Svetlana Alliluyeva|Svetlana]], in February 1926.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=127|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=238}}

In the wake of Lenin's death, a power struggle emerged to become his successor: alongside Stalin was Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, [[Nikolai Bukharin]], [[Alexei Rykov]], and [[Mikhail Tomsky]].{{Sfn|Fainsod|Hough|1979|p=111}} Stalin saw Trotsky—whom he personally despised{{Sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=136}}—as the main obstacle to his dominance,{{Sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=27}} and during Lenin's illness had formed an unofficial [[triumvirate]] (''[[List of leaders of the Soviet Union#List of troikas|troika]]'') with Kamenev and Zinoviev against him.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=98|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=474|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=52}} Although Zinoviev was concerned about Stalin's growing power, he rallied behind him at the 13th Congress as a counterweight to Trotsky, who now led a faction known as the [[Left Opposition]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=214–215, 217}} Trotsky's supporters believed that the NEP conceded too much to capitalism, and they called Stalin a "rightist" for his support of the policy.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=87}} Stalin built up a retinue of his supporters within the Central Committee{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=225}} as the Left Opposition were marginalised.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=227}}

[[File:Ordzhonikidze, Stalin and Mikoyan, 1925.jpg|thumb|left|Stalin and his close associates [[Anastas Mikoyan]] and [[Sergo Ordzhonikidze]] in [[Tbilisi]], 1925]]

In late 1924, Stalin moved against Kamenev and Zinoviev, removing their supporters from key positions.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=228|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=563}} In 1925, the two moved into open opposition to Stalin and Bukharin{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=240}} and launched an unsuccessful attack on their faction at the [[14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|14th Party Congress]] in December.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=240–243|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=82–83}} Stalin accused Kamenev and Zinoviev of reintroducing factionalism, and thus instability.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=240–243|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=82–83}} In mid-1926, Kamenev and Zinoviev joined with Trotsky to form the [[United Opposition (Soviet Union)|United Opposition]] against Stalin;{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=126|2a1=Conquest|2y=2008|2p=11|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=614|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=83}} in October the two agreed to stop factional activity under threat of expulsion, and later publicly recanted their views.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=137, 138|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=614}} The factionalist arguments continued, with Stalin threatening to resign in October and December 1926, and again in December 1927.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=247|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=614, 618|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=91}} In October 1927, Trotsky was removed from the Central Committee;{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=85}} he was later exiled to Kazakhstan in 1928 and deported from the country in 1929.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=139, 151|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=282–283|3a1=Conquest|3y=2008|3pp=11–12|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=676–677|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=85}}

Stalin was now the supreme leader of the party and state.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=276}} He entrusted the position of [[head of government]] to [[Vyacheslav Molotov]]; other important supporters on the Politburo were Voroshilov, [[Lazar Kaganovich]], and [[Sergo Ordzhonikidze]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=277, 280|2a1=Conquest|2y=2008|2pp=12–13}} with Stalin ensuring his allies ran state institutions.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=278}} His growing influence was reflected in naming of locations after him; in June 1924 the Ukrainian city of [[Yuzovka]] became Stalino,{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=130}} and in April 1925, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=130|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=160|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=689}} In 1926, Stalin published ''On Questions of Leninism,''{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=244}} in which he argued for the concept of "[[socialism in one country]]", which was presented as an orthodox Leninist perspective despite clashing with established Bolshevik views that socialism could only be achieved globally through the process of [[world revolution]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=244}} In 1927, there was some argument in the party over Soviet policy regarding China. Stalin had called for the [[Chinese Communist Party]] (CCP), led by [[Mao Zedong]], to ally itself with [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s [[Kuomintang]] (KMT) nationalists, viewing a CCP-KMT alliance as the best bulwark against Japanese imperial expansionism. Instead, the KMT [[Shanghai massacre|repressed]] the CCP and a [[Chinese civil war|civil war broke out]] between the two sides.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=392|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=626–631|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=89–90}}
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