Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

==Post-war era ==

=== 1945–1947: Post-war reconstruction ===
After the war, Stalin was at the apex of his career.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=481}} Within the Soviet Union he was widely regarded as the embodiment of victory and patriotism,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=484}} and his armies controlled [[Central and Eastern Europe]] up to the [[River Elbe]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=481}} In June 1945, Stalin adopted the title of [[Generalissimo of the Soviet Union|Generalissimo]]{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=493|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=247}} and stood atop Lenin's Mausoleum to watch [[Moscow Victory Parade of 1945|a celebratory parade]] led by Zhukov through Red Square.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=480–481}} At a banquet held for army commanders, he described the Russian people as "the outstanding nation" and "leading force" within the Soviet Union, the first time that he had unequivocally endorsed Russians over the other Soviet nationalities.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=479}} In 1946, the state published Stalin's ''Collected Works''.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=541}} In 1947, it brought out a second edition of his official biography, which glorified him to a greater extent than its predecessor.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=543–544}} He was quoted in ''Pravda'' on a daily basis and pictures of him remained pervasive on the walls of workplaces and homes.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=548}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R78376, Budapest, II. Weltfestspiele, Festumzug, Komsomolzen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Banner of Stalin in [[Budapest]] in 1949]]
Despite his strengthened international position, Stalin was cautious about internal dissent and desire for change among the population.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=485|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=262}} He was also concerned about his returning armies, who had been exposed to a wide range of consumer goods in Germany, much of which they had looted and brought back with them. In this he recalled the 1825 [[Decembrist Revolt]] by Russian soldiers returning from having defeated France in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=485}} He ensured that returning Soviet prisoners of war went through "filtration" camps as they arrived in the Soviet Union, in which 2,775,700 were interrogated to determine if they were traitors. About half were then imprisoned in labour camps.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=493|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=202}} In the Baltic states, where there was much opposition to Soviet rule, dekulakisation and de-clericalisation programmes were initiated, resulting in 142,000 deportations between 1945 and 1949.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=492}} The Gulag system of forced labour camps was expanded further. By January 1953, three percent of the Soviet population was imprisoned or in internal exile, with 2.8&nbsp;million in "special settlements" in isolated areas and another 2.5&nbsp;million in camps, penal colonies, and prisons.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=268}}

The NKVD were ordered to catalogue the scale of destruction during the war.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=482}} It was established that 1,710 Soviet towns and 70,000 villages had been destroyed.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=482–483}} The NKVD recorded that [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|between 26 and 27 million Soviet citizens had been killed]], with millions more being wounded, malnourished, or orphaned.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=482|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=261}} In the war's aftermath, some of Stalin's associates suggested modifications to government policy.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=500}} Post-war Soviet society was more tolerant than its pre-war phase in various respects. Stalin allowed the Russian Orthodox Church to retain the churches it had opened during the war,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=496}} and academia and the arts were also allowed greater freedom.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=497}} Recognising the need for drastic steps to be taken to combat inflation and promote economic recovery, in December 1947 Stalin's government devalued the rouble and abolished the food rationing system.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=497|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=274–278}} Capital punishment was abolished in 1947 but re-instituted in 1950.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=289}} Stalin's health deteriorated,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=269|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=491}} and he grew increasingly concerned that senior figures might try to oust him.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=526|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=268}} He demoted Molotov,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=531–532|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=272–273}} and increasingly favoured Beria and Malenkov for key positions.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=534}} In the [[Leningrad Affair|Leningrad affair]], the city's leadership was purged amid accusations of treachery; executions of many of the accused took place in 1950.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=534–535|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=282}}

In the post-war period there were often food shortages in Soviet cities,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=300–301}} and the USSR experienced a major [[Soviet famine of 1946–47|famine from 1946 to 1947]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=498|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=261}} Sparked by a drought and ensuing bad harvest in 1946, it was exacerbated by government policy towards food procurement, including the state's decision to build up stocks and export food rather than distributing it to famine-hit areas.{{Sfn|Ellman|2000|pp=611, 618–620}} Estimates indicate that between one million and 1.5&nbsp;million people died from malnutrition or disease as a result.{{Sfnm|1a1=Ellman|1y=2000|1p=622|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=261}} While agricultural production stagnated, Stalin focused on a series of major infrastructure projects, including the construction of hydroelectric plants, canals, and railway lines running to the polar north.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=299}} Many of these were constructed through prison labour.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=299}}

=== 1947–1950: Cold War policy ===
[[File:Mao, Bulganin, Stalin, Ulbricht Tsedenbal.jpeg|thumb|right|225px|Stalin at his 70th birthday celebration with (left to right) [[Mao Zedong]], [[Nikolai Bulganin]], [[Walter Ulbricht]] and [[Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal]], 1949]]

In the aftermath of the war, the British Empire declined, leaving the U.S. and USSR as the dominant world powers.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=502–503}} Tensions among these former Allies grew,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=484}} resulting in the [[Cold War]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=503}} Although Stalin publicly described the British and U.S. governments as aggressive, he thought it unlikely that a war with them would be imminent, believing that several decades of peace was likely.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=487}} He nevertheless secretly intensified Soviet research into nuclear weaponry, intent on creating an [[atom bomb]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=481}} Still, Stalin foresaw the undesirability of a nuclear conflict, stating that "atomic weapons can hardly be used without spelling the end of the world."{{Sfn|Gaddis|2005|p=57}} He personally took a keen interest in the development of the weapon.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=508}} In August 1949, the bomb was successfully tested in the [[Semipalatinsk Test Site|deserts outside Semipalatinsk]] in Kazakhstan.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=508|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=293}} Stalin also initiated a new military build-up; the Soviet army was expanded from 2.9&nbsp;million soldiers, as it stood in 1949, to 5.8&nbsp;million by 1953.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=297}}

The U.S. began pushing its interests on every [[continent]], acquiring air force bases in Africa and Asia and ensuring pro-U.S. regimes took power across Latin America.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=502}} It launched the [[Marshall Plan]] in June 1947, with which it sought to undermine Soviet [[hegemony]] throughout Eastern Europe. The U.S. offered financial assistance to countries on the condition that they opened their markets to trade, aware that the Soviets would never agree.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=504|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=267}} The Allies demanded that Stalin withdraw the Red Army from northern Iran. He initially refused, leading to an [[Iran crisis of 1946|international crisis in 1946]], but relented one year later.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=504}} Stalin also tried to maximise Soviet influence on the world stage, unsuccessfully pushing for Libya—recently liberated from Italian occupation—to become a Soviet protectorate.<ref name="SergeiMazovTheSovietUnionTheItalianColoniesColdWarHistory2006">{{Cite journal |last=Mazov |first=Sergei |date=9 August 2006 |title=The USSR and the Former Italian Colonies, 1945–50 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248952254 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=49–78 |doi=10.1080/14682740312331391618 |s2cid=153413935 |access-date=19 March 2023 | issn=1468-2745}}</ref>{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=494}} He sent Molotov as his representative to San Francisco to take part in negotiations to form the United Nations, insisting that the Soviets have a place on its [[Security Council]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=503}} In April 1949, the Western powers established the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organisation]] (NATO), an anti-Soviet military alliance led by the U.S.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=507|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=281}} In the West, Stalin was increasingly portrayed as the "most evil dictator alive" and compared to Hitler.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=551}}

In 1948, Stalin edited and rewrote sections of ''[[Falsifiers of History]]'', published as a series of ''Pravda'' articles in February 1948 and then in book form. Written in response to public revelations of the 1939 Soviet alliance with Germany, it focused on blaming the Western powers for the war.{{Sfn|Roberts|2002|pp=96–98}} He also erroneously claimed that the initial German advance in the early part of the war, during Operation Barbarossa, was not a result of Soviet military weakness, but rather a deliberate Soviet strategic retreat.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=264}} In 1949, celebrations took place to mark Stalin's 70th birthday (although he actually was turning 71 at the time) at which Stalin attended an event at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]] alongside Marxist–Leninist leaders from across Europe and Asia.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=296|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=548–549|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=290}}

====Eastern Bloc====
[[File:EasternBloc BasicMembersOnly.svg|thumb|[[Eastern Bloc]] during the Cold War]]

After the war, Stalin sought to retain Soviet dominance across Eastern Europe while expanding its influence in Asia.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=492}} Cautiously regarding the responses from the Western Allies, Stalin avoided immediately installing Communist Party governments in Eastern Europe, instead initially ensuring that Marxist-Leninists were placed in coalition ministries.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=494}} In contrast to his approach to the Baltic states, he rejected the proposal of merging the new communist states into the Soviet Union, rather recognising them as independent nation-states.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=517}} He was faced with the problem that there were few Marxists left in Eastern Europe, with most having been killed by the Nazis.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=483}} He demanded that war reparations be paid by Germany and its Axis allies Hungary, Romania, and the [[Slovak Republic (1939–1945)|Slovak Republic]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=484}} Aware that the countries of Eastern Europe had been pushed to socialism through invasion rather than revolution, Stalin called them "people's democracies" instead of "dictatorships of the proletariat".{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=518}}

Churchill observed that an "[[Iron Curtain]]" had been drawn across Europe, separating the east from the west.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=279|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=503}} In September 1947, a meeting of East European communist leaders established [[Cominform]] to coordinate the Communist Parties across Eastern Europe and also in France and Italy.{{Sfnm |1a1=Conquest |1y=1991 |1p=286 |2a1=Service |2y=2004 |2p=506 |3a1=Khlevniuk |3y=2015 |3p=267}} Stalin did not personally attend the meeting, sending [[Andrei Zhdanov]] in his place.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=506}} Various East European communists also visited Stalin in Moscow.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=511}} There, he offered advice on their ideas; for instance, he cautioned against the Yugoslav idea for a [[Balkan Federation]] incorporating Bulgaria and Albania.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=511}} Stalin had a particularly strained relationship with Yugoslavian leader [[Josip Broz Tito]] due to the latter's continued calls for a Balkan federation and for Soviet aid for the communist forces in the ongoing [[Greek Civil War]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=286–287|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=515}} In March 1948, Stalin launched an anti-Tito campaign, accusing the Yugoslav communists of adventurism and deviating from Marxist–Leninist doctrine.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=515}} At the second Cominform conference, held in Bucharest in June 1948, East European communist leaders all denounced Tito's government, accusing them of being fascists and agents of Western capitalism.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=516}} Stalin ordered several assassination attempts on Tito's life and even contemplated an invasion of Yugoslavia itself.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=287}}

Stalin suggested that a unified, but demilitarised, German state be established, hoping that it would either come under Soviet influence or remain neutral.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=507}} When the U.S. and UK opposed this, Stalin sought to force their hand by [[Berlin Blockade|blockading Berlin]] in June 1948.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=280|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=507|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=281}} He gambled that the Western powers would not risk war, but they airlifted supplies into West Berlin until May 1949, when Stalin relented and ended the blockade.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=507|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=281}} In September 1949 the Western powers transformed their zones into an independent [[Federal Republic of Germany]]; in response the Soviets formed theirs into the [[German Democratic Republic]] in October.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=507}} In accordance with earlier agreements, the Western powers expected Poland to become an independent state with free democratic elections.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=476}} In Poland, the Soviets merged various socialist parties into the [[Polish United Workers' Party]] (PZPR), and [[vote rigging]] was used to ensure that the PZPR secured office.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=515}} The 1947 Hungarian elections were also rigged by Stalin, with the [[Hungarian Working People's Party]] taking control.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=515}} In Czechoslovakia, where the communists did have a level of popular support, they were elected the largest party in 1946.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=512, 513}} Monarchy was abolished in Bulgaria and Romania.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=513}} Across Eastern Europe, the Soviet model was enforced, with a termination of political pluralism, agricultural collectivisation, and investment in heavy industry.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=516}} It was aimed at establishing economic [[autarky]] within the Eastern Bloc.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=516}}

====Asia====
[[File:Ji8, 3-1, Sino-Soviet Friendship, 1950.jpg|thumb|right|1950 Chinese stamp depicting Stalin and Mao shaking hands, commemorating the signing of the new [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance|Sino-Soviet Treaty]]]]
In October 1949, [[Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party|Chinese Communist Party chairman]] [[Mao Zedong]] took power in China and proclaimed the [[People's Republic of China]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=301|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=509|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=286}} Marxist governments now controlled a third of the world's land mass.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=509}} Privately, Stalin revealed that he had underestimated the Chinese Communists and their ability to win the civil war, instead encouraging them to make another peace with the KMT.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=553}} In December 1949, Mao visited Stalin. Initially Stalin refused to repeal the [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance|Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1945]], which significantly benefited the Soviet Union over China, although in January 1950 he relented and agreed to sign [[Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance|a new treaty]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=509|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=287–291}} Stalin was concerned that Mao might follow Tito's example by pursuing a course independent of Soviet influence, and made it known that if displeased he would withdraw assistance; the Chinese desperately needed said assistance after decades of civil war.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=552|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=287}}

At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States divided up the Korean Peninsula, formerly a Japanese colonial possession, along the [[Division of Korea|38th parallel]], setting up a communist government in the north and a pro-Western, anti-communist government in the south.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=552|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=294}} North Korean leader [[Kim Il Sung]] visited Stalin in March 1949 and again in March 1950; he wanted to invade the south, and although Stalin was initially reluctant to provide support, he eventually agreed by May 1950.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=302|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=553|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=294–295}} The [[North Korean Army]] launched the [[Korean War]] by invading South Korea in June 1950, making swift gains and capturing [[Seoul]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=554}} Both Stalin and Mao believed that a swift victory would ensue.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=554}} The U.S. went to the UN Security Council—which the Soviets were boycotting over its refusal to recognise Mao's government—and secured international military support for the South Koreans. U.S. led forces pushed the North Koreans back.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=554|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=295–296}} Stalin wanted to avoid direct Soviet conflict with the U.S., and convinced the Chinese to enter the war to aid the North in October 1950.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=555–556|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=296}}

The Soviet Union was one of the first nations to extend diplomatic recognition to the newly created [[state of Israel]] in 1948, in hopes of obtaining an ally in the Middle East.{{Sfn|Yegorov, 15 December 2017}} When the Israeli ambassador [[Golda Meir]] arrived in the USSR, Stalin was angered by the Jewish crowds who gathered to greet her.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=291}} He was further angered by Israel's [[Israel–United States relations|growing alliance with the U.S.]]{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=285}} After Stalin fell out with Israel, he launched an anti-Jewish campaign within the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=518}} In November 1948, he abolished the JAC,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=291|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=577|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=284}} and show trials took place for some of its members.{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=567|2a1=Brackman|2y=2001|2pp=384–385}} The Soviet press engaged in vituperative attacks on [[Zionism]], Jewish culture, and "rootless cosmopolitanism",{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=291|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=308–309}} with growing levels of antisemitism being expressed across Soviet society.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=576–577}} [[Joseph Stalin and antisemitism|Stalin's increasing tolerance of antisemitism]] may have stemmed from his increasing Russian nationalism or from the recognition that antisemitism had proved a useful tool for Hitler;{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=290}} he may have increasingly viewed the Jewish people as a "counter-revolutionary" nation.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=286}} There were rumours that Stalin was planning on deporting all Soviet Jews to the [[Jewish Autonomous Region]] in [[Birobidzhan]] in Siberia.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=577|2a1=Overy|2y=2004|2p=565|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=309}}

=== 1950–1953: Final years ===
[[File:Vrachi-timashuk.png|thumb|upright|Decree dated 20 January 1953 awarding Lydia Timashuk the [[Order of Lenin]] for "unmasking doctors-killers". Revoked after Stalin's death later that year.]]

In his later years, Stalin was in poor health.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=571}} He took increasingly long holidays; in 1950 and again in 1951 he spent almost five months on holiday at his Abkhazian dacha.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=572|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=195}} Stalin nevertheless mistrusted his doctors; in January 1952 he had one imprisoned after they suggested that he should retire to improve his health.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=571}} In September 1952, several Kremlin doctors were arrested for allegedly plotting to kill senior politicians in what came to be known as the [[doctors' plot]]; the majority of the accused were Jewish.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=309|2a1=Etinger|2y=1995|2p=104|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=576|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=307}} Stalin ordered that the doctors be tortured to ensure confessions.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=309|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=307–308}} In November, the [[Slánský trial]] took place in Czechoslovakia, in which 13 senior Communist Party figures, 11 of them Jewish, were accused and convicted of being part of a vast Zionist-American conspiracy to subvert the Eastern Bloc.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=308|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=307}} The same month, a much publicised trial of accused Jewish industrial wreckers took place in Ukraine.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=308}} In 1951, Stalin initiated the [[Mingrelian affair]], a purge of the Georgian Communist Party which resulted in over 11,000 deportations.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=304–305}}

From 1946 until his death, Stalin only gave three public speeches, two of which lasted only a few minutes.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=560}} The amount of written material that he produced also declined.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=560}} In 1950, Stalin issued the article "[[Marxism and Problems of Linguistics]]", which reflected his interest in questions of Russian nationhood.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=564–565}} In 1952, Stalin's last book, ''[[Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR]]'', was published. It sought to provide a guide to leading the country after his death.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=307|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=566–567}} In October 1952, he gave an hour and a half speech at the Central Committee plenum.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=578}} There, he emphasised what he regarded as necessary leadership qualities, and highlighted the weaknesses of potential successors, notably Molotov and Mikoyan.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=579|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=306}} In 1952, he eliminated the Politburo and replaced it with a larger version he named the Presidium.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=305–306}}

====Death, funeral and aftermath====
{{Main|Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin}}
[[File:Stalin's funeral procession entering Manezhnaya Square from Okhotny Ryad.jpg|thumb|Stalin's funeral procession on [[Okhotny Ryad (street)|Okhotny Ryad]]]]
On 1 March 1953, Stalin's staff found him semi-conscious on the bedroom floor of his [[Kuntsevo Dacha]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=311|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=571–572|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=582–584|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=142, 191}} He was moved onto a couch and remained there for three days,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=311–312|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=572|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=142}} during which he was hand-fed using a spoon and given various medicines and injections.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=312}} Stalin's condition continued to deteriorate, and he died on 5 March.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=313|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=574|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=586|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=313}} An autopsy revealed that he had died of a [[Intracerebral hemorrhage|cerebral haemorrhage]], and that his cerebral arteries had been severely damaged by [[atherosclerosis]].{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=189}} Stalin's death was announced on 6 March;{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=588}} his body was embalmed,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=588|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=314}} and then displayed in Moscow's House of Unions for three days.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=317}} The crowds coming to view the body were so large and disorganised that many people were killed in a [[crowd crush]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=588|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=317}} At the funeral on 9 March, attended by hundreds of thousands, Stalin was laid to rest in [[Lenin's Mausoleum]] in Red Square.{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=576|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=589|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=318}}

Stalin left neither a designated successor nor a framework within which a peaceful transfer of power could take place.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=310}} The Central Committee met on the day of his death, after which Malenkov, Beria, and Khrushchev emerged as the party's dominant figures.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=586–587}} The system of [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collective leadership]] was restored, and measures introduced to prevent any one member from attaining autocratic domination.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=312}} The collective leadership included [[Georgy Malenkov]], [[Lavrentiy Beria]], [[Vyacheslav Molotov]], [[Kliment Voroshilov]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], [[Nikolai Bulganin]], [[Lazar Kaganovich]] and [[Anastas Mikoyan]].{{Sfn|Ra'anan|2006|p=20}} Reforms to the Soviet system were immediately implemented.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=591}} Economic reform scaled back mass construction projects, placed a new emphasis on house building, and eased the levels of taxation on the peasantry to stimulate production.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=315}} The new leaders sought rapprochement with Yugoslavia and a less hostile relationship with the U.S.,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=593}} and they pursued a negotiated end to the Korean War in July 1953.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=316}}<ref name="cohen13">{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Warren I. |title=The New Cambridge History of American Foreign Relations |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-1390-3251-3 |volume=4: Challenges to American Primacy, 1945 to the Present |pages=58–78 |chapter=The Korean War and Its Consequences |doi=10.1017/CHO9781139032513.006}}</ref> The imprisoned doctors were released and the antisemitic purges ceased.{{Sfnm|1a1=Etinger|1y=1995|1pp=120–121|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=314|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=314}} [[Amnesty of 1953|A mass amnesty]] for certain convicts was issued, halving the country's inmate population, and the state security and Gulag systems were reformed.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=315}}