Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

==In Lenin's government==
{{Main|Stalin during the Russian Revolution, Civil War and Polish–Soviet War}}

=== 1917–1918: People's Commissar for Nationalities ===
[[File:Stalin 1917-1.1.jpg|thumb|upright=.8|left|Stalin in 1917 as a young [[People's Commissariat|People's Commissar]]]]
On 26 October 1917, Lenin declared himself chairman of the new government, the [[Council of People's Commissars]] (Sovnarkom).{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=147–148|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=227–228, 229|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=52}} Stalin supported Lenin's decision not to form a coalition with the [[Socialist Revolutionary Party]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1pp=28–29|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=148}} He became part of an informal leadership group alongside Lenin, Trotsky, and Sverdlov, and his importance within the Bolshevik ranks grew.{{Sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=157}} Stalin's office was near Lenin's in the Smolny Institute,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=229}} and he and Trotsky had direct access to Lenin without an appointment.{{Sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=27|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=226}} Stalin co-signed Lenin's decrees shutting down hostile newspapers,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=149}} and co-chaired the committee drafting [[Soviet Russia Constitution of 1918|a constitution]] for the newly-formed [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=155}} He supported Lenin's formation of the [[Cheka]] security service and the [[Red Terror]], arguing that state violence was an effective tool for capitalist powers.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=158}} Unlike some Bolsheviks, Stalin never expressed concern about the Cheka's rapid expansion and the Red Terror.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=158}}

Having left his role as ''Pravda'' editor,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=148}} Stalin was appointed the [[People's Commissariat|People's Commissar]] for Nationalities.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=70|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=30|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=148|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=228|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=52}} He appointed [[Nadezhda Alliluyeva]] as his secretary,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=72|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=151}} and married her in early 1919.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=72|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=167|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=264|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=49}} In November 1917, he signed the [[Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia|Decree on Nationality]], granting ethnic minorities the right to secession and self-determination.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=71}} He travelled to [[Helsingfors]] to meet with the [[Social Democratic Party of Finland|Finnish Social Democrats]], and granted Finland's request for independence from Russia in December.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=152}} Due to the threats posed by the [[Russia in World War I|First World War]], in March 1918 the government relocated from Petrograd to the [[Kremlin|Moscow Kremlin]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=72|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=150–151|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=259–264}} Stalin supported Lenin's desire to sign an armistice with the Central Powers;{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=75|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=158–161|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=250}} Stalin thought this necessary because he—unlike Lenin—was unconvinced that Europe was on the verge of [[proletarian revolution]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=159–160|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=250}} The [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (Russia–Central Powers)|Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] was signed in March 1918,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=75|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=161|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=257–258}} ceding vast territories and angering many; the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries withdrew from the coalition government.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=161|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=258–259, 265}} The Bolsheviks were renamed the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Russian Communist Party]].{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=259}}

=== 1918–1921: Military command ===
[[File:Stalin 1920-1.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|right|Stalin in 1920]]
In May 1918, during the intensifying [[Russian Civil War]], Sovnarkom sent Stalin to [[Tsaritsyn]] to take charge of food procurement in Southern Russia.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=77|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=39|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2003|3p=27|4a1=Service|4y=2004|4p=163|5a1=Kotkin|5y=2014|5pp=300–301|6a1=Khlevniuk|6y=2015|6p=54}} Eager to prove himself as a commander,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=173}} he took control of regional military operations and befriended [[Kliment Voroshilov]] and [[Semyon Budyonny]], who later formed the core of his military support base.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=164|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=302–303}} Stalin sent large numbers of [[Red Army]] troops to battle the region's [[White movement|White armies]], resulting in heavy losses and drawing Lenin's concern.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=81|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=170}} In Tsaritsyn, Stalin commanded the local Cheka branch to execute suspected counter-revolutionaries, often without trial,{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=46|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=27|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=305, 307|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=56–57}} and purged the military and food collection agencies of middle-class specialists, who were also executed.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=78–79|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=40|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=166|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=55}} His use of state violence was at a greater scale than most Bolshevik leaders approved of,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=171}} for instance, he ordered several villages torched to ensure compliance with his food procurement program.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=169}}

In December 1918, Stalin was sent to [[Perm, Russia|Perm]] to lead an inquiry into how [[Alexander Kolchak]]'s White forces had been able to decimate Red troops there.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=83–84|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=172|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=314}} He returned to Moscow between January and March 1919,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=172}} before being assigned to the Western Front at Petrograd.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=85|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=172}} When the Red Third Regiment defected, he ordered the public execution of captured defectors.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=172}} In September he returned to the Southern Front.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=172}} During the war, Stalin proved his worth to the Central Committee by displaying decisiveness and determination.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=173}} However, he also disregarded orders and repeatedly threatened to resign when affronted.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=173, 174}} In November 1919, the government awarded him the [[Order of the Red Banner]] for his service.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=86|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=45|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=331}}

The Bolsheviks won the main phase of the civil war by the end of 1919.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=175}} By that time, Sovnarkom had turned its attention to spreading proletarian revolution abroad, forming the [[Communist International]] in March 1919; Stalin attended its inaugural ceremony.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=91|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=175}} Although Stalin did not share Lenin's belief that Europe's proletariat were on the verge of revolution, he acknowledged that Soviet Russia remained vulnerable.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=176}} In February 1920, he was appointed to head the [[Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate]] (Rabkrin);{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=174}} that same month he was also transferred to the Caucasian Front.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=178}}

The [[Polish–Soviet War]] broke out in early 1920, with the Poles invading Ukraine,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=176|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=352–354}} and in May, Stalin was moved to the Southwest Front.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=178|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=357|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=59}} Lenin believed that the Polish proletariat would rise up to support an invasion, but Stalin argued that [[Polish nationalism|nationalism]] would lead them to support their government's war effort.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=177}} Stalin lost the argument and accepted Lenin's decision.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=178}} On his front, Stalin became determined to conquer [[Lvov]]; in focusing on this goal, he disobeyed orders to transfer his troops to assist [[Mikhail Tukhachevsky]]'s forces at the [[Battle of Warsaw (1920)|Battle of Warsaw]] in early August, which ended in a major defeat for the Red Army.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=87|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=179|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=362|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=60}} Stalin then returned to Moscow,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=180, 182|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=364}} where Tukhachevsky blamed him for the loss.{{Sfn|Brackman|2004|p=135}} Humiliated, he demanded demission from the military, which was granted on 1 September.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=182|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=364–365}} At the [[9th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|9th Party Congress]] in late September, Trotsky accused Stalin of "strategic mistakes"{{Sfnm|1a1=Davies|1y=2003|1p=211|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=183–185|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=376–377}} and claimed that he had sabotaged the campaign; Lenin joined in the criticism.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=184–185|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=377}} Stalin felt disgraced and his antipathy toward Trotsky increased.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=185}}

=== 1921–1924: Lenin's final years ===
[[File:Stalin 1921-1.jpg|thumb|right|Stalin wearing his [[Order of the Red Banner]] in 1921]]

The Soviet government sought to bring neighbouring states under its domination; [[Georgian–Soviet War|in February 1921 it invaded]] the Menshevik-governed [[Democratic Republic of Georgia|Georgia]],{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|pp=396–397}} and in April 1921, Stalin ordered the Red Army into [[Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Turkestan]] to reassert Soviet control.{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=388}} As People's Commissar for Nationalities, Stalin believed that each ethnic group had the right to an "[[Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics|autonomous republic]]" within the Russian state in which it could oversee various regional affairs.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=199–200|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 Russo-centric.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=202}} In his diverse native Caucasus, however, Stalin opposed the idea of separate autonomous republics, arguing that these would oppress ethnic minorities within their territories; instead, he called for a [[Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=194–196|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=194–195|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=479–481}} In mid-1921, Stalin returned to the [[South Caucasus]], calling on Georgian communists to reject the chauvinistic nationalism which he argued had marginalised the [[Abkhazians|Abkhazian]], [[Ossetians|Ossetian]], and [[Adjarian]] minorities.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=203–205|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=400}} In March 1921, Nadezhda gave birth to another of Stalin's sons, [[Vasily Stalin|Vasily]].{{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 in opposition to Sovnarkom's food requisitioning project; in response, Lenin introduced market-oriented reforms in 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 turmoil within 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}} At the [[11th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|11th Party Congress]] in March and April 1922, Lenin nominated Stalin as the party's [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]], which was intended as a purely organisational role. Although concerns were expressed that adopting the new position would overstretch his workload and grant him too much power, Stalin was appointed to the post.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=96|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=78–70|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=189–190|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=411}}

{{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 = — 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}}
}}

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]], his main connection to Sovnarkom was through Stalin.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=191–192|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=413}} Despite their 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=191–192|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=528}} The two men 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.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=98|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=193|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=483|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=69–70}} 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=71–72}} 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",{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=195}} while Stalin believed that this would encourage independence sentiment among non-Russians.{{Sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=71|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=194|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=475–476|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=68–69}} Lenin accused Stalin of "[[Great Russian chauvinism]]", while Stalin accused Lenin of "national liberalism".{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=98–99|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 named the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" (USSR), whose formation was ratified in December 1922.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=195}}

Their differences also became personal; Lenin was angered when Stalin was rude to his wife Krupskaya during a telephone conversation.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=99–100, 103|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=72–74|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=210–211|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=70–71}} In the final years of his life, Krupskaya provided leading figures with [[Lenin's Testament]], which criticised Stalin's rude manners and excessive power and suggested that he be removed as general secretary.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=100–101|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=53, 79–82|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=208–209|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=71}} Some historians have questioned whether Lenin wrote the document, suggesting that it was written by Krupskaya;{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=501}} Stalin never publicly voiced concerns about its authenticity.{{Sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=528}} Most historians consider it an accurate reflection of Lenin's views.{{Sfn|Suny|2020b|p=59}}