Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 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}}