Lenin chose Stalin as his "left" hand, but "completed" him in his political will. What defects had he identified in the "steel" general secretary of the party and what did he ask from his comrades?
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, known as Vladimir Lenin, was born into a wealthy family in 1870 and became a staunch supporter of the left after the execution of his brother in 1887.
He was exiled to Siberia in 1895 for three years because of his revolutionary actions in the illegal "Union for the Liberation of the Working Class". He returned to Russia in 1905 for the revolution, but was exiled again after the Tsar's victory. When he returned to Russia for the second time in 1917, he was to chair the Council of Commissioners. The October Revolution had prevailed and the Bolsheviks were in power.
Joseph Visarionovich Zhukashvili was born in 1878 into a poor Georgian family. He became known as Stalin, which means "steel". In 1903 he joined the Bolsheviks, having been inspired by the works of Lenin. He was exiled seven times for his activities with the revolutionary movement. In 1917, after the fall of the Kerensky Provisional Government and the rise of the Council of Commissioners, he became commissioner of the ethnic groups. In 1922 Lenin gave him more power, appointing him General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Shortly afterwards, the relationship between the two politicians deteriorated and Lenin began to sharply criticize the man he had chosen as Secretary-General.
The "Game of Thrones"
After Lenin's death in 1924, controversy erupted among the most powerful members over his succession. In this "game of thrones", the two "contestants" were Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky. In 1933 Stalin managed to exile Trotsky and impose himself on the other members of the Party. Trotsky was later assassinated in Latin America.
Lenin's "Political Testament"
Lenin had left a "political testament" in which he analyzed his views on the powerful members of the party and on who would be suitable to assume the presidency after his death. In the will, Lenin demanded the replacement of Stalin, whom he considered too rude and capricious for the high position he held. He believed that Stalin had amassed enormous power in his hands and that he would not be able to use it wisely.
The woman Lenin had insisted to read the "testament" 13 The Congress of the Communist Party and the request has been accepted, on condition never published. It is believed that if the contents of the "treaty" had been made known to the general public, Stalin would not have been able to defeat their opponents and become the leader of the Soviet Union.