In this episode we cover the death of Lenin and the ensuing struggle for succession. In covering the history, we address the following myths:

Myth #1

Myth/Thesis: Stalin used his power as general secretary and control over appointments to build a following in the party apparatus, stacking it with his allies, and they then voted for him to be leader. In other words, it was fixed.

Critique/anti-thesis: The Secretariat never became a source of a personalistic control of the Party apparatus as is commonly assumed. He could not automatically command the support of officials in leading Party and state organs and there is no evidence he could control the slate of the central committee.

Conclusion/synthesis: Stalin appealed to party secretaries on the basis of his policies, engaging in a genuine political contest to win the leadership. He defeated Trotsky politically, not using any power of appointment. Trotsky’s ideas were fundamentally unpopular with wider party membership.  

Myth #2

Myth/Thesis: Trotsky was the rightful heir to Lenin

Critique/anti-thesis: Why? Says who? Trotsky and his followers? The notion of Trotsky as Lenin's natural heir is a myth. He was one of many contenders for the leadership. 

Conclusion/synthesis: Neither Trotsky nor Stalin emerge from Lenin’s Testament with his blessing as a successor. Also who cares? We are communists, not monarchists. Regardless, both Trotsky AND Stalin emerged after Lenin’s death as prime contenders for the leadership.

Myth #3

Myth/Thesis: Lenin hated Stalin and at the time of his death had completely broken with him politically

Critique/anti-thesis: Lenin and Stalin were very close politically, despite some disagreements. Lenin had severe disagreements with Trotsky. When very ill, it was Stalin who Lenin asked to give him a cyanide pill, showing how much he trusted him. 

Conclusion/synthesis: Trotsky exaggerated the extent of his alignment with Lenin and misrepresented the severity of the conflict between Lenin and Stalin during this period to bolster his own historical narrative (which has been uncritically accepted by many historians on both the left and right).

Stalin: A New History - Edited by Sarah Davies and James Harris

Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend - Domenico Losurdo

Stalin: Man of Contradiction - Kenneth Neil Cameron

Stalin: From the Caucasus to the Kremlin - Christopher Read 

Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928 - Stephen Kotkin 

The Stalinist Era - David L. Hoffman

Practicing stalinism - j arch getty