Lenin's Death and the Power Struggle
"Socialism in One Country"
- 1921: Lenin shot, never fully recovered
- Eventually dies three years later (January 1924)
- Power struggle between Joseph Stalin and Leon Trotsky
- "Guns or Butter": heavy industry (Stalin) or consumer goods (Trotsky)
- Stalin controls propaganda, uses it to make him look good and Trotsky look bad
- Trotsky controls military
- Struggle lasts for 3 years
- Stalin is successful because he is general secretary
- Secret Service would go after anyone who spoke badly about/threatened communism and/or Stalin (KGB)
- Trotsky leaves country, later found in Mexcio, assassinated with an ice pick.
Summary
After Lenin's death (1924) a three year power struggle began between Stalin and Trotsky. In the end, Stalin was successful because he was General Secretary.