If Stalin needs it, you will become a god

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks, the man portrayed by the propaganda as the father of the great communist revolutions, the spiritual father of communism and the anti-imperialist class struggle. He was the man who, throughout the existence of the USSR and the communist world, was eulogized with countless films, paintings and odes.

Lenin had become a deity in the communist world, being the supreme moral court, the perfect man and the prophet who would guide the people on the path of creating the new communist man, and his teachings had become like the Holy Scriptures. To question his ideas meant that you were opposed to truth and progress, so you were a dangerous enemy of the country. And the new inquisition, be it called CEKA or NKVD, would come and punish you with a bullet in the back of the head for this unforgivable sin.

He was treated like a divinity after his death too: his body was embalmed and exposed like that of a saint in a mausoleum, and the Soviet propaganda organized “Lenin corners” in classrooms in schools and factories.

 

 

But what is most interesting and somewhat strange is that this huge cult with a religious tinge emerged in the form we know it because of Stalin’s need to seize power and consolidate his position after Lenin’s death.

So, in other words, the huge cult of Lenin arose because Stalin needed it to pose as Lenin’s continuing disciple and to make his position as the new leader of the USSR.

Contrary to the expectations of many, after Lenin’s death in 1924, it was not Stalin who was the clear successor, but Leon Trotsky, the leader of the Red Army.
Stalin was a marginal figure in the Bolshevik Party, being considered by many, including Lenin, to be a violent, impulsive and unpolished brat.

Most importantly, Lenin had come to despise Stalin at the end of his life, considering him too violent and divisive for the position of leader. Lenin made it very clear in his will that he did not want Stalin to lead the USSR, but when it came to preventing Stalin’s rise to power, Lenin had already suffered about four strokes and was left with the power of action of a vegetable.

 

However, the thing that managed to render Lenin’s will useless was that, as the general secretary of the party, Stalin had the power to appoint people to office and draw up attendance lists at meetings. From this position whom everyone thought was that a “paper pusher” he appointed many loyal people to important positions, thus creating a power base that Trotsky did not have. In addition, he allied himself with other figures such as Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev and managed to drive Trotsky out of the country and install himself as the absolute leader of the USSR.

And in addition to all these political maneuvers, Stalin began to organize meetings and events on the theme of honouring the memory of Lenin. At the same time, he used his organizational position to organize Lenin’s state funeral and to create propaganda praising Lenin while placing Stalin directly next to Lenin as the disciple who keep the “ Lenin’s torch of communism” lit. And, as Stalin’s control over the USSR grew, so did the cult of Lenin.

Thus, Stalin created the cult of Lenin, and both during and after his reign, this cult grew to astronomical proportions.