The Interwar Years (1919-1938): The Soviet Union During the Inter-War Years (1924-1935)

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Despite these misgivings, Lenin's rule no doubt set the stage for Stalin's complete totalitarianism. Though his publicly stated philosophy was government by local councils, called soviets, true power rested securely in the hands of the Central Committee alone. The party controlled the police (official and secret), the army, and the bureaucracy. Stalin capitalized on this power to a much greater extent after coming to power.

Lenin had some sense that this might happen, and expressed his doubts in his 'political testament.' Both candidates to succeed him had impressive histories and credentials. However, Lenin expressed doubts about Stalin, fearing he would abuse the power concentrated in his hands. Though he clearly preferred Trotsky, and praised him as "the most able man in the present Central Committee," he expressed reservations about Trotsky's overconfident nature, and thought that perhaps Trotsky was too interested in the administrative side of government to be an effective practical leader.

The success of Stalin's 'communism in one country' philosophy was both the result of, and a cause for, the spirit of nationalism, which was prominent in many of the nations of Europe following the First World War. Destroyed through interactions with the other nations of the continent, many nations chose to recede from international affairs and concentrate on reversing the demoralizing effects of the war. Though Stalin would have been hard-pressed to convince the Soviet people that he could lead communism in the eradication of all of the problems of the world, he did a fair job of convincing them that under his leadership, communism could address the problems of his country, which when it had grown in strength, could then effect global change. This type of moral argument for nationalism was typical of the political leaders of the inter-war period. This nationalism translated easily into many facets of totalitarianism, including the elimination of dissent, the demand for uniformity, and the destruction of individualism as the individual was overshadowed by the united nation.

Stalin's economic policies enjoyed only limited success. Industrialization proved to be a somewhat effective policy, though it proceeded along a different path and schedule than Stalin had planned. In any case, under Stalin the Soviet Union made many advances in technology and heavy industry, and the country benefited from these. However, agricultural policies never achieved the goal of self-sufficiency, and the Soviet Union continued to import crops and heavily subsidize agriculture. Doubtless, the slaughter of 3 million kulaks helped the situation very little. However, Stalin's main focus during the 1930s was consolidating power and eliminating rivals, two tasks at which he proved greatly successful.

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