Stalin was the gravedigger of the Russian Revolution, as conscious agent of the bureaucratic elite that stole power and bloodily repressed opposition. But did Lenin and Trotsky’s earlier suppression of party factions fatally secure his passage to total power? Mark Hoskisson argues that the anti-Stalinist left has underestimated the significance of 1921 in sealing the fate of the revolution
What Do Leninâs Last Writings Tell Us About Where He Was Headed?
In his last works, Lenin left an outline of a different model for the Soviet Union to the one it came to embrace.
Vladimir Lenin. Photo: Wikipedia
World25/Jan/2021
The following is the second and final part of a two-part series on Lenin’s final writings. Read the first part here.
After his second sclerotic stroke in early December, 1922, Lenin knew he hadnât much longer to live. He was a deeply worried man, for the months leading up to his illness had held unmistakable signs that the Russian revolution was struggling, was indeed disorientated. And now the possibility of his own early incapacitation or death exacerbated his anxiety, because he could not count on his colleagues to see as clearly and as much ahead as he himself could.