power base of support, from which to manoeuvre toward the position of leader. In doing this he had to side with different groups of people within the party structure and then turn against them at a later date in order to advance his own position. This process went on from 1924 until 1928 when Zinoviev and Kamenev decided to support Stalin and accept the rule of one party. What this manoeuvering meant was that Stalin did not have the right to assume power on the death of Lenin and Stalinism was not therefore the natural progression from Leninism. After Lenin's death and once he was firmly in power Stalin tried to portray himself as Lenin's heir. But the document which Lenin wrote prior to his death warned against Stalin. This document became known as Lenin's Testament.Lenin's Testament was written shortly before his death and warned the party about Stalin. It warned of the amount of power which Stalin had acquired through his post of General Secretary and expressed fears as to wether Stalin could use the power that he had carefully. Lenin added afterwards that,"Stalin is too rude, and this defect...is intolerable in the person of a general secretary."This shows that Lenin himself did not see Stalin as his successor and even that Lenin objected to the thought of Stalin in a position of power within the party and state. Alex De Jonge goes further to say that Lenin had,"..found ruthless fanatics to help him bring his party to power, and only now did he begin to understand that they were unfit to govern."So in writing the Testament Lenin was warning the party of the dangers of Stalin and that he should have his power limited. From this perspective, therefore, it is hard to see how Stalinism could come from Leninism when, towards the end of his life, Lenin was actively warning against Stalin.Stalinism shared some of the same features of Leninism, of that there is no doubt. Both systems had a secret police in operation and both used this secre...
