Marxist-leninism and Stalinism

[CHEtheLIBERATOR]

Alot of Stalinists say that stalinism is Marxist-leninism.Do think so?Personally I think Marxist-Leninism is the writings of Lenin and the way he ran his government and Stalinism as the writings of Stalin and the way he ran his government.You can't say in anyway that they ran Russia the same because there were many radical changes after Lenins death

[Anarkiwi]

stalin followed lenninisim
why do commies think lennin would of been greater then stalin
lennin was as much a megalomaniac as stalin
i agree lennin dident like stalin
but facts is facts stalin followed marxist-lenninisim.

[Dervish]

Generally Stalinism continues the Marxist-Leninist line of thought (and action).
Many of Stalin's policies and ideas can be traced back to Lenin-

For example, Stalin's idea of "socialism in one country", can be traced back to Lenin's signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty.
Suppression of political opposition already began with Lenin's Cheka and Red Terror.
Even Stalin's idea of voluntarism (as opposed to the orthodox Marxist determinism) can be traced to Lenin's policies and actions.

[Nwoye]

"Stalinism" doesn't really exist as an specific interpretation of Marxism. There are certainly Marxist-Leninists or Maoists who will defend Stalin or some of Stalin's actions, but there aren't very many people who say Stalin's actions or theories represent the most accurate application of socialism.

[Random Precision]

Stalinism can be seen as a continuation of Leninist politics in a very limited respect. That is to say, if you look at the actions of Lenin, the Bolshevik Party, and the Peoples' Council of Commissars from a year or so after the revolution until Stalin assumed power (whenever you want to put a date on it) it would appear as if Leninism flows naturally into Stalinism. Alternate parties in the Soviets and alternate factions within the Party were banned under Lenin, the crushing of workers' dissent as in Kronstadt and so on were accomplished under Lenin, it was under Lenin that the party bureaucracy began to grow, it was under Lenin that capitalist relations were restored in the countryside.

However to do this you have to ignore the structure of the Bolshevik Party at the time of the revolution, what the revolution accomplished and indeed Lenin's entire career before 1918 or so. Also you have to ignore the reasons behind actions such as Kronstadt, the banning of factions, NEP etc. to merely equate them to actions taken under Stalin.

In the end Stalinism is a successor to Leninism insofar as it perpetuates certain concessions Lenin and the post-Civil War Bolsheviks made in terms of policy, turning necessities into virtues. However Stalinism is not the only successor, as other Leninist trends such as Trotskyism are aimed at correcting the concessions and abuses of Leninism after the Civil War, and they have a better claim on the legacy of the Bolshevik Party before and during the revolution.

[Le People]

Generally Stalinism continues the Marxist-Leninist line of thought (and action).
Many of Stalin's policies and ideas can be traced back to Lenin-

For example, Stalin's idea of "socialism in one country", can be traced back to Lenin's signing of the Brest-Litovsk treaty.



I think that this a point of conflict which led to the rise of the Stalinist faction, rather than Stalinism itself. Stalin sought to legtimitize socialism in one country by using a grain of Lennin's thought. He in fact changed the history of how things went to attain his ends.