ABSTRACT

The onset of Lenin's debilitating, and ultimately fatal, illness resulted in Stalin's elevation to the post of first secretary in 1922, when only four of the original members remained. Increasingly, of course, such considerations provided fuel for the struggle between Stalin and Trotsky for Lenin's mantle. As long as Lenin, whom Stalin was to transform into a Soviet God, lived a pall of uncertainty hung over the Kremlin, and no one, including Stalin, dared take important initiatives. As the changing demographics illuminate, by the end of 1924 the battle for Lenin's mantle centered on Stalin and Trotsky. They were the only surviving members of the original seven. Hindsight, plus the demographics, supports a conclusion that in that year Stalin achieved the dominant position on the Politburo. The magnitude of the change wrought by Stalin is shown in the change-index which jumped to a +66, largely reflecting the fact that 64% of the 1952 Poliburo were newcomers.