Conclusion

In his study of Marxism, Leszek Kolakowski asserts that Stalinism contained scarcely anything new to distinguish it from Leninism. The exceptions were the thesis of socialism in one country; the notion of increasing fierceness of class struggle as socialism was approached; and the idea that, before withering away, the state developed to its maximum strength. ¹ For students of Stalinism, the question of the continuity with Leninism is unavoidable. Until the mid-1930s, Stalin remained the great “codifier” of Leninism. He was mainly concerned with moulding his predecessor’s ideas into fixed formulas. The case for his lack of originality can be stated even more sharply than Kolakowski does. The three points mentioned by him were not completely new departures but rather restatements of Lenin’s thought.