ABSTRACT
In January 1924, Lenin died, and a struggle for power ensued that was to last for many years; it ended, of course, with Stalin as victor, but his power was not consolidated until 1929. The Stalinist epoch was characterized by the collectivisation of agriculture, the five-year plans for industrialization, the purges and the cult of personality. The following description is, as far as is possible, restricted to the more decisive events and standpoints of the ideological development. I should perhaps emphasize at this juncture that the epoch, in that respect, is rather lacking in content, in part because Stalin was not a leading ideologue, but also because Marxism, to a growing extent, was restricted to playing the role of servant to the actual or desired development. This could, of course, only be done at the cost of further abusing the original ideas.
