Foundations of Leninism

Stalin's Codification of Leninist Doctrine

Joseph Stalin delivered the lectures collected in Foundations of Leninism at Sverdlov University in April 1924, just three months after Lenin's death. The purpose was explicit: to define what Leninism was, to distinguish it from other currents within Marxism, and to establish a doctrinal orthodoxy that could guide the Soviet state going forward. The lectures cover the historical roots of Leninism, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the peasant question, the national question, strategy and tactics, and the role of the party.

A Political Document

This is not a work of disinterested theory. Stalin was positioning himself as Lenin's rightful intellectual heir, against Trotsky, Bukharin, and others who had stronger claims. The text reads as both a genuine attempt to systematize Lenin's ideas and as a political maneuver. It succeeded on both counts. Foundations of Leninism became the standard textbook of Soviet Marxism, studied in party schools across the communist world for decades. The writing is clear, methodical, and surprisingly readable for a work of political theory. Essential primary source material for understanding the USSR.

About This Edition

Author: J. V. Stalin
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Format: Paperback