5. Joseph Stalin’s rise and consolidation of power (to 1941)
Lenin had led the Soviet Union since the October Revolution of 1917. After his death in 1924 there was a power struggle between the leading Bolsheviks from which Josef Stalin emerged victorious. Having secured his position as leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin went on to secure his position through a series of purges which eliminated all potential opposition; ultimately this resulted in the Great Terror in which...