Stalinism is an everyday term for the political and economic system implemented by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. This system is an extreme case of totalitarianism. The foundations of Stalin's theory were: socialism in one country, and aggravation of the class struggle along with the development of socialism. Building on Lenin's work, Stalin expanded the centralized bureaucratic system of the Soviet Union during the 1930s. A series of two five-year plans led to a massive expansion of the Soviet economy. Large increases were seen in many sectors, especially coal and iron production. Society was brought from a position decades behind the West to one of near economic and scientific equality within thirty years. Some economic historians now believe it to be the fastest economic growth ever achieved. After Stalin's death in 1953, Stalin's successor Nikita Khrushchev repudiated his policies and condemned Stalinism. Only after that, both the people of the USSR and the rest of the world have slowly become aware what really happened during Stalin' rule. .
Stalin was initially opposed to te overthrow of A. Kerensky's Provisional Government in the Russian Revolution of 1917. He was won over to Lenin's position following the latter's return from exile in April, but played only a secondary role in the Bolsheviks" seizure of power on November. He was political commisaar of the Soviet Army during the Russian Civil War and Polish-Soviet War. In his rise to power, Stalin held a number of senior administrative posts within the Soviet government and party apparatus, becoming in April 1922 general secretay of the ruling Communist Party, a post which he subsequently built up into the most powerful in the country.
After Lenin's death in January 1924, Kamenev and Zinoviev governed the party. During this period, Stalin advanced the policy of building socialism in one country, in contrast to Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution.
