Joseph Stalin came to power in 1924 after Lenin's death, although Lenin himself had discouraged him from succeeding him. Stalin's regime was latent with economic stagnation, political repression, human rights violations and competing nationalities. Regardless of these various problems, Stalin managed to support the Soviet Union and make it a dominant world power. Its ability to maintain power and stability was the result of promoting social, economic, cultural and political systems that strengthened Russian patriotism and unified different nationalities. Lenin's death in 1924 left uncertainty over the next leader. Lenin had talked with his entourage and mentioned Stalin and Trotsky as possible candidates, but said that Stalin should not succeed him because he was rude. Only those close to Lenin knew about these feelings. From the beginning, Stalin opposed Trotsky. After Stalin came to power in 1924, an opposition was formed consisting of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev. This united opposition called for local control and autonomy as well as open debate within the party. The opposition had a centrist political position that aligned with the party. Lenin's earlier position. Bukharin was another opponent of Stalin, he represented the right and called for the continuation of the policies of the NEP. Stalin opposed his position by calling for rapid industrialization. In 1926, Zinoviev, Trotsky and Kamenev were excluded from the Politburo because Stalin considered them a threat. On July 11, 1928, there was an exchange between Kamenev and Bukharin in this communication, they expressed the need for Stalin to be overthrown because he manipulated ideology to support his positions. (Suny 2003)...... middle of paper .. ....ect the homeland. Throughout Stalin's regime he was able to maintain power through social realism, which made it acceptable to live in dire economic conditions for many years, as it was part of a path towards a better life and a better Soviet Union. Works Cited Fitzpatrick, Sheila and Youri Slezkine. "NI Slavnikova et al. "Speech of the Stakhanovists"" In the shadow of the revolution: life stories of Russian women from 1917 to the Second World War. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 2000. 331-41. Print."From autocracy to oligarchy." The structure of Soviet history: essays and documents. Ed. Ronald Grigor. Sun. New York: Oxford UP, 2003. 340-50. Print. “‘Stalin Today’ International Seminar” Revolutionary Democracy Journal. NP, 1994. Web. December 12, 2013. .A. Solzhenitsyn, from The Gulag Archipelago. 1973