Both men, in regard to their characteristics did not seek attention. Lenin lacked personal vanity and was more interested in people being in awe of his great speeches and performance rather than physical appearances. Stalin, particularly during Lenin's reign, chose to be underrated and was even nicknamed "Comrade filing clerk" because he was happily preoccupied with doing unwanted paperwork. Even when he came into power, he never became one who was concerned deeply with physical appearances.
Having looked at the similarities, I will be moving onto the differences between Lenin and Stalin's characters. One of the differences was that Lenin was described as a demagogue and orator whose many talents included being a renowned public speaker whereas Stalin was simply described as a "grey blur" referring to the fact that whilst he could make good speeches, they were never as good as those that Lenin made, and he was one who lacked charisma. Lenin was described as having a hypnotic effect on the people when making a speech, whereas Stalin could never create quite the same effect.
Lenin was a great thinker with vast ideas and a wide imagination. He was once described as "the vehicle of an engine" and the "engine driver of the Revolution". Contrasting to this, Stalin had little imagination and was prone to copying the ideas of other rather than coming up with his own. For example, Lenin was able to come up with fascinating speeches that received rapturous applause. Stalin's speech making, on the other hand, lacked charm and he got through his reign in a way by simply copying the ideas of others and taking them further rather than coming up with them himself e.g. the use of terror, the GOSPLAN which Lenin had originally created. Lenin was even able to persuade the people with his speeches whereas Stalin had difficulty in doing that.
Another difference is that Stalin was a megalomaniac who was cunning, paranoid, secretive and constantly suspicious of others. He got to his position of leader by being all of these characteristics and never letting anyone in on his aims. By constantly being seen as someone unimportant in the background, he used this image to slowly gain power. An example of this was by tricking Trotsky into missing the prestigious event of Lenin's funeral and joining forces with different people only to simply turn on them once he had achieved his aims. Also, whilst Lenin was on his deathbed following several fatal strokes, Stalin continued to manipulate the situation to his own advantage wanting to slowly advance forward to the position of leader. Once he did gain power, he continued to be a megalomaniac who was of the impression that people were against him. He even had his food tested for poison by his doctor, as he was sure that people were trying to kill him. Lenin, on the other hand was never described as a megalomaniac and always appeared to be approachable, especially towards his people. He did not tend to be an aggressive person and even saw through Stalin's cunning ways just before he died, describing him as "too rude".
There were also many differences and similarities between the beliefs of Lenin and Stalin which I will be looking at now. Firstly, for the similarities, both could be accused of going back on Communism. The October Revolution had overthrown the old order, ruthlessly suppressed and purged the Tsarist state; but in conditions of chronic economic and cultural backwardness, the elements of the old order were everywhere creeping back into positions of privilege and power. Lenin adopted the NEP (private ownership and profit), which stabilised the economy, but created new dangers by encouraging the growth of small capitalism, especially in the countryside where the rich kulaks gained ground at the expense of the poor peasants. Industry revived, but, being tied to the demand of the peasantry, especially the rich peasants, the revival was confined almost entirely to light industry (consumer goods). Heavy industry, the key to socialist construction, stagnated. The Bolsheviks' ideologies had been forgotten as soon as Lenin introduced a market economy. He had to make a sacrifice, the country or his ideologies; he chose to discard his ideologies. The NEP was seen a return to Capitalism but Lenin merely said that it was necessary and a "breathing space" was needed. Stalin also was described as going back on Communism. This was during the 5 Year Plans, in which Stalin used capitalist methods by saying that the harder you worked and the more you achieved, then the more money you would receive. According to Communist beliefs, everyone received the same regardless of the amount of work they did. Stalin saw this move as necessary to try to achieve the targets set within the Plans.
Both used the ideas of Karl Marx and followed Marxism but only to a certain extent. Both decided to used Marxism but adapt it slightly to suit their own ideas and for the greatest benefits both to themselves and the people. Lenin took the philosophy and applied it to the real world. Lenin returned to Capitalism briefly with the NEP and with Stalin, it was when he moved from equal pay to rewarding skills during the 5 Year Plans.
Another major similarity between the leaders was through their use of terror. Lenin had his secret police the Cheka who were enforced to crush his opponents. They were mainly used during the Civil War to ensure that nobody in Bolshevik territories co-operated with the Whites. He also used terror with his Red Army led by Trotsky. They were the ones who led the attack against the sailors at Kronstadt. Stalin had his own secret police - the NKVD. They were largely responsible for nearly all of the purges. Their views towards their terror were also similar. Lenin was quoted as saying, "The state is an instrument of terror" and "Our regime is incredibly mild; more bread pudding than iron." Stalin said, "A million deaths is just a statistic". This shows that both did not have any regard for the pain and anguish they were making their people endure but rather saw it as necessary to advance further.
The purges were another similarity between Lenin and Stalin but on different scales. Lenin used this method on a much smaller scale that Stalin. In 1922, Lenin purged his own party and by 1923, he had purged almost ⅓ of the membership of the Bolshevik Party. He even had his own show trials to send out some sort of message as he was trying to get rid of any Socialist Revolutionaries. Stalin on the other hand, also used purges but took it further than Lenin ever would have, purging almost 10 million people.
Both leaders also made their position stronger by getting rid of any opponents. Lenin did this when he purged any Socialist Revolutionaries and when he closed the Assembly in 1918. As his biggest rivals the peasant-based Socialist Revolutionaries had the biggest party when the Assembly opened, Lenin had to get rid of this by closing the Assembly down and just having one party - his own. Stalin got rid of his opponents on a larger scale. He did this to get to the position of leader. He sided with different people then got rid of them such as Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin and Trotsky.
During both Lenin and Stalin's sovereignty the people experienced famines. During War Communism, which Lenin enforced, 7 million died as a result of it. Collectivisation was the cause of another famine during Stalin's time in power. Almost 13 million died during this famine. Both leaders continued to take grain from the people during these famines.
There were many differences between the beliefs of Lenin and Stalin. Firstly, both had different ideas about where to launch Communism. Lenin, a firm believer of Marxist theories, recognised that for Communism to survive it must spread outside of the USSR. He even hoped that it would spread to Germany, and span out the peace negotiations for as long as possible. However, it did not and Russia was to receive the consequences of this through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. In 1920, Lenin even tried to spread Communism to Poland but failed. However, with Stalin he believed that Russia must be made strong before having a world Revolution and they must concentrate on building up and modernising the country. He wanted 'Socialism In One Country'.
Another major difference between their beliefs was the arrangements for Lenin's funeral and the 'Cult of the individual'. Stalin had Lenin embalmed and on display to the public announcing that this is what Lenin would have wanted. In reality, Lenin would have wanted no such thing and detested the idea of being on constant display to the public. This was supported by his wife's opinion. Krupskaya knew Lenin's feelings towards the idea and tried to prevent Stalin from having him embalmed but failed. She said, "Do not build memorials to him…all of this meant so little to him…Lenin didn't want it." Stalin also treasured Lenin's memory by renaming Petrograd to Leningrad.
In conclusion, there are many differences and similarities in both Lenin and Stalin's characters and beliefs. Overall, in their character, they are generally different and have many contrasting characteristics. However, in their beliefs they are mainly similar. I think this is because Stalin liked to portray himself in Lenin's shadow so felt it necessary to copy some of his beliefs but take them a step further.
