The death of Lenin and rose in the power of Stalin was the leadership crisis that occurred in the USSR. This crisis allowed a totalitarian government to take control. In 1924, after the death of Lenin's death Stalin took over the party. He began managing Lenin's funeral. He also contributed to the growing cult of personality by giving lectures across the country.
However, Stalin was only one of many who wanted to succeed Lenin. Some of the important ones were Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Buchharin, Rykov and Tomsky. Trotsky became Stalin's major problem and he was eventually deported from the Soviet Union in 1929.