Editing Lenin's Testament (section)

==Document history and authenticity==
Lenin wanted the testament to be read out at the [[12th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|12th Party Congress]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], to be held in April 1923.<ref name="CUPArchive">{{cite book|title=The New Cambridge Modern History, Volume XII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLg8AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA453|publisher=CUP Archive|page=453|id=GGKEY:Q5W2KNWHCQB}}</ref> The document was originally dictated to Lenin's personal secretary, [[Lydia Fotiyeva]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=1975-08-29 |title=Lidiya Fotiyeva, 93, Secretary To Lenin After Revolution, Dies |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/29/archives/lidiya-fotiyeva-93-secretary-to-lenin-after-revolution-dies.html |access-date=2022-10-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However, after Lenin's third [[stroke]] in March 1923 that left him paralyzed and unable to speak, the testament was kept secret by his wife, [[Nadezhda Krupskaya]], in the hope of Lenin's eventual recovery. She possessed four copies while [[Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova|Maria Ulyanova]], Lenin's sister, had one. It was only after Lenin's death, on January 21, 1924, that she turned the document over to the Communist Party [[Central Committee]] [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]] and asked for it to be made available to the delegates of the [[13th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|13th Party Congress]] in May 1924.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sebesteyn |first=Victor |date=2017 |title=Lenin the Dictator |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0WCdCwAAQBAJ |publisher=Orion Publishing Group |isbn=9781474600460}}</ref><ref name=Felshtinsky>{{cite book | first1 = Yuri | last1 = Felshtinsky | first2 = Alexander | last2 = Litvinenko | author-link = Yuri Felshtinsky | author-link2= Alexander Litvinenko | title = Lenin and His Comrades: The Bolsheviks Take Over Russia 1917-1924 | publisher = Enigma Books| location = New York| isbn = 9781929631957| date = October 26, 2010}}</ref>

An edited version of the testament was printed in December 1927 in a limited edition made available to 15th Party Congress delegates. The case for making the testament more widely available was undermined by the consensus within the party leadership that it could not be printed publicly as it would damage the party as a whole.

The text of the testament and the fact of its concealment soon became known in the West, especially after the circumstances surrounding the controversy were described by [[Max Eastman]] in ''Since Lenin Died'' (1925). The full English text of Lenin's testament was published as part of an article by Eastman that appeared in ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1926.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Eastman |first=Max |date=October 18, 1926 |title=Lenin's 'Testament' at Last Revealed |page=1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/10/18/archives/lenin-testament-at-last-revealed-letter-hidden-after-leaders-death.html |access-date=June 26, 2020}}</ref> In response to Eastman's article, Trotsky described the claim that the Central Committee concealed the testament as "pure slander".<ref name=eastman>{{Cite web |date=2022-07-22 |title=Leon Trotsky: Letter on Eastman's Book (1925) |url=https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1925/07/lenin.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220722135207/https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1925/07/lenin.htm |archive-date=2022-07-22 |access-date=2022-07-22 }}</ref> Trotsky also rejected the characterization of the document as a "will", describing the document as one of Lenin's letters providing advice on organizational matters.<ref name=eastman/> Trotsky would later explain his decision during the [[Dewey Commission]] hearing in 1937, in which he stated that Eastman had made the publication without his consent and pressure from the majority of the Politburo members had led him to disavow Eastman's publication.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trotsky |first1=Leon |title=In Defence of Marxism |date=25 March 2019 |publisher=Wellred Publications |isbn=978-1-913026-03-5 |page=210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r52JwwEACAAJ |language=en}}</ref>

Historian [[Stephen Kotkin]] argued that the evidence for Lenin's authorship of the Testament is weak and suggested that the Testament could have been created by Krupskaya.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen |year=2014 |title=Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928 |pages=473–505 |location=London |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0-7139-9944-0}}</ref> However, the Testament has been accepted as genuine by other historians, including [[E. H. Carr]], [[Isaac Deutscher]], [[Dmitri Volkogonov]], [[Vadim Rogovin]] and [[Oleg Khlevniuk]],<ref>{{cite web|last=White|first=Fred|date=1 June 2015|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/06/01/kot1-j01.html|title=A review of Stephen Kotkin's ''Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928''|access-date=29 January 2021|website=[[World Socialist Web Site]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gessen|first=Keith|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/11/06/how-stalin-became-stalinist|title=How Stalin Became a Stalinist|date=30 October 2017|access-date=29 January 2021|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref> and Kotkin's argument was specifically rejected by [[Richard Pipes]].<ref>Richard Pipes, “The Cleverness of Joseph Stalin,” New York Review of Books, November 20, 2014.</ref> [[Moshe Lewin]] cited the document as a representation of Lenin's views and argued that “the Soviet regime underwent a long period of “[[Stalinism]]”, which in its basic features was diametrically opposed to the recommendations of the testament”.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewin |first1=Moshe |title=Lenin's Last Struggle |date=4 May 2005 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-03052-1 |page=136 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iheBbViwVksC |language=en}}</ref>

Historian [[Ronald Suny]] wrote that Kotkin's hypothesis lacked mainstream support in a review: <blockquote>"Few other scholars doubt the authorship of the document, which accurately reflected Lenin’s views, nor was it questioned at the time it was written and debated in high party circles. Kotkin’s interpretation, fascinating as it is, relies on conjecture rather than evidence".<ref name="Red Flag Wounded"/></blockquote>

A number of modern Russian historians, most notably Valentin Sakharov author of the book “Political testament” of V. I. Lenin" express doubts about the authorship of Lenin, affirming that Krupskaya or even Leon Trotsky could be the true author of the letter, a view which is shared by historians Vladimir Ermakov and [[Yuri Zhukov (historian)|Yuri Zhukov]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Сахаров |first=В. А. |date=2003 |title="Политическое завещание" В.И.Ленина: реальность истории и мифы политики |url=https://istina.msu.ru/publications/book/2090531/ |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ermakov |first1=Vladimir |last2=Tyutyukin |first2=Stanislav |date=2005 |title=Продолжение споров вокруг "Политического завещания" В. И. Ленина четыре взгляда на одну книгу. |journal=[[Russian History (RAS journal)]] |pages=162–172}}</ref>

Conversely, historian [[Mark Edele]] was critical of this hypothesis and argued that Kotkin "went as far as embracing the empirically shaky thesis that Lenin’s 'Testament' was a forgery. As one of his critics pointed out, this discredited position is otherwise embraced only by Russian [[neo-Stalinism|neo-Stalinists]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Edele |first1=Mark |title=Debates on Stalinism |date=11 June 2020 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-4895-7 |pages=137–239 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-rqDwAAQBAJ&dq=lenin+testament+forgery&pg=PT126 |language=en}}</ref>

Historian Hiroaki Kuromiya has attributed claims of a forgery to Russian historian Valentin Sakharov who argued that Lenin's entourage had forged some of the documents to discredit Stalin. However, Kuromiya stated that Sakharov's claim had "generated much controversy and little consensus".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gregory |first1=Paul R. |last2=Naimark |first2=Norman |title=The Lost Politburo Transcripts: From Collective Rule to Stalin's Dictatorship |date=1 December 2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-15222-7 |page=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRhVO07o_bEC |language=en}}</ref>

Historian [[Peter Kenez]] believed that Trotsky could probably have removed Stalin with the use of Lenin's testament but he acquiesced to the collective decision not to publish the document.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kenez |first1=Peter |title=A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End |date=13 March 1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-31198-4 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIY9qb6iIEcC&dq=lenin+testament+collective+leadership+trotsky&pg=PA77 |language=en}}</ref>

Historian [[Geoffrey Roberts]] stated that none of the Soviet figures questioned the authenticity of the document at the time. He noted that Stalin himself quoted the full passage of the testament and commented that "Indeed I am rude, Comrades, to those who rudely and perfidiously destroy and split the party. I have not hidden this, and still do not".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Geoffrey |title=Stalin's Library: A Dictator and his Books |date=8 February 2022 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-26559-0 |pages=62–64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zYpaEAAAQBAJ&dq=Lenin+testament+authenticity&pg=PA63 |language=en}}</ref> Similarly, historian Roman Brackman stated that Krupskaya circulated copies of Lenin's testament to all the [[Politburo]] members and noted that Stalin upon reading the Lenin's testament had "exploded with obscene swearing at Lenin in the presence of Kamenev and Zinoviev".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brackman |first1=Roman |title=The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life |date=23 November 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-75840-0 |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PY2RAgAAQBAJ&dq=Trotsky+testament&pg=PA165 |language=en}}</ref><ref>“Lenin’s testament almost knocked Stalin out of the saddle, but cursing Lenin wouldn’t have helped matters”.{{cite book |last1=Antonov-Ovseenko |first1=Anton |title=The time of Stalin--portrait of a tyranny |date=1983 |publisher=New York : Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-039027-3 |page=22 |url=https://archive.org/details/timeofstalinport00anto/page/22/mode/2up?q=swearing}}</ref><ref>"Stalin threatened to produce another woman who would swear that she, not Krupskaya, was Lenin's true wife if she dared to publish Lenin's "Last testament". {{cite book |last1=Noonan |first1=Norma C. |last2=Nechemias |first2=Carol R. |title=Encyclopedia of Russian Women's Movements |date=30 September 2001 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-313-30438-5 |page=150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qk-ICsx5L90C&dq=stalin+swearing+lenin+testament&pg=PA150 |language=en}}</ref> Historian [[Vadim Rogovin]] cited a letter written by Grigori Zinoviev between July and August 1923 which referenced Lenin's characterization of Stalin in the testament as "a thousand times correct". Rogovin also cited a published correspondence from Zinoviev and Bukharin which was addressed to Stalin and stated, "there exists a letter by V.I., in which he advised (the Twelfth Party Congress) not to elect you Secretary".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogovin |first1=Vadim Zakharovich |title=Was There an Alternative? Trotskyism: a Look Back Through the Years |date=2021 |publisher=Mehring Books |isbn=978-1-893638-97-6 |page=72 |language=en}}</ref> According to Stalin's secretary, [[Boris Bazhanov]], Lenin "in general leaned towards a [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collegial leadership]], with Trotsky in the first position".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bazhanov |first1=Boris |last2=Doyle |first2=David W. |title=Bazhanov and the Damnation of Stalin |date=1990 |publisher=Ohio University Press |isbn=978-0-8214-0948-0 |page=62 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_ANAQAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref> Old Bolshevik and historian, [[Vladimir Nevsky]], believed that Stalin was appointed the General Secretary because he used false rumors to convince Lenin that the party faced a split. Nevsky also claimed that Lenin would later deeply regret trusting Stalin and strove to correct this mistake with his "Testament".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogovin |first1=Vadim Zakharovich |title=Was There an Alternative? Trotskyism: a Look Back Through the Years |date=2021 |publisher=Mehring Books |isbn=978-1-893638-97-6 |page=47 |language=en}}</ref> According to Kuromiya, Stalin pleaded with the People's Commissar for Finance, [[Grigory Sokolnikov]], not to discuss Lenin's testament at the [[15th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)|15th party Congress]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kuromiya |first1=Hiroaki |title=Stalin |date=16 August 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86780-7 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BRV4AAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+cunning&pg=PA70 |language=en}}</ref>

===Related documents===
This term is not to be confused with "Lenin's Political Testament", a term used in [[Leninism]] to refer to a set of letters and articles dictated by Lenin during his illness on how to continue the construction of the Soviet state. Traditionally, it includes the following works:
*''A Letter to a Congress'', "Письмо к съезду"
*''About Assigning of Legislative Functions to [[Gosplan]]'', "О придании законодательных функций Госплану"
*''To the "Nationalities Issue" or about "Autonomization"'', "К 'вопросу о национальностях' или об 'автономизации' "
*''Pages from the Diary'', "Странички из дневника"
*''About Cooperation'', "О кооперации"
*''About Our Revolution'', "О нашей революции"
*''How shall We Reorganise the [[Rabkrin]]'', "Как нам реорганизовать Рабкрин"
*''Better Less but Better'', "Лучше меньше, да лучше"