396. Stalin: The Bolshevik Revolution (Part 2)
Summary
Hosts Anita Arand and William Dalrymple, joined by historian G. Charles Milton, explore Stalin's rise from an unremarkable figure to a ruthless power broker during the Russian Civil War. The episode details Stalin's brutal conduct as a political commissar, his escalating rivalry with Leon Trotsky, and the strategic use of the Cheka to consolidate control. It also examines the personal dynamics within the Bolshevik leadership, including Stalin's strained marriage to Nadezhda Alliluyeva and his manipulative relationship with Lenin, culminating in Lenin's failed attempt to remove Stalin as Gen…
Topics discussed
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Introduction and guest welcome
The start of the Russian Civil War
White vs Red armies and Western intervention
Cost of the Civil War and early repression
Rise of Stalin and the Cheka
Stalin's use of the Cheka for political gain
Battle of Tsaritsin and Stalin's arrest of officers
Stalin vs Trotsky: Army vs State Organ
Lenin's strategy and the 'Uncle Joe' myth
The Lenin-Trotsky-Stalin triangle
Western spies and Stalin's public persona
Anecdote: Stalin and the bootmaker
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Stalin's marriage to Nadezhda Alliluyeva
Children Svetlana and Vasily
Stalin becomes General Secretary
Lenin's illness and the 'Sorry Not Sorry' letter
Lenin's final wishes and Stalin's entrenchment
Lenin's death and embalming
Lenin's brain and the mausoleum
Stalin's Georgian identity and accent
Preview of next episode: Trotsky's fall
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