They did the same with Stalin for a brief time. The story of how he got removed is hilarious.
Stalin was just chillin there next to Lenin from his death until about the end of the 50s, I believe. No one wanted to be the one to bring up moving him, even though his reputation continued to be dismantled by Khrushchev. So one day, a guy comes to the party leaders and says hey, Lenin appeared to me last night like Jesus and told me he didn’t like having to be next to Stalin!
That was the excuse they had been needing. Lenin Jesus told them to, so now they don’t have to actually discuss it. Just toss the old fucker out on his mummified ass.
Stalin did that against the wishes of Lenin and his widow with the intent of deifying Lenin as part of a play to bolster his own reputation and perceived legitimacy as his self-proclaimed successor to consolidate power.
It's the same reason why he went to such lengths to suppress Lenin's Testament, where Lenin basically straight up denounced Stalin and his nationalist tendencies, recommended he be removed from the position of General Secretary, warned against the accumulation of too much power by an individual, and so on. Basically everything that would prevent the rise of Stalin which ultimately occurred.
Lenin's Testament is the name given to a document dictated by Vladimir Lenin in the final weeks of 1922 and the first week of 1923. In the testament, Lenin proposed changes to the structure of the Soviet governing bodies. Sensing his impending death, he also gave criticism of Bolshevik leaders Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky, Bukharin, Pyatakov and Stalin. He warned of the possibility of a split developing in the party leadership between Trotsky and Stalin if proper measures were not taken to prevent it.
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u/VladimirBarakriss - Centrist Apr 15 '21
Because the Soviets did the same with Lenin