In 1924, Soviet policy recognized that prospects for “universal civil war” had vanished, at least for the time being. The Comintern announced the beginning of the “Second Period” in world revolution, recognizing that capitalism had achieved temporary stability, marking a temporary “transitional stage between revolutions.” Comintern leaders declared that promotion of violent revolution must be deferred in favor of building strength through the “united front from above,” forming alliances with other worker groups.

As Iosif Stalin began to win the struggle for power after the death of Lenin, he developed his own revolutionary strategy, based on the slogan “Socialism in One Country.” In 1928, he unveiled his twin strategies of immediate collectivization of agriculture and the ruthless prioritization of large-scale state industry in order to turn the Soviet Union into a major industrial and military power. This required renewal of internal conflict and repression. The Stalin-style creation of an eventual superpower was possible only in a country with the large population and abundant natural resources of the Soviet Union, for altogether it suffered nearly twenty-five million deaths as the direct and indirect results of state policy between 1917 and 1934.