There are both similarities and differences in the characters of Lenin and Stalin. Both Lenin and Stalin were quite clever and ambitious politicians. Lenin came to power in 1917 as the head of the Bolshevik party after many years of planning, and he was leader of Russia until his death in 1924. Stalin won the struggle with Trotsky to become leader of the Communist party in 1929 and remained the leader until his death in 1953. Both Lenin and Stalin were extremely patriotic; they loved their land and country and they tried to improve it as best as they could. Lenin and Stalin were both ruthless leaders. Lenin used his secret police (the Cheka) to crush any opposition, and people were not allowed to talk freely. Stalin used his secret police (the NKVD) to crush his opponents as well.
There are also differences in the characters of Lenin and Stalin. Lenin was much more careful in his use of the Cheka and his way of acting against the opponents. Stalin felt more secure to use his secret police to crush any opposition. He even held 'Show Trials' in public to eliminate members of the party. Lenin was maybe more popular with the people, probably because of the Revolution. Stalin was less popular than Lenin, perhaps because of his cruel way of eliminating opponents. Especially Stalin's period of leadership between 1928 and 1936 (also called the Purges) made him very unpopular with the people.
There are quite a few clear similarities in the beliefs of Lenin and Stalin. For example, they both believed in State Control of Agriculture and Industry. Lenin introduced a period of 'War Communism'
to improve Russia after the war, and Stalin introduced the 'Five-Year Plans' and after that his policy of 'Collectivisation' to succeed the major changes the Five-Year Plans had brought about. Lenin and Stalin also believed in a One Party State and a Dictatorship and, however in another way, they both believed in the use of the Secret Police to crush any opposition, as said...