Stalin took the Soviet Union in a different direction than Lenin had intended to, or so those that wish to clear Lenin of any blame for the excesses of the Stalin regime would claim. Lenin's premature death meant that different factions within the Communist Party would claim to be acting in his name with their own version of Marxism- Leninism. Even before the outcomes of those power struggles were decided Lenin was made the focal point of the Soviet states propaganda and education. Therefore, Marxism- Leninism had an impact on Russia due to the cult of personality the Communist Party developed around Lenin after his death. In the Soviet Union, Lenin's name and image were everywhere, his successors claimed that everything they did was done in
