After Vladimir Lenin (1870 - 1924) died, Joseph Stalin became the next ruler of the Soviet Union. He outmaneuvered his rivals to gain control of the Bolshevik party. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed into an industrial and military superpower from a peasant society. But in the process, due to the brutal way it was done, millions of Russians themselves died. He had potential enemies executed or sent to forced labor camps. After his death, the Soviets began to erase his marks on their society by initiating a process called de - Stalinization.