Final answer:
Stalin's ascension to power in the Soviet Union was the result of internal political maneuvers within the Communist Party following Lenin's death, not a direct democratic election, military coup, inheritance, or traditional revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
Joseph Stalin was not proclaimed leader of the Soviet Union through any of the options listed in a straightforward manner. After the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, a power struggle ensued within the Bolshevik leadership, leading to Stalin gradually consolidating power and becoming the leader. He officially held the title of "Premier" and oversaw the Communist Party's central decision-making committee, the Politburo, but his rise to power was a complex process that combined political intrigue and party machinations rather than a simple electoral or revolutionary process.
Stalin's rise to power followed Lenin's death and involved outmaneuvering his political rivals such as Trotsky and Zinoviev. His leadership was not the result of a democratic election, military coup, inheritance, or even a revolution in the traditional sense, but rather a series of political maneuvers and the removal of opposition within the party.
While Stalin did participate in revolutionary activity prior to his rise to power and employed propaganda to align himself with the legacy of past revolutions, his eventual control over the Soviet Union was absolute, reflecting a shift from collective leadership to autocracy, reminiscent of Tsarist rule prior to the Bolshevik Revolution.