Socialism in one country
The Socialism in one country theory is the foundation of Stalinism (or "Stalinist socialism"), though it was actually developed by Bukharin and then adopted by Stalin. The theory is in opposition to Lenin's beliefs that while a revolution may happen in one country, the final success of socialism in one country, especially in such a backward one as Russia, is impossible without proletarian revolutions in other, more advanced countries — such as those of Western Europe (see World revolution). Mensheviks and Trotsky also came to the same conclusion, but after going through a slightly different intellectual route — Trotsky's theory of Permanent Revolution, disputed by Lenin.
After Lenin's death, Stalin put forward the theory that the Soviet Union could survive without other socialist countries (in the West, such countries would be called communist states rather than "socialist countries"). This theory was contested by the Left Opposition within the party. Stalin's position gained an apparent confirmation from failed attempts of proletarian revolutions in other countries, and this might have also contributed to changing the focus of Stalin's external policy from the Third International to tradeoffs with capitalist states.
In the first edition of the book Osnovy Leninizma (Foundations of Leninism, 1924) (the one with his formula: Leninism is Marxism of the era of imperialism and the proletarian revolution), Stalin is still an adept of Lenin's idea that revolution in one country is insufficient. However by the end of the year, in the second edition of the book, this position started to turn into the opposite direction: "...proletariat can and Must build the socialist society".
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