How were historians ' views on the Bolshevik victory changed by Stalin 's death ?
Sergei Kirov supposedly spoke with " particular force against the recourse to the death penalty " and was joined to a greater or lesser extent by Sergo Ordzhonikidze , Valerian Kuibyshev , Stanislav Kosior , and Yan Rudzutak , while Stalin 's position was supported only by Lazar Kaganovich .