On the evening of 1 March 1953 Joseph Stalin was found lying unconscious on the floor of his dacha outside Moscow. Four days later he was dead. As doctors tended the dying dictator his political rivals vied for power, while the Soviet people were paralysed with fear at what the future might bring. As funeral plans were finalised, five million people filed past his body. Hundreds died in the crush to see the corpse interned with Lenin's in the Kremlin mausoleum. And yet, many more were arrested for daring to voice their happiness at his death.
Tim Whewell describes the days that changed the Soviet Union for ever.
Producer Leonida Krushelnycky