Mao was sidelined after the great leap forward and had to instigate the cultural revolution to take back the driver's seat. I was under the impression Stalin never faced any real threat of losing power?
Stalin indeed never faced any real threat, but he also didn't rule as long as Mao nor as unilaterally. Stalin always made sure that most of his decisions were popular with a fairly large segment of the population.
Yeah, I think it turns into apples and oranges the more detail one goes into.
Mao was definitely more reckless, Stalin more paranoid, and it makes sense that Stalin's position would be more secure barring an assassination or something.
