How were Stalin's ideas of communism different from those of Karl Marx?

Stalin's and Marx's ideas of communism were radically different from one another. Stalin's communism consisted of a totalitarian government to control the means of production and exploit the citizens of the country. Marx believed communism would have no government at all; that the means of production would be administered by all and no one would be exploited. Stalin believed in first making a successful and stable communist regime in one country (Russia) first, then spreading it to other countries. Marx believed that communism could not exist in a single country surrounded by capitalist countries.

Stalin's "communism" was just a political Dictatorship rather than Marx's societal evolution of one type of society (capitalist) into another (socialist/communist).

Stalin's government told people what to make, and what jobs to do.

Stalin created an elite class of leaders.