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a revolutionary and a general a great

modernizer and a ruthless tyrant joseph

stalin could claim to be them all

one of the most influential figures of

the 20th century he would rise from

humble beginnings to become the leader

of the soviet union one of the world's

largest superpowers been unafraid to

sacrifice anything or anyone to achieve

power

his political opponents would be shot

his own citizens would be hunted down by

the secret police and millions would be

sentenced to backbreaking work in the

gulag labor camps

this is the story of joseph stalin

joseph juguschvili later to be known as

joseph stalin was born on december 6

1878

in the small georgian town of gory on

the outskirts of the russian empire his

mother was a skilled dressmaker and his

father was a successful cobbler with the

boy experiencing a comfortable

upbringing

but it was not to last his father would

turn to drink and began beating him

eventually abandoning the family

entirely

wanting the best for her son

stalin's mother would send him off to a

theological school where she hoped he

could climb the social hierarchy by

becoming a priest

stalin was a model student known for his

hard work and his singing in the church

choir

but as he entered his late teenage years

he would become disillusioned with

religious life

during his third year at the seminary he

would join an illegal book club becoming

inspired by the stories of the fictional

georgian hero cobra a name he would

later use as his own during his early

years as a revolutionary

he would also be highly influenced by

the works of karl marx and his theories

known as marxism one of the most popular

forms of socialism at the time

stalin would soon develop an interest in

politics and would become involved with

a group of social democrats a

revolutionary socialist party who aimed

to overthrow the russian monarchy

as stalin's involvement in revolutionary

politics continued to grow his grades

and reputation at the seminary would

begin to decline with him being expelled

in 1899

after failing to attend his daily

prayers and been found in the possession

of illegal literature

at the age of 22 following a wave of

harsh crackdowns by the authorities

stalin would leave his old life behind

and go into hiding becoming a full-time

revolutionary

despite his young age he would be

described by his colleagues as

exceptionally vicious and vindictive

willing to apply the most extreme

measures in his attempts to dominate the

party with him soon rising to the top of

the local revolutionary leadership

stalin would soon find himself drawn to

the teachings of vladimir lenin the

leader of a socialist faction known as

the bolsheviks who followed a more

radical and militant course of action

stalin would quickly become a leading

bolshevik in georgia and the surrounding

area and while living with a colleague

he would meet his first wife ye

sfanitza with the couple marrying in

1906

less than a year later stalin's first

son yakov would be born

but the dangerous life of a

revolutionary did not mix well with

family

after traveling to the city of baku with

her husband the catalina would fall

seriously ill

dying in november 1907

her death would have a profound effect

on stalin and at the funeral he would

state

this creature softened my heart of stone

she died and with her died my last warm

feelings for humanity

unable to deal with his grief stalin

would abandon his eight-month-old son

yakov to be raised by his mother's

family not returning to see him for

several years

as the years went on stalin would rise

through the ranks of the bolsheviks

becoming known for his ruthless methods

raising money through armed robberies

protection rackets and ransoms

in 1912 he would adopt the name stalin

meaning man of steel

but stalin's newfound fame would also

make him a high priority target for the

police

in 1913 he would be caught and sentenced

to four years of exile in siberia an

inhospitable region of eastern russia it

would be one of stalin's lowest points

during this period he suffered with poor

health and became increasingly depressed

in his isolation with the 35 year old

seeking companionship with a local 14

year old girl

with it being rumored the two had a

child together

he would slowly stop producing

revolutionary works and in 1915 lenin

would famously forget his last name

for stalin it appeared the revolutionary

dream was over

in 1917 while still in exile stalin

would receive the news that he had been

working towards for over 15 years

revolution had taken place in russia

russia's population over 100 million

people had suffered years of oppression

discontent and poverty

coupled with the horrendous failures of

the first world war and the personal

failings of russia's monarch

son nicholas ii would be executed ending

300 years of his family's rule with a

provisional government being established

to take control of the country

stalin was soon released from his exile

and made his way back to central russia

with a renewed sense of purpose

but his mentor lenin was still

unsatisfied calling for yet another

revolution that would see a socialist

government take power

however there was significant resistance

within the party towards his ideas with

stalin openly expressing his opposition

to get stalin on his side lenin would

give him a place on the bolshevik

central committee granting him a large

amount of influence and his first real

taste of power

stalin would quickly devote himself to

lenin's cause and that october the

bolsheviks would stage a second

revolution removing the provisional

government from power and establishing

themselves as leaders of the country

as a leading bolshevik stalin was now

one of the most powerful men in the

country

but the struggle was not finished the

revolution would lead to five years of

civil war an exceptionally brutal period

that would shape stalin into the cruel

and ruthless leader he would later

become

during the civil war he would be

appointed to the city of saritin by

lenin to acquire grain for the

bolsheviks and to organize the local

fighting forces

but lacking any military knowledge or

experience stalin would completely

mishandle the situation and after just

two months under his command the city

was on the verge of collapse with many

soldiers having died under his command

faced with this disaster stalin would

turn to a technique that would later

become a staple of his political career

he would begin the use of terror

the disaster was soon blamed on

counter-revolutionaries

spies and saboteurs who were arrested

convicted on weak or fabricated evidence

and then executed

stalin became known for being

particularly brutal in his use of terror

burning down entire villages and

arresting anyone who dared to argue with

him

he was highly suspicious of military

personnel who he would often target in

his purges bringing him into conflict

with the head of the army leon trotsky

who saw stalin as a dangerous political

rival

trotsky would express his grievances to

lenin

leading to stalin's removal from zaritin

and beginning a lifelong rivalry between

the two men

a conflict from which only one of them

would survive

in 1922 the same year the soviet union

was formally established stalin would be

elected to the position of general

secretary a role he would use to secure

his rise to power

the position allowed him to set the

agenda for meetings of the polit bureau

and the soviet government as well as

placing the careers of numerous soviet

officials in his hands giving him a

large and loyal following

but towards the end of 1922 a power

vacuum would emerge at the highest

levels of soviet government when lenin

became seriously ill suffering a number

of strokes that impeded his ability to

govern the country

but to stalin's horror trotsky would

manage to form an alliance with the

dying soviet leader giving him a

significant advantage in the power

struggle

stalin would respond by calling lenin's

wife and subjecting her to a torrent of

abusive language

an event that would be so upsetting to

lenin that he would call for stalin's

removal from government

while stalin managed to keep his

position a rift had opened between him

and lenin the most influential and

respected man in the country putting his

political career in a very dangerous

position

but in 1924 lenin would die

giving stalin the opportunity to reshape

their relationship in the eyes of the

public

and so he would take control of the

funeral giving himself the politically

significant role as one of lenin's poll

bearers

lenin would be enshrined in moscow's red

square with stalin portrayed as the

protector of his legacy in soviet

propaganda

trotsky his hated rival was given the

wrong date for the funeral causing him

to miss the event entirely

over the next few years stalin would

expertly manipulate events to secure his

rise to power

pitting his rivals against each other

and eventually amassing enough support

to strip trotsky of his position in

government

with his main political opponent gone

there were few left to oppose darling he

would systematically demote a rest and

exile his political opponents and by

1928 he would emerge as the sole leader

of the country

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having secured absolute power

stalin began transforming the soviet

union into a modern superpower

in 1931 he would state

we are 50 or 100 years behind the

advanced countries we must make goods

this distance in 10 years either we do

it or we shall be crushed

he would begin a policy of rapid

industrialization

launching a series of five-year plans to

grow soviet industry

but the implementation of these plans

would be chaos

ignoring the advice of economic experts

stalin would double and then triple

production targets nearly none of which

would actually be met

inflation was rampant money was spent

with no budget and entire factories were

constructed with only half finished

blueprint

but despite this production did see a

notable increase securing the soviet

union's place as a modern industrial

nation

to support industry a policy of forced

collectivization was implemented where

peasants the country's largest group of

people were stripped of their private

property and forced to work for the

state on collective farms

anyone who refused was beaten shot or

sent to labor camps known as gulags

where they would be used for slave labor

but the policy would be met with extreme

resistance with many peasants preferring

to burn their crops and slaughter their

animals rather than let them be taken by

the state in some instances stalin's

response was extreme

with villages that refused to comply

been bombed out of existence by the air

force

with the peasants lacking any economic

incentive to work agricultural

production saw a massive decline

soon leading to a devastating famine

reaching its peak in the winter of 1932

and 1933

the famine is estimated to have caused

the death of up to 7 million people with

millions more being left permanently

disabled

parents would sell their children for

food with the countryside seen

widespread cases of disease mandatory

and cannibalism

anyone who kept stores of grain was

accused of hoarding and were beaten and

tortured until they gave up their

supplies

the famine would hit ukraine the hardest

with three and a half million people

dying there alone

the ukrainians would call the famine the

holodomor a name that means murder

through starvation

stalin would only make things worse

exporting two million tons of food out

of the ukraine and forbidding those that

lived there to move away

their only option was to wait and die

with thousands of starving people

turning to cannibalism to survive

but for stalin the countryside had been

brought under control

although it had cost the lives of

millions and had reduced the peasants to

slaves of the state it was a price he

was willing to pay to feed the

industrial workers

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but as the 1930s went on stalin would

become increasingly paranoid of those

around him constantly searching for

traitors and conspiracies and looking

for ways to secure his power

he would first target his political

opposition with the assassination of

soviet politician sergey kirov providing

a pretext for convicting his most

influential opponents of conspiracy

between 1936 and 1938 a series of show

trials would be held whether accused

would be convicted on fabricated

evidence

tortured into giving a confession and

then shot

the old bolsheviks were targeted

those who had been around since before

the revolution and retained strong

political opinions and influence

they would be replaced by young

politicians who could be easily

manipulated and were completely loyal to

stalin knowing never to question his

judgment

army officers soon came into the fiery

line as stalin believed their power and

influence had grown too strong

many were convicted of working as agents

for trotsky with over 35 000 officers

being shot or imprisoned and the navy

losing every single one of its admirals

but soon the purges would extend to

every corner of soviet society

ordinary citizens were encouraged to

report suspicious friends and family to

the authorities many of whom would do so

out of fear of being targeted themselves

the secret police were also appointed a

new leader nikolai yazov who would set

his officers arrest and execution quotas

often purging his own staff to impress

stalin

at only five feet tall he was soon

nicknamed the bloody dwarf due to his

enthusiasm for torturing his victims

between 1937 and 1938 an average of 1

500 people were killed every day a

period known as the great terror

around 1.6 million people were arrested

700 000 of which were executed with an

unknown number dying in labor camps and

torture chambers

stalin's paranoia had become extreme

with a colleague describing him as

suspicious to the point of insanity

his purges would also have a devastating

effect on soviet society with a culture

of fear and distrust emerging

those working in industry were afraid to

suggest any changes or innovations that

could get them accused of sabotage

leading to a slowdown in economic growth

the military were particularly affected

and would suffer from an extreme

shortage of experienced commanders with

discipline and quality suffering as a

result and with war on the horizon the

purges could not have come at a worse

time

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as the great terror began to wind down

international relations were reaching a

boiling point with europe soon erupting

into world war ii

stalin would initially sign a

non-aggression pact with hitler the

molotov ribbentrop pact which allowed

him to invade and take over large parts

of eastern europe once the conflict

began

these territories would quickly find

themselves subject to the same

oppression experienced in the soviet

union for decades

the most notorious example of this was

the catin massacre of 1940 where almost

22 000 polish prisoners were killed to

prevent any ideological opposition from

emerging

that same year a soviet agent would also

manage to hunt down stalin's longtime

rival leon trotsky assassinating him

with an ice pick in mexico city

but soon things would turn against

stalin with hitler breaking their

non-aggression pact and launching a

surprise invasion of the soviet union on

june 22 1941

the soviet army completely unprepared

and weakened by stalin's purges would

suffer devastating losses with stalin

himself entering a state of shock

just a week after the invasion began

stalin would disappear from the

government and began hiding away in his

moscow home with a terrified group of

officials being forced to approach him

to convince him to lead the war effort

but stalin's military leadership would

be filled with the same brutal tactics

he'd employed throughout his career he

would insist that every inch of ground

be held giving the death sentence to

those who surrendered leading to the

pointless loss of thousands of men

those deemed to be fearmongerers or

cowards were placed in special penalty

battalions who would be sent to their

death at the start of battles to help

reduce enemy ammunition

taking this further he would make it

illegal to be taken prisoner with the

families of prisoners and deserters

being stripped of their government

pensions and arrested

tehran was also used to maintain army

discipline and just four months after

the outbreak of war

over 10 000 members of the army had been

shot by their superiors often directly

in front of their comrades

but despite this brutality the tide

would soon turn with a combination of

soviet heroism russian heavy industry

and western assistance pushing the

germans back by 1944 nazi germany were

in full retreat with the soviets

claiming a large portion of eastern

europe and eventually capturing berlin

itself

but it had come at the cost of 25

million lives the highest death toll for

any country in the second world war

victory in the war would greatly benefit

stalin's dictatorship with soviet

propaganda portraying him as a hero

at home his rule was unquestioned and he

now owned a vast empire that spanned

over two continents

from his humble beginnings in georgia he

had risen to be the leader of the second

most powerful country on earth surpassed

only by the united states

with his new territory spanning from the

baltic to the adriatic sea

stalin would assert his influence over

eastern europe with churchill stating

that an iron curtain had descended

across the continent

the cold war had begun

a conflict that would come to dominate

the rest of the 20th century with stalin

battling the west for control and

ideological influence in europe for the

last years of his life

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although he had achieved absolute power

stalin would struggle with his personal

image

he was a man of small stature measuring

at only five feet four inches tall he

would often wear shoes with thick soles

to make himself appear taller

his face was also heavily marked from

the scars he had obtained after

contracting smallpox in his youth

he would take every measure to hide them

employing makeup artists and airbrushing

photographs to make his face appear

smoother

those that met him were often shocked by

the small and disfigured man they would

see

far different from the heroic figure

portrayed in soviet propaganda

but in his final years stalin had become

paranoid and lonely having no one around

him he could trust

he had arrested and killed a number of

his own family during the great terror

and his first son yakov had been

captured and killed during the second

world war

stalin had also married a second wife

nadezhda alleluia in 1919

although he would be consistently

unfaithful with nadezhda committing

suicide in 1932

after the couple had a public argument

their children svetlana and vasily would

both experience difficulties as children

of a dictator

vasily was an arrogant and irresponsible

young man becoming accustomed to being

treated like royalty

during the war he would become a 24 year

old general but acted with a total lack

of responsibility

he would go fishing with his

subordinates using explosives to stun

the fish leading to the death of an

officer

he would also struggle with alcoholism

and had contracted a number of chronic

diseases by his 30th birthday

after his father's death he would be

imprisoned after a drunken outburst

dying in exile at the age of 40.

while svetlana received more love and

attention she would often come into

conflict with her father over her

relationships with stalin once arresting

a boyfriend he disapproved of

their once warm relationship would grow

distant as the years went on with

svetlana choosing to defect to the

united states after her father's death

stalin's health would begin to seriously

decline in his final years due to years

of smoking drinking and overwork

he would suffer a debilitating stroke on

march 1 1953 in his moscow home

his guards terrified of upsetting him

would refuse to enter his room without

permission with it taking hours before

they found the courage to enter finding

him lying immobilized on the floor

his top associates were quickly summoned

but even they were too afraid to take

any real action stalin had recently

become convinced that his own doctors

were trying to kill him and it would

take many hours before anyone was

confident enough to call a medical

professional but by then it was too late

with it being determined that the

dictator had suffered a cerebral

hemorrhage with him dying on march 5th

1953

after several days of paralysis having

lived to the age of 74.

joseph stalin will go down as one of

history's most notorious leaders

he can be credited with transforming the

soviet union into a modern superpower

and for leading the country through the

second world war

but it came at an immense cost

between 1930 and 1952

over 26 million people had been shot

imprisoned or subjected to internal

exile an average of over 1 million per

year

tens of millions more would be arrested

without charge evicted from their homes

or forced to work on dangerous projects

with it being estimated that at least 60

million people had been subjected to

some form of repression during stalin's

rule

but despite this many soviet citizens

would remain devoted to their leader the

state produced an endless stream of

propaganda portraying stalin as a hero

and a father figure

paintings songs and statues were all

commissioned by the dictator with

several towns and cities being named

after him

official history books would distort

events beyond recognition and he would

go as far as to doctor historical

photographs removing his political

rivals from important events in soviet

history

this propaganda would be incredibly

effective with many expressing genuine

grief at his death and worrying about a

future without his leadership even

prisoners in the gulag many of whom

stalin had sent there himself

are known to have wept at the news of

his parting

hero or tyrant a great modernizer or a

ruthless killer there can be no doubt

that stalin was one of the most

influential figures of the 20th century

whose legacy has shaped the world as we

know it today

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