Biography:
Born Ioseb Vissarionovich Jughashvili in Gori, Georgia in 1878. A sickly child, his condition was worsened by an abusive father. His mother sent him away to church school against his father's wishes, to pursue priesthood. Joseph was confronted by a secret organization that supported Georgian independence, and soon after was introduced to the writings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. Although Joseph excelled in seminary school, he was unable to pay tuition fees which culminated in his missing of a final exam causing Joseph to be expelled. It was also speculated that Joseph was asked to leave due to his political views. When the Bolsheviks were formed by Lenin; Jughashvili immediately joined their cause. Jughashvili was shown to be extremely capable at the organization of many activities, including propaganda, kidnapping, extortion, assassination, and inspiration of persons to follow his cause. Quickly gaining a leadership role within the Bolsheviks, he was well respected by Lenin and many others within the party. It was around 1910-12 that he began using the name Stalin.
An executive in the city of Tsaritsyn during the October Revolution (the one that created the Soviet Union), exerted influence on the military decisions through allies in the Red Army. Some of those decisions were in conflict with those that came from Trotsky, a main political rival, including Stalin’s decision to kill captured counter-revolutionaries and to publicly execute deserters as traitors to dissuade future occurrences. Stalin even had entire villages burned to the ground in order to instill fear in the neighbouring villages into accepting the new leadership. Although Lenin disagreed with these actions he still considered him a trusted ally. It was around this time that he began using the name “Stalin”. During the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1921 he refused to reallocate troops to help other military commanders, allowing a defeat and the eventual loss of all ground gained in Poland.
Stalin began to rise to power after Lenin suffered strokes, repressing information that stated he did not want Stalin in power after his death, Lenin eventually died. This created a power vacuum in which Stalin used all available means to remove enemies. Utilizing bribery, kidnapping, assassination, arrest, imprisonment, and execution on made up charges, to remove any possible threat to his power, eventually destroying any and all internal resistance throughout the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). This time was eventually dubbed the Great Purge, and solidified Stalin’s leadership.
Stalin continued to keep his eyes on Poland, signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. This non-aggression pact also had several secret protocols outlining the territories that would be gained from an invasion of Poland and other Eastern European states. Stalin did not enjoy working with Hitler, but found it necessary to prepare to defend against Germany. He knew that he would not be able to defend against the strength of Nazi Germany and win at the current state of affairs in the Red Army, so he signed the non-aggression pact to buy time to prepare. When the Germans invaded in 1941 the Soviets were only partially prepared, and were swept back to Moscow by early 1942. Stalin was essential in boosting morale by masterminding propaganda. Many persons were affected by Stalin's scorched earth policies enacted to prevent the Germans from making use of captured Soviet land. His infamous order 227 stated that any soldier to retreat when not ordered to would be immediately shot by those behind him. Almost 158 000 soldiers were killed in this fashion. These orders were extremely characteristic of Stalin, he squeezed any resource of all usefulness to him then discarded it. Stalin was adamant that he would control much of Eastern Europe, and he was given in by the allies. Once Stalin took Berlin and soldiers began returning home, many were put in gulags for fear that they were spies or infected with ’dangerous’ anti-Soviet ideas.
After the war, Stalin’s health deteriorated, suffering a minor stroke in 1945 and another major one in 1953. There is some disagreement by historians whether his death was assassination by poisoning or of natural causes. In either case, Stalin died on the 5th of March, 1953.
An executive in the city of Tsaritsyn during the October Revolution (the one that created the Soviet Union), exerted influence on the military decisions through allies in the Red Army. Some of those decisions were in conflict with those that came from Trotsky, a main political rival, including Stalin’s decision to kill captured counter-revolutionaries and to publicly execute deserters as traitors to dissuade future occurrences. Stalin even had entire villages burned to the ground in order to instill fear in the neighbouring villages into accepting the new leadership. Although Lenin disagreed with these actions he still considered him a trusted ally. It was around this time that he began using the name “Stalin”. During the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1921 he refused to reallocate troops to help other military commanders, allowing a defeat and the eventual loss of all ground gained in Poland.
Stalin began to rise to power after Lenin suffered strokes, repressing information that stated he did not want Stalin in power after his death, Lenin eventually died. This created a power vacuum in which Stalin used all available means to remove enemies. Utilizing bribery, kidnapping, assassination, arrest, imprisonment, and execution on made up charges, to remove any possible threat to his power, eventually destroying any and all internal resistance throughout the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). This time was eventually dubbed the Great Purge, and solidified Stalin’s leadership.
Stalin continued to keep his eyes on Poland, signing the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany. This non-aggression pact also had several secret protocols outlining the territories that would be gained from an invasion of Poland and other Eastern European states. Stalin did not enjoy working with Hitler, but found it necessary to prepare to defend against Germany. He knew that he would not be able to defend against the strength of Nazi Germany and win at the current state of affairs in the Red Army, so he signed the non-aggression pact to buy time to prepare. When the Germans invaded in 1941 the Soviets were only partially prepared, and were swept back to Moscow by early 1942. Stalin was essential in boosting morale by masterminding propaganda. Many persons were affected by Stalin's scorched earth policies enacted to prevent the Germans from making use of captured Soviet land. His infamous order 227 stated that any soldier to retreat when not ordered to would be immediately shot by those behind him. Almost 158 000 soldiers were killed in this fashion. These orders were extremely characteristic of Stalin, he squeezed any resource of all usefulness to him then discarded it. Stalin was adamant that he would control much of Eastern Europe, and he was given in by the allies. Once Stalin took Berlin and soldiers began returning home, many were put in gulags for fear that they were spies or infected with ’dangerous’ anti-Soviet ideas.
After the war, Stalin’s health deteriorated, suffering a minor stroke in 1945 and another major one in 1953. There is some disagreement by historians whether his death was assassination by poisoning or of natural causes. In either case, Stalin died on the 5th of March, 1953.
Comparison Slideshow: (click his face)
Human Rights Violations: (click the pictures)
For some more extensive reading about Human Rights during the entire history of the USSR, click the below image: