Joseph Stalin 1 Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин (Russian) იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე სტალინი (Georgian) Stalin at the Tehran Conference in 1943. General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union In office 3 April 1922 – 16 October 1952 Preceded by Vyacheslav Molotov (as Responsible Secretary) Succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev (office reestablished) Chairman of the Council of Ministers In office 6 May 1941 – 5 March 1953 First Deputies Nikolai Voznesensky Vyacheslav Molotov Preceded by Vyacheslav Molotov Succeeded by Georgy Malenkov People's Commissar for Defense of the Soviet Union In office 19 July 1941 – 25 February 1946 Premier Himself Preceded by Semyon Timoshenko Succeeded by Nikolai Bulganin after vacancy Member of the Secretariat Joseph Stalin 2 In office 3 April 1922 – 5 March 1953 Full member of the Presidium In office 25 March 1919 – 5 March 1953 Member of the Orgburo In office 16 January 1919 – 5 March 1953 Personal details Born 18 December 1878 Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire Died 5 March 1953 (aged 74) Kuntsevo Dacha near Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union Resting place Lenin's Mausoleum, Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (9 March 1953 - 31 October 1961) Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow, Russian Federation (from 31 October 1961) Nationality Georgian Political party Communist Party of the Soviet Union Spouse(s) Ekaterina Svanidze (1906–1907) Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1919–1932) Children Yakov Dzhugashvili, Vasily Dzhugashvili, Svetlana Alliluyeva Religion None (atheist), formerly Georgian Orthodox Signature Military service Allegiance Soviet Union Service/branch Soviet Armed Forces Years of service 1943–1953 Rank Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943–1945) Generalissimus of the Soviet Union (1945–1953) Commands All (supreme commander) Battles/wars World War II Awards Joseph Stalin or Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин; born Ioseb Besarionis je J̌uḡašvili, Georgian: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი, pronounced [iɔsɛb bɛsariɔnis dze dʒuɣaʃvili]; 18 December 1878[1] – 5 March 1953) was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. He subsequently managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin through expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. He held this nominal post until abolishing it in 1952, concurrently serving as the Premier of the Soviet Union after establishing the position in 1941. Joseph Stalin 3 Under Joseph Stalin's rule, the concept of "socialism in one country" became a central tenet of Soviet society. He replaced the New Economic Policy introduced by Lenin in the early 1920s with a highly centralised command economy, launching a period of industrialization and collectivization that resulted in the rapid transformation of the USSR from an agrarian society into an industrial power.[2] However, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in Soviet correctional labour camps[] and the deportation of many others to remote areas.[] The initial upheaval in agriculture disrupted food production and contributed to the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine. Later, in a period that lasted from 1936–39, Stalin instituted a campaign against alleged enemies of his regime called the Great Purge, in which hundreds of thousands were executed. Major figures in the Communist Party, such as the old Bolsheviks, Leon Trotsky, and several Red Army leaders were killed after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government and Stalin.[3] In August 1939, Stalin entered into a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany that divided their influence within Eastern Europe, but Germany later violated the agreement and launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite heavy human and territorial losses, Soviet forces managed to halt the Nazi incursion after the decisive battles of Moscow and Stalingrad. After defeating the Axis powers on the Eastern Front, the Red Army captured Berlin in May 1945, effectively ending the war in Europe for the Allies.[4][5] The Soviet Union subsequently emerged as one of two recognized world superpowers, the other being the United States.[6] The Yalta and Potsdam conferences established communist governments loyal to the Soviet Union in the Eastern Bloc countries as buffer states, which Stalin deemed necessary in case of another invasion. He also fostered close relations with Mao Zedong in China and Kim Il-sung in North Korea. Stalin led the Soviet Union through its post-war reconstruction phase, which saw a significant rise in tension with the Western world that would later be known as the Cold War. During this period, the USSR became the second country in the world to successfully develop a nuclear weapon, as well as launching the Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature in response to another widespread famine and the Great Construction Projects of Communism. In the years following his death, Stalin and his regime have been condemned on numerous occasions, most notably in 1956 when his successor Nikita Khrushchev denounced his legacy and initiated a process of de-Stalinization. He remains a controversial figure today, with many regarding him as a tyrant;[7] however, popular opinion within the Russian Federation is mixed.[8][9][10] Early life Ioseb aged 16 (left) and 23 (right) Stalin was born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი; Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Джугашвили, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) on 18 December 1878[1] in the town of Gori, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Georgia). His mother Ketevan Geladze was a housekeeper who took whatever job opportunities were available and found employment at a couture shop for 17 years; his father Besarion Jughashvili worked as a cobbler. The couple had previously given birth to three sons, but two died during infancy. The family surname means son of Juga, and is derived from either the Ossetian йуга Juga (meaning 'herd') or the old Georgian ჯუღა djuga (meaning 'steel'). Ioseb eventually adopted the name "Stalin" from the Russian word for "steel;" he used it as an alias and pen name in his published works. Joseph Stalin 4 As a child, Ioseb was plagued with numerous health issues. He was born with two adjoined toes on his left foot.[11] His face was left permanently scarred after he contracted smallpox at the age of 7. Later, at age 12, he injured his left arm in an accident involving a horse-drawn carriage, rendering it shorter and stiffer than its counterpart. During the first several years of his life, Stalin and his mother were subjected to severe physical abuse at the hands of his father,[12] who was severely alcoholic. When Geladze enrolled Ioseb into an Orthodox priesthood school against her husband's wishes, Jughashvili went on a public rampage. He was banished from Gori for assaulting its police chief. He subsequently moved to Tiflis (Tbilisi), leaving his family behind. When Stalin was sixteen, he received a scholarship to attend the Georgian Orthodox Tiflis Spiritual Seminary in Tbilisi. Although his performance had been satisfactory, he was expelled in 1899 after missing his final exams. The seminary's records also suggest that he was unable to pay his tuition fees.[13] The official Soviet version states that he was expelled for reading illegal literature and for forming a Social Democratic study circle.[14] Around this time, Stalin discovered the writings of Vladimir Lenin and decided to become a Marxist revolutionary, eventually joining the Bolsheviks in 1903 and becoming one of their chief operatives in the Caucasus. His activities included connecting with workers and inciting strikes. The years of 1900-1903 were years of industrial depression. Not surprisingly then, numerous strikes broke out in 1904. One strike was the strike of oil workers in Baku in Georgia which broke out on December 13, 1904.[15] Stalin and Prokofy Djaparidze, another Bolshevik organizer, became involved in this strike. The strike was ended successfully on December 31, 1904, when the oil workers became the first workers in Russian history to sign a collective bargaining agreement with the oil owners.[16] Another activity of Stalin and the other Bolshevik organizers was to spread propaganda. Toward this end, Stalin wrote an article in May 1905 called "Briefly About the Disagreements in the Party" which was a defense of Bolshevik goals for the Russian Social Democratic Party against attacks from the Mensheviks.[17] In January 1906, Stalin wrote an article called "Two Clashes: Concerning January 9" which dealt with the first anniversary of the peaceful march and demonstration of Father George Gapon and a huge crowd of workers when they marched on the Winter Palace.[18] This march on January 9, 1905, was the most noteworthy event of the 1905 Russian Revolution and resulted in the events of Bloody Sunday when 1000 demonstrators were shot by the guards at the Winter Palace. Other activities of Stalin and the organizers in the Georgian region of the Russian Empire included organizing paramilitaries, spreading propaganda, and raising money through bank robberies, ransom kidnappings, and extortion. Particularly notable was his participation in the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery,