Draft:Stalin
| Name | Stalin |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Ioseb Bessarionis dze Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი) |
| Known As | Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Сталин) |
| Nickname | Man of Steel |
| Birth | 18 December 1878 |
| Place of Birth | Gori • Georgia • Russian Empire |
| Nationality | Soviet Union |
| Political Party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| Occupation | Politician • Seminary-educated |
| Religion | Atheist |
| Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union |
| Commander of | Red Army |
| Death | 5 March 1953 |
| Place of Death | 5 March 1953 (aged 74) Moscow • Russia • Soviet Union |
| Burial Place | Lenin's Mausoleum |
Joseph Stalin, born Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი) and fully named Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and the leader of the Soviet Union. He was born on 21 December 1879 (30 Azar 1258 in the Solar Hijri calendar) in the city of Gori in present-day Georgia. Stalin died on 5 March 1953 (15 Esfand 1331 in the Solar Hijri calendar) in Moscow.
Biography
Joseph Vissarionovich Jughashvili, known as "Stalin," was the ruthless dictator of the former Soviet Union. Born under the full name Joseph Vissarionovich Jughashvili on either 18 September 1878 or 6 December 1887 in the small town of Gori in Georgia, which later became part of the former Soviet Union, he subsequently adopted a different birth date for himself: 21 December 1879. During his thirties, he chose the surname "Stalin," which means "Man of Steel" in Russian.
He had no brothers or sisters and grew up in absolute poverty. His father was a simple shoemaker and an alcoholic who severely beat his only son. His mother was a humble woman who worked as a laundress for others. As a child, Stalin contracted smallpox, which left permanent scars on his face throughout his life.
During his adolescence, he received a scholarship to attend a religious seminary in Tbilisi at a Georgian Orthodox Church. In 1899, he was expelled from the institution for failing to take his examinations, although he later claimed that his expulsion was due to his political activities.
At the age of nineteen, Stalin joined the underground Marxist Social Democratic organization in Tbilisi. From 1902 onward, he spent fifteen years in exile and imprisonment, escaping five times from Siberian exile. In 1905, he met Lenin and was sent to Georgia as a covert Bolshevik representative. In 1917, together with Lenin, he helped bring the Bolshevik Revolution to victory and was appointed by Lenin as the People's Commissar for Nationalities of Russia.
Political Activities
In 1922, Stalin was chosen as Lenin's successor, as Lenin was incapacitated by illness. From that point forward, Stalin gradually seized control by consolidating power within the Communist Party apparatus.
In late 1922, to secure uncontested leadership of the country, Stalin had Lenin transferred to the small town of Gorki, fifty kilometers from Moscow, ostensibly for rest and medical treatment but effectively to isolate him from political affairs. He gradually cut off Lenin's contact with the outside world. During this period, Lenin wrote a note to the leaders of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, calling for Stalin's removal from the position of General Secretary of the Party. However, Stalin's agents prevented this letter from reaching the Central Committee of the Communist Party; consequently, the note was not revealed until thirty years after Stalin's death, or sixty years after it was written.
Stalin ruled through terror, maintaining a highly totalitarian regime that eliminated anyone who opposed him. He first expanded the power of the secret police and encouraged citizens to spy on one another. As a result, during these years, he caused the execution of millions of people on fabricated charges and forced many others into labor camps known as the "Gulag" in the Siberian wilderness. In the second half of the 1930s, Stalin initiated the policy known as the "Great Purge," through which individuals suspected of disloyalty were removed from the country's military and the Communist Party.
Furthermore, Stalin cultivated a personality cult among his associates. Cities across the country were renamed in his honor, Soviet history was rewritten to assign him a far more prominent role in the revolution, and other aspects of his life took on a legendary character. In every domain, from artistic works to literature and music, he was constantly praised, and his name was incorporated into the national anthem of the former Soviet Union. His government also exerted complete control over the country's media, which were entirely state-owned.
Joseph Stalin and World War II
In 1939, Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler signed a peace pact stipulating that neither party would invade the other's territory. Following the signing of this agreement, Stalin annexed Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, as well as parts of Poland and Romania, into Soviet territory. Additionally, he launched an invasion of Finland. In June 1941, Hitler abrogated the peace treaty with the Soviet Union and invaded the country, initially rapidly capturing one small Soviet city after another.
As German forces approached Moscow, the capital of the Soviet government, Stalin remained in Moscow and ordered the implementation of a defensive strategy known as the "scorched earth" policy. Under this policy, Soviet forces, before retreating from any region, destroyed all resources, supplies, and infrastructure that could prove useful to the enemy. The tide turned entirely in favor of Soviet forces at the Battle of Stalingrad, resulting in a victory for the Soviet Red Army and a defeat for German forces. Ultimately, the German army, having suffered heavy casualties, retreated from the cold territories of the Soviet Union.
Death
In his final years, Stalin suffered from paranoia and became suspicious of everything. He eventually died of a heart condition on March 5, 1953, at the age of 74. His body was embalmed and kept in Lenin's Mausoleum in Red Square, Moscow, until 1961. In that year, as part of the country's de-Stalinization policies, his body was buried near the Kremlin Wall on the orders of Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), Stalin's successor.
According to some historical accounts, Stalin had actually died three or four days prior to this date; however, the authorities at the time, who were divided over his succession, preferred to delay the announcement of the death of this symbol of the cult of personality.
References
Adapted from the website: Stalin, Dictator of the Soviet Union + Biography and Photos - IMNA