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{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Joseph Stalin
| birthname =
| image = CroppedStalin1943.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office       = [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General secretary]] of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start   = 3 April 1922
(contracted; show full)| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1953|3|5|1878|12|18|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Kuntsevo Dacha]], [[Kuntsevo]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| resting_place = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], Moscow (from 31 October 1961)
| party = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| nationality = [[Georgians|Georgian]]
| spouse = [[Ekaterina Svanidze]] (1906–1907)<br />[[Nadezhda Alliluyeva]] (1919–1932)
}}

'''Joseph Stalin''' (or '''Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin'''; 18 December 1878 &nbsp;– 5 March 1953) was the leader of the [[Soviet Union]] from 1922 until his death.  He replaced [[Vladimir Lenin]] as leader of the Soviet Union.  Stalin was a [[totalitarian]] ruler, and stayed in power by removing anyone he thought might be a threat to him. His ideas and [[wikt:policy|policies]] turned the Soviet Union into a powerful, modern nation, the largest on Earth. It also led to the deaths of millions of people.<ref name=bbc/> His form of government was later called [[Stalinism]]. 

Stalin [[Invasion of Poland|invaded Poland]] on 18 September 1939. In the subsequent [[World War II]], Stalin stayed neutral but signed a deal of peace with [[Germany]]'s leader [[Adolf Hitler]].  He then led a bloody war after Germany invaded the Soviet Union.  The end of the war saw Stalin gain control of all [[Eastern Europe]] including [[East Germany|part of Germany]].  There, a series of loyal [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] [[single-party state]]s were set up, extending his power and determining the Soviet Union's position as a [[superpower]].
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==Stalin's name==
Stalin was born as '''Ioseb Besarionis dze Jugashvili''', or '''Iosif Dzhugashvili'''. He adopted the name "Stalin" later.
* In {{lang-ru|link=no|Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин}} - {{transl|ru|Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin}}; born {{lang|ru|Джугашвили}} - {{transl|ru|Dzhugashvili}}.
* In {{lang-ka|იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი}} - {{transl|ka|Ioseb Jughashvili}}
* {{Audio|ru-Stalin.ogg|Joseph Stalin}}

==Early life==
Ioseb Vissarionovich Jugashvili was born in a small one room house in Gori, [[Georgia (country)]]. His father made and fixed [[shoe]]s.<ref name=bbc>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml |title=Joseph Stalin (1879 - 1953) |accessdate=2009-02-01 |format= |work=Historic Figures }}</ref> His father was often drunk and used to hit his wife and his son until his death in a fight in 1890. Joseph had [[smallpox]] when he was young. This left his face [[scar](contracted; show full)[[Category:Soviet politicians]]
[[Category:Time People of the Year]]
[[Category:World War II people]]
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]

{{Cold War figures}}
{{Time Persons of the Year 1927–1950}}