Revision 4441987 of "Joseph Stalin" on simplewiki

{{Infobox officeholder
| birth_name   = Ioseb Besarionis dze Jugashvili
| image        = Portrait of Stalin in 1936.gif
| caption      = Stalin in 1936, aged 58. 
| office1      = [[General Secretary]] of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start1  = 3 April 1922
| term_end1    = October 1952
| predecessor1 = None (Position created)
| successor1   = [[Nikita Krushchev]] (as '''First Secretary''')
| office2      = [[Premier]] of the [[Soviet Union]]
| term_start2  = 6 May 1941
| term_end2    = 5 March 1953
| predecessor2 = [[Vyacheslav Molotov]]
| successor2   = [[Georgy Malenkov]]
| birth_date    = 18 December, 1878
| death_date   = 5 March, 1953 (aged 74)
}}
'''Joseph Stalin''' ([[December 18]], [[1878]] – [[March 5]], [[1953]])<ref name=bbc/> was the adopted name of the [[Communist]] leader, Iosif Dzhugashvili. He was the second [[political]] [[leader]] of the [[Soviet Union]], after [[Vladimir Lenin]]. He 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, but also led to the deaths of millions of people.<ref name=bbc/> This form of [[communism]] was later called [[Stalinism]]. Stalin [[Invasion of Poland|invaded Poland on September 18, 1939]]. In the subsequent [[World War II]], Stalin first allied with [[Germany]]'s leader [[Adolf Hitler]], then fought 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|a part of Germany]], where a series of loyal Communist governments were set up, extending his power and determining the Soviet Union's position as a [[superpower]].

== Stalin's name ==
* In [[Russian language|Russian]], Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин - Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin, born Джугашвили - Dzhugashvili.
* In [[Georgian language|Georgian]]:იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი - Ioseb Jughashvili
* {{Audio|ru-Stalin.ogg|Joseph Stalin}}

==Early life==
[[Image:Stalin 1894.jpg|thumb|Stalin at the young age of 16, 1894.]]
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]]red. Later, [[photograph]]s were often changed to hide the scars.<ref name=pb/> His left arm was also shorter because of an accident. He was educated at the Gori church school. Stalin studied to be a [[priest]] at a [[seminary]] (school for priests) in [[Tbilisi]].<ref>{{Cite web
 |url= http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/bios/all_bio_joseph_stalin.htm
 |title=Biography: Joseph Stalin
 |work=pbs.org
 |accessdate=18 November 2010
}}</ref> He was an active student reading many books, especially books that were not allowed by the seminary. This included books by [[Karl Marx]]. He joined a [[Marxism|Marxist]] group in 1898, the Mesame Dasi, or Group Three.<ref name=pb>{{cite book | last =Blundell | first = Nigel| authorlink = | coauthors = | title =A Pictorial History of Joseph Stalin | publisher =Promotional Reprint Company Ltd. | date =1996 | location =London | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn =1856483266 }}</ref>

==Revolutionary==
He left school in 1899 and got a job at the Tbilisi Physical Institute.<ref name=pb/> He joined groups that were trying to start a [[revolution]] to remove the [[Tsar]]. They wanted a different type of government. The police raided his house in 1901 while hunting for people who opposed the government. Stalin escaped but went into hiding so the police could not find him. He organized anti-government activities such as May Day marches and protests. He became a [[Bolshevik]]. He supported a violent revolution, and did not support the [[Menshevik]]s. The secret police caught him in April 1902 and [[exile]]d him without trial to [[Siberia]].<ref name=bbc/> He lived in the village of Novaya Uda.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.stel.ru/stalin/young_joseph_1879-1904.htm
|title=Joseph Stalin. Biography of the great Russian Communist Leader. 1879-1904
|publisher=www.stel.ru
|accessdate=2009-03-27
|last=
|first=
}}
</ref>

He soon escaped from Siberia. This led to many later claims that he was a police [[spy]]. The arrest of another Bolshevik, Stephan Shaumyan, a rival of Stalin, increased these beliefs.<ref name=pb/> At the end of 1905, he went to a meeting in Finland and met Vladimir Ilich Lenin. Lenin was not what Stalin had expected.<ref name=pb/> The government arrested and exiled Stalin several times in the next ten years. This increased his power in the Bolshevik party and he was elected to the Central Committee of the party in 1912.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.stel.ru/stalin/
|title=Stalin, Joseph. Biography and photos
|publisher=www.stel.ru
|accessdate=2009-03-27
|last=
|first=
}}
</ref> He was promoted to a position at [[St.Petersburg]].
[[File:JStalin Secretary general CCCP 1942 flipped.jpg|thumb|left|Picture flip, Stalin in 1942.]]
==Secretary==
[[Image:Stalin.gif|thumb|Stalin talking about [[communism]].]]
Stalin was a member of the Bolshevik Party, but did not do much in the [[Russian Revolution of 1917]].<ref name=bbc/> He was writing and editing [[Pravda]], the party newspaper.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.marxists.org/history/international/comintern/sections/britain/periodicals/communist_review/1950/01/x01.htm
|title=CPGB: Stalin: Slander and Truth
|publisher=www.marxists.org
|accessdate=2009-03-27
|last=
|first=
}}
</ref> He had a number of organizational jobs in the [[Communist]] Party. In 1922 he became [[General Secretary]]. He was able to give jobs to people he liked in the Communist Party.<ref name=bbc/> These supporters helped him become the leader after Vladimir Lenin died in 1924.

[[File:Marshall Stalin.jpg|thumb|right|1941 War propaganda portrait of '''Stalin'''.]]

==Collectivization==
Stalin tried to collectivize farms. ''Collectivization'' meant taking the land from owners of all farms and joining it into large farms run by the [[government]]. Communist officials then let farmers work the new farms and told them to turn the harvest over to the government. They did not work well.<ref name=bunker/> Because they were not paid much money, and whatever they grew went to the state, the workers did not try their best. The best farming worked on very small bits of land given to the peasants to grow what they liked. On these pieces of land, farmers could keep what they grew. In 1938 these parts of land were 4% of Soviet farmland.<ref name=bunker/> However, they gave 20% of its produce.<ref name=bunker>{{cite book | last = Koontz| first = Terri| authorlink = | coauthors = Mark Sidwell, S.M.Bunker| title = World Studies| publisher = Bob Jones University Press| date = | location = Greenville, South Carolina 29614| pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 1-59166-431-4}}</ref>

== World War II ==
[[Image:Cyrankiewicz Stalin.jpg|thumb|Stalin and Józef Cyrankiewicz.]]
Stalin cooperated with [[Hitler]] before the [[World War II]] and finally in [[1939]] they both made an agreement to conquer [[Poland]] and divide it between themselves. This is how [[World War II]] broke out.

But later on, in [[1941]], [[Hitler]] turned against Stalin and attacked the Soviet Union, trying to conquer it. After this happened, the USSR began working with the Allies to defeat [[Germany]]. In the end, Germany lost, but USSR had more casualties than any other country during the war.

When the World War II was over, the Soviet [[army]] ended up occupying many countries in Europe, such as [[Poland]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], and part of [[Germany]], imposing [[communism]] on these countries.

Stalin continued to rule over the Soviet Union until he died. Stalin also militarized Russia by focusing the country's time and energy towards weapons, vehicles, and the armed forces. 

Stalin died of a [[stroke]] in the year 1953.<ref name=bbc/> He was followed by [[Lavrentiy Beria]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], and [[Georgi Malenkov]]. The three of them began a process called "De-Stalinization", which meant taking apart much of the political system that Stalin made. Stalin was denounced as a tyrant, however, after outsmarting and defeating his rivals, Krushchev established a personal control over the government comparable to Stalin's own, even if he never went as far in murdering millions of people. 

Stalin is a very [[controversy|controverisal]] figure in history. Many historians see him as a ruthless dictator, while others praise him as the Father of the Soviet State.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.marxists.org/archive/gallacher/1953/04/stalin.htm|title=CPGB: Tribute to Stalin|publisher=www.marxists.org|accessdate=2009-03-27|last=|first=}}
</ref> He has been criticized for his role in the [[Holodomor]]. A recent poll in Russia (2008) listed him as the third most popular person in Russian history.<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24852196-5013016,00.html
|title=Dictator Josef Stalin third most popular Russian figure | The Courier-Mail
|publisher=www.news.com.au
|accessdate=2009-03-27
|last=
|first=
}}
</ref> In 2006, a poll stated that almost half the adults in Russia thought Joseph Stalin was a good person.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/61367/sarah-e-mendelson-and-theodore-p-gerber/failing-the-stalin-test |title=Failing the Stalin Test | Foreign Affairs |work=foreignaffairs.com
 |accessdate=7 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Walker, Shaun|date=14 May 2008|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-big-question-why-is-stalin-still-popular-in-russia-despite-the-brutality-of-his-regime-827654.html|title=The Big Question: Why is Stalin still popular in Russia, despite the brutality of his regime?|publisher=The Independent|accessdate=23 August 2008}}</ref>

[[Image:Joseph Stalin with daughter Svetlana, 1935.jpg|thumb|Stalin and his beloved daughter, Svetlana.]]
== Other pages ==
* [[Animal Farm]], a book by [[George Orwell]]
* [[Communism]]
* [[Vladimir Lenin]]
* [[Tikhon Khrennikov]]

== References ==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist}}
{{Joseph Stalin}}

{{start box}}
{{succession box 
| before= Post created<br /><small>Previous party leader: [[Vladimir Lenin]]</small> 
| title = General Secretary of the [[Soviet Communist Party]] 
| years = 1922–1953 
| after = [[Nikita Krushchev]]}}
{{end box}}

{{start box}}
{{succession box 
| before = [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] 
| title = Prime Minister of the [[Soviet Union]] 
| years = 1941–1953 
| after = [[George Malenkov]]}}
{{end box}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stalin, Joseph}}
[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Deaths from stroke]]
[[Category:Former dictators]]
[[Category:Georgian people]]
[[Category:Joseph Stalin]]
[[Category:Russian politicians]]
[[Category:Soviet people]]
[[Category:Time People of the Year]]
[[Category:World War II people]]
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:Smallpox survivors]]

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