Revision 5297040 of "Joseph Stalin" on simplewiki

{{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
| term_end     = 16 October 1952
| predecessor  = [[Vyacheslav Molotov]]<br /><small>(as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Responsible Secretary]])</small>
| successor    = [[Nikita Khrushchev]]<br /><small>(office reestablished)</small>
| office2      = [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)|Council of Ministers]]
| 1blankname2  = [[First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union|First&nbsp;Deputies]]
| 1namedata2   = [[Nikolai Voznesensky]]<br />[[Vyacheslav Molotov]]
| term_start2  = 6 May 1941
| term_end2    = 5 March 1953
| predecessor2 = [[Vyacheslav Molotov]]
| successor2   = [[Georgy Malenkov]]
| office3      = [[Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)|People's Commissar for Defense of the Soviet Union]]
| premier3     = Himself
| term_start3  = 19 July 1941
| term_end3    = 25 February 1946
| predecessor3 = [[Semyon Timoshenko]]
| successor3   = [[Nikolai Bulganin]]<br /><small>after vacancy</small>
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1878|12|18|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Gori, Georgia|Gori]], [[Tiflis Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]]
| 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 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 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]]. 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]].

Stalin replaced [[Vladimir Lenin]] as leader of the Soviet Union. 

==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]]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 Lenin|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]].

==Secretary==
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.

==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==
[[File:Marshall Stalin.jpg|thumb|left|1941 War propaganda portrait of '''Stalin'''.]]
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 the 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 [[Marxism-Leninism]] 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 on March 5, 1953. It was officially said to be because of a [[stroke]].<ref name=bbc/> In 2003, however, a group of Russian and American historians said that they believed Stalin had been poisoned with [[warfarin]], possibly by the men who took over the government after Stalin died.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.pravda.ru/history/29-12-2005/9457-stalin-0/|title=Secret documents reveal Stalin was poisoned|date=29 December 2005|work=PRAVDA.Ru}}</ref> Led by [[Lavrentiy Beria]], these were [[Nikita Khrushchev]] and [[Georgy 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>

==Other pages==
* [[Vladimir Lenin]]
* [[Tikhon Khrennikov]]
* [[Leon Trotsky]]

==References==
{{commonscat}}
{{reflist}}

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

{{Joseph Stalin}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stalin, Joseph}}
[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Deaths from stroke]]
[[Category:Disease-related deaths in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Former dictators]]
[[Category:Georgian people]]
[[Category:Joseph Stalin]]
[[Category:Russian politicians]]
[[Category:Smallpox survivors]]
[[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}}