Revision 8048468 of "Joseph Stalin" on simplewiki

{{Infobox officeholder
| name  = Joseph Stalin
| birthname =
| image = JStalin Secretary general CCCP 1942.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Stalin in 1942
| 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>
| parents = Besarion Jughashvili and Ekaterine Geladze
| 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''' (born as '''Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili)''' (18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a [[Georgia (country)|Georgian]] politician who became leader of the [[Soviet Union]] from 1922 until his death in 1953 from a cerebral haemorrhage.  He replaced [[Vladimir Lenin]] as leader of the Soviet Union. His ideas and [[wikt:policy|policies]] turned the Soviet Union into a powerful, relatively modern country, as the largest on Earth. His way of thinking was called [[Marxism-Leninism]], and 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 peace deal with [[Germany]]'s leader [[Adolf Hitler]].  He then led a bloody war after Germany invaded the Soviet Union. And after the end of the war Stalin gained 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]].

==Stalin's name==
Stalin was born as '''Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili''' or '''Iosif Dzhugashvili'''. He began calling himself "Stalin" in 1912.
* In {{lang-ru|Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин|link=no}} - {{transl|ru|Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin}}; born {{lang|ru|Джугашвили}} - {{transl|ru|Dzhugashvili}}.
* In {{lang-ka|იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილიი}} - {{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)|Georgia]], on 18 December 1878. His father made and repaired [[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= https://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 |title= A Pictorial History of Joseph Stalin |url=https://archive.org/details/pictorialhistory0000blun |publisher= Promotional Reprint Company Ltd. |date=1996 |location=London |page= |isbn= 1856483266 }}</ref>

== Revolutionary ==
Stalin 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=|archive-date=2010-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100628030402/http://www.stel.ru/stalin/young_joseph_1879-1904.htm|url-status=dead}}</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 Ilyich 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=|archive-date=2006-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060205043229/http://www.stel.ru/stalin/|url-status=dead}}</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.

== Food and agriculture ==
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.

Collectivization did not work well.<ref name=bunker/> There was a famine 1932–33, in which millions died. Because farmers 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 grew 20% of its produce.<ref name=bunker>{{cite book |last= Koontz |first= Terri |author2= Mark Sidwell, S.M. Bunker |title= World Studies |publisher= Bob Jones University Press |location= Greenville, South Carolina 29614 |page= |isbn=1-59166-431-4}}</ref>

There was a second great famine in the Soviet Union in 1946{{ndash}}1947. The conditions were caused by [[drought]], made worse by the devastation caused by World War II. The grain harvest in 1946 totaled 39.6 million tons - barely 40% of the yield in 1940.

== Mass executions ==
To eliminate "enemies of the working class", Stalin instituted the "Great Purge". Over a million people were imprisoned and at least 700,000 executed between 1934 and 1939.<ref name=Kh>Khlevniuk, Oleg V. 2015. ''Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator''. Translated by Nora Seligman Favorov. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-16388-9.</ref> Those executed included most of the generals in the [[Red Army]], whom Stalin saw as a threat to his rule. This greatly weakened the army in the early months of the [[Wehrmacht]]'s offensive against the Soviet Union in 1941.<ref name=Kh/>

==World War II==
[[File:Marshall Stalin.jpg|thumb|left|1941 War propaganda portrait of '''Stalin''']]

Stalin cooperated with German Nazi leader [[Adolf Hitler]]. They signed a mutual non-aggression pact. However,  Hitler hated communism. After invading and neutralising France, Germany attacked the Soviet Union. After the [[Operation Barbarossa]] invasion, the USSR began working with the Western Allies to defeat [[Germany]]. In the end, Germany lost, but the USSR had more casualties than any other country during the war.

When World War II was over, the [[Soviet army]] occupied many countries in Europe, such as [[Poland]], [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], and part of [[Germany]]. They imposed [[Marxism]]-[[Leninism]] on these countries. This was done against the wishes, and over the protests, of the American and British governments.

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

==Death==
Stalin died on March 5, 1953. It was officially said to be because of a [[stroke]].<ref name=bbc/>

Led by [[Lavrentiy Beria]], the leading group in the Kremlin were [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] and [[Georgy Malenkov]] and [[Nikita Krushchev]]. Much later, Krushchev began a process of "De-Stalinization", which meant taking apart much of the political system that Stalin made. Stalin was denounced as a tyrant. After outsmarting and defeating his rivals, Krushchev established a personal control over the government comparable to Stalin's own. Krushchev is himself a fascinating figure in Soviet history. His attempts to expand Soviet influence ended with the [[Cuban missile crisis]].

===Conspiracy theory===

In 2003 a group of Russian and American historians claimed that Stalin had been poisoned with powerful rat poison [[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> Bear in mind, however, that Stalin was in his mid-seventies when he died, and modern [[pharmacology]] was in the future ([[statin]]s etc). Those facts make it likely that his death was natural.

==Legacy==
Stalin is a  [[controversy|controversial]] figure in history. Many historians see him as a ruthless dictator, though some 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> Stalin 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 |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 |work= foreignaffairs.com
 |accessdate=7 May 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Walker, Shaun |date=14 May 2008 |url=https://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>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{-}}
{{commonscat}}

{{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}}
{{Time Persons of the Year 1927–1950}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stalin, Joseph}}
[[Category:1878 births]]
[[Category:1953 deaths]]
[[Category:Russian atheists]]
[[Category:Deaths from stroke]]
[[Category:Disease-related deaths in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Former Christians]]
[[Category:Former dictators]]
[[Category:Politicians from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Joseph Stalin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Heads of government of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Smallpox survivors]]
[[Category:Soviet people of World War II]]
[[Category:Time People of the Year]]
[[Category:World War II political leaders]]