In December 1878, Joseph Stalin was born. His real name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. The surname given to him by an acquaintance, Stalin, means "man of steel" in Russian. An interesting fact about Stalin is that he was an avid fan of American cowboy films. He showed them to his friends in his private cinema. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Joseph Stalin was born a peasant in Gori, Georgia. He was the son of Besarion Jughashvili, who was a shoemaker, and Ketevan Geladze, who was a washerwoman. Stalin's parents had three other children, but two died as infants. As a child he was very frail and had smallpox, which scarred his face and left his arm slightly deformed. He had two toes together on his left foot. He was also involved in an accident when he was twelve years old. A horse-drawn carriage damaged his arm. He recovered with extensive surgery, but it remained shorter than his other arm and made the joint stiff. Joseph's father was an alcoholic and abused both his mother and Joseph. Eventually his father abandoned him and his mother. He was treated cruelly and felt less important than other people. His father's undeserved and cruel abuse is most likely what caused his vengeful spirit. The physical limitations he had due to several events during his childhood were also a possible reason for him to feel inferior. We are sure that children were as cruel then as they are now. In an effort to become equal with everyone else, he became power-mad. It is also believed that his father's undeserved beatings contributed to his need for control. He was a megalomaniac, meaning he was obsessed with power and things he didn't have. His mother wanted him to become a priest, so he was enrolled in church school. He studied Russian Orthodox Christianity until he was almost 20. He distinguished himself and obtained a scholarship to the Tiflis Theological Seminary. He was expelled from the Seminary in 1899. Joseph decided to stay in Tifilis, where he spent most of his time supporting the revolutionary movement. He worked undercover for ten years. He took care of most of the organizing, such as calling meetings, organizing strikes, and posting announcements. Although Joseph was raised Georgian Orthodox, he became an atheist. He was guided by the idea that having a fixed religion would prevent him from forming the ideal communist community. The government promoted atheism by teaching atheist courses, propaganda, discriminatory laws and a terrorist campaign. During his life he married twice, but both of his wives died. He also had two sons, Yakov and Vasili, and a daughter, Svetlana. After many years he became general secretary of the communist party. He was a Soviet dictator who pushed for rapid industrialization of the territory and a communist government. As a result, there was widespread famine and others were sent to the camps. He also helped bring about the destruction of the Nazis. “It's enough for people to know that there were elections. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. Whoever counts the votes decides everything." This quote shows evidence of his views on power and those who hold it versus those who are victims of it. Even though he may have a difficult past, he had no sympathy for other people in similar situations. You can see it through the many times he used food deprivation as a tactic to pursue his ambitions. He also used it to break potential regional opposition. He was so insecure that he had several people shotartists for not painting it to his liking. Although not usually seen as a peaceful person, he was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He was also named Times magazine's Person of the Year, also twice. There were a series of strikes following the industrial depression. Stalin was involved in the oil workers' strike in 1904. The strike was a success. In January 1906 he wrote an article entitled "Two Clashes: Concerning January 9th". This article was about the first anniversary of the non-violent march, when huge numbers of workers marched on the Winter Palace. This march was the most memorable event and caused Bloody Sunday. Another notable event was the Tiflis bank robbery in 1907. There were 40 deaths and 341,000 rubies stolen. In 1922 Stalin was appointed general secretary of the communist party. This position gave him control over all party member appointments, which allowed him to build his base. He created ridiculous appointments and pushed his power to the point that, in due course, almost all members owed their positions to him. When people finally realized what they had done, it was already too late. No one could take back control from Stalin. Lenin, who was seriously ill at the time, was powerless against Stalin. In 1917 the Russian Revolution was governed by the Tsarist government. Russia was governed by a provisional government. This took place from March to November and they had made plans for a democratically elected assembly. However, the continuing war with Germany paved the way for a Bolshevik coup in November. The new government was controlled by Lenin. They made peace with the Germans and waged a three-year civil war. Leon Trotsky organized the Red Army and led the Bolsheviks to victory. After that war, the Bolsheviks took the name of the Communist Party. Stalin was rapidly increasing his power, without Russia's knowledge. Even though Lenin began to doubt Stalin, no one believed him, so Stalin remained in his position as General Secretary. He proceeded to destroy his rival Trotsky. Vladimir Lenin died in 1924. Joseph Stalin took advantage of this event by planning to destroy the old party leadership and take control. First, he removed people from power. Many were exiled to Europe and the Americas. Soon Stalin began a great reign of terror. He kidnapped people at night and subjected them to show trials. People who appeared to be a threat to him were executed because they were deemed "enemies of the people". Once satisfied with his power, he began to modernize Russia with a five-year plan. This included the establishment of government control over the economy. He also thought it was a good idea to take over the lands of the richest farmers. For this reason almost ten million people died of famine. His frustration led to a period of time in which all of his rivals and anyone suspected of opposing him were killed or sent to Siberian prisons. It was known as the “Great Terror”. While all this was happening in Germany, Hitler began his rise to power. Stalin wanted to avoid war with Germany, so he signed an agreement that neither the Nazis nor the Soviets should attack each other. In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviets, defying their pact. Russia reacted to the betrayal by starting the war. As they neared victory, Stalin was determined to control all of Europe. Just as the war with Germany ended, Stalin began to pressure his allies with impossible demands. As a result, the Cold War began. By 1928, which was the first year of his five-year plans, Stalin's rise to power was almost complete. His final act wasthe assassination of Trotsky in Mexico. He was exiled from the Soviet Union and lived in Mexico since 1936. After Trotsky's murder, there were only two members of the "Old Bolsheviks": Stalin and Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Motolotov. Stalin took over the land originally given to the peasants and created collective farms. The peasants were soon returned to serfdom. Stalin thought that these collective farms would lead to increased food production, but this angered the peasants. They did not want to give up their land and work for the state. Over a million people lost their lives due to forced labor or famine. Stalin also created rapid industrialization. Industrialization was a success at the cost of millions of dollars and the sacrifice of millions of lives. The punishment for resistance was swift and deadly. Millions of people were forced into labor camps or executed. This forced will goes back to: “If the opposition disarms, so good. If he refuses to disarm him, we will disarm him ourselves." He understood that even if he wasn't allowed to, he would force his way. During World War II, Stalin signed a non-aggression contract with Adolf Hitler. Joseph Stalin thought Hitler had an honorable amount of integrity, even though his military commanders had warned him that Germany could not be trusted. When Germany attacked the Soviet army in 1941, it was completely unprepared. By the time Stalin recovered from the German attack, Germany had already taken control of Ukraine and Belarus and had surrounded Leningrad. To make matters worse, the purge of the 1930s destroyed Soviet citizens and the Soviet army. The Germans retreated to Stalingrad in 1943. He then asked the Allies to open a second front against Germany. Both the British and the Americans argued that by doing so, many people would be killed. This further increased Stalin's suspicions of the West. The war was now in favor of the Allies. There was a meeting between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Joseph Stalin. At this meeting the post-war issue was discussed. Stalin requested that they open a second front against Germany, which they agreed to in 1944. In February 1945 they met again. Stalin, realizing his strong bargaining position, negotiated a free hand in rebuilding the government. He agreed to assist in the war with Japan after the defeat of the Germans. He became suspicious of the allies, forcing him to create a buffer zone between Western Europe and Russia. Europe interpreted this as a sign that Stalin intended to place Western Europe under communist control. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was forced to counter Stalin's actions. Stalin hoped to gain control of Berlin, so he set up an economic blockade. When the Allies found out, they forced Stalin to back down by staging a massive airlift and resupplying the city. Stalin suffered another foreign policy defeat at the hands of Kim IL Jung. Stalin had ordered the Soviet representative to boycott the United Nations Security Council's decision to reject the newly formed Communist People's Republic of China. When the United Kingdom voted to support South Korea or not, the Russians were unable to veto it. Joseph Stalin died at the age of 73 on March 5, 1953. The cause of his death was a heart attack. They washed his body and took it to the autopsy room. There they prepared his body for the three days in which it would remain exposed in the Hall of Columns. People were dying to get a look at her body, literally. Around 500 people lost their lives because.