Joseph Stalin was one of the most outstanding persons in the politics of the twentieth century. For one type of people, he was bloody dictator and murderer for the other - wise ruler and the savior of the state. One thing we know for sure – this person had a great impact on both the Soviet Union and the world. His decisions changed borders in Europe and changed world history. Joseph Stalin or Ioseb Besariones dze Jughashvilli was born in the town of Gori, Georgia, on December 18, 1878 in the family of cobbler. In childhood, Joseph suffered from various diseases. The education he got at Georgian Orthodox Tiflis Spiritual Seminary in Tbilisi.
During his education in Seminary, he discovered the revolutionary writings of Lenin and after expelling from seminary in 1898 he joined RSDLP- Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. From 1901 Stalin had organized strikes, demonstrations, several robberies of banks, thanks to which he transferred money “expropriated for the revolution." In 1902, in Batumi he was arrested the first time and exiled to Eastern Siberia, but soon escaped from exile. After the split of RSDLP on Bolsheviks and Mensheviks Stalin joined the Bolsheviks, who were led by Lenin. Alias "Stalin" Joseph Jugashvili chose in 1912, before this alias he had over thirty other nicknames. For the inner circle, he had another nickname - "Koba" ("Fearless”). Alias Stalin from Russian can be translated as man from steel. His alias that he chose before revolution shows us that he thought about the cult of his personality and creating an aura around him even before he came to power.
Stalin's role in the October Revolution was not significant, unlike Trotsky, who was the outstanding speaker and played a key role in the revolution. During the civil war, Stalin was included to the Politburo. In May 1918, he was dispatched by Lenin to Tsarytsin. There he met Voroshilov and Budyonny –two generals which became his friends and then, during his reign, marshals and ministers of defense. Stalin took control of the situation in the city using the shootings in Red Army. His rise to power began after the civil war, when he was appointed by Lenin on the post of the General Secretary. This post wasn’t high, and Trotsky didn’t attach much importance to this appointment. However, Stalin as General Secretary had built the party apparatus and relied on it as a leading political force. So after the Lenin’s death Stalin defeated first his main rival –Trotsky in the twenties and forced him to emigrate. Then, he shot his allies by the party, who helped him to become a soviet leader. Among shot in 1936-1938 were also Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin, who helped him to defeat Trotsky in the twenties.
Many people say nowadays, that Stalin rebuilt Soviet Union after the Civil War and made the USSR strong country and the superpower. Yes, during his reign was built many plants and factories, and the economy grew steadily, but at what price? During the collectivization millions of peasants died because of famine. Especially in Ukraine, where during the Holodomor in 1932-1933 died from famine up to 7.5 million Ukrainians. The famine was targeted to destroy Ukrainians as a social entity and they will to freedom. During the collectivization millions of peasants in the USSR were included in large farms, all their land was also expropriated. Those who rebelled against it were either shot either placed in Gulag. Gulag is the Main Camp Administration. It was the system of labor camps where people was imprisoned and lived as slaves. Camps mostly were located in Siberia, so the conditions of work were horrible. Almost 15 million people were imprisoned in Gulag camps during the Stalin’s reign. There were imprisoned both criminals and political prisoners, but for political prisoners it was real hell.
Stalin didn’t have constant allies, both outside and inside the USSR. During his reign were imprisoned as simple people like peasants or workers, so members of the Politburo. For example, the chief of NKVD, he shot every 3-5 years. He feared that they could one day arrest him or kill him. The only exception was Lavrentiy Beria in which Stalin needed- first during the World War II then as curator of the atomic bomb project. Many researchers think that Stalin suffered for paranoia. In the last years of his life, he planned new big “cleaning” in party and country. He planned to shot all his old allies in the party, then all marshals and generals who helped to defeat Germany in WWII.
According to his cult of personality he was the only one infallible authority all other members of the party were only satellites. He created the cult of personality where he was almost like a god - the “father of nations.” Thousands of sculptures, millions of portraits, hundreds of paintings were created in his honor. Dozens of cities and villages all over the USSR were renamed in his honor. Other members of the Politburo also were extolled, but nobody else was immune from execution. However, death ruined his plans and saved all his old friends in party, members of the Politburo and the whole country from the new years of terror.
The foreign policy in USSR was both aggressive and tricky. During his reign, the power of Red Army grew significantly. Economy focused on the development of heavy industry and increasing defense capability. Before the attack of Third Reich on USSR, Soviet Union had bigger amount of aircrafts and tanks than Germany. In foreign policy, all other countries were imperialistic countries and were enemies for Soviet Union. However, it didn’t stop Stalin to sign Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and attacked Poland with Germany. Many generals of Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe before war trained in Soviet Union. After the beginning of the war with Germany, Stalin’s allies became France, United Kingdom, and the United States, who were Soviet Union’s “imperialistic enemies” before the war. After the Second World War, they became enemies in Cold War.
The foreign policy with China during the Second World War is another good example. In 1927-1949 years in China was the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Communist Party of China. Stalin supported by supplies of weapon and money both parties. Because of this fact Mao was angry - he believed that in that way Stalin didn’t help the promotion of world revolution and help to imperialists.
After the ending of the Second World War, the world entered into the New World Order. With the last shot of this war the European colonial period ended, and began new era –era of the two rival superpowers. Almost immediately after the ending of the war “Iron Curtain” has crossed the continent but not only the continent across the entire world. One of the reasons of the beginning of the Cold War was an occupation of Red Army Eastern and Central European countries. In Eastern Europe, Soviet Union appointed “puppet governments.” Soviet’s satellites in Europe for many years had no own foreign policy. Moscow determined both foreign and domestic policies of all countries of the Warsaw Pact. Stalin has predetermined historical development of Europe and the world for decades.
Stalin died at his official residence – The Kuntsevo Dacha, where he resided in the postwar period. March 1, 1953 one of the guards found him lying on the floor of a small dining room. On the morning of March 2 doctors arrived and was diagnosed the paralysis of the right side of the body. March 5 Stalin died, according to a medical report death was caused by the cerebral hemorrhage.
Works Cited
Conquest, Robert. Stalin: Breaker of Nations. London: Penguin Books, 1992.
Kishlansky, Mark A. Sources of World History. New York: Harper Collins, 1995.
Mawdsley, Evan. The Stalin Years: The Soviet Union, 1929-1953. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1998.
Robert J. Sternberg, Karin Sternberg. The Nature of Hate. New York: NY: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
