Joseph Stalin, also known as Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, was born on 18 December 1878, in Georgia, Russia, as his mother’s fourth child. His mother was very protective of him because she had lost the first three children due to bad health. His father was a boot maker and the mother was a cleaner, so Stalin’s family experienced poverty like other peasant families in his area. Joseph’s mother introduced him to a local church school, where he worked hard and was awarded a free scholarship in the Tiflis Theological Seminary (Kuromiya, 2005). He joined a secret revolutionary group in the seminary, where he became familiar with protests.
Stalin published several revolutionary articles and ideas that led to multiple custody terms and expulsion from the country. In 1912, Vladimir Lenin appointed Stalin to the Bolshevik Central Committee, where he assumed several responsibilities, and was required to oblige to the standing orders. Stalin was appointed the People’s Commissar for Nationalities, the Commissar of Workers ‘and Peasants’ Inspection, and in 1922, he finally received the position he desired, General Secretary of the Communist Party (Ree, 2002). Stalin was on his way to absolute power because he was now able to control appointments and workers’ schedules, especially when Linen was hospitalized due to gunshots.
Joseph assumed leadership in Soviet politics after Vladimir Lenin's death in 1924. Stalin marginalized his opponents until he became the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union. His rivals included Leon Trotsky, Gregory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Nicolay Bukharin, and Aleksey Rykov. Stalin implemented a five-year strategy within the Soviet Union, which was aimed to change the social structure and economic form of the union. This radical plan led to deaths of millions of people due to the inhuman tactics employed. In the 1930s, Joseph planned to eliminate threats to his power through purge trials, and through secret execution and persecution of innocent citizens.
In World War II, Stalin signed the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in 1939, which allowed the attack on Finland, known as the Russo-Finnish War (Medvedev, R. & Medvedev, Z., 2004). He further annexed parts of Eastern Europe to strengthen his western frontiers. Stalin's absolute persistence upon Soviet domination of Eastern Europe following the war's end was justified because Germany had invaded Russia in the previous years. Stalin used ruthless tactics in his leadership that led to massive loss of lives in the 20th century. Joseph Stalin remained the leader of the Soviet Union until his death in 1953.
References
Kuromiya, H. (2005). Stalin. Harlow, England: Pearson/Longman.
Medvedev, R. A., & Medvedev, Z. A. (2004). The unknown Stalin: His life, death and legacy. Woodstock, N.Y: Overlook Press.
Ree, E. (2002). The political thought of Joseph Stalin: A study in twentieth-century revolutionary patriotism. London: Routledge, Curzon.
