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Joseph Stalin once said: “Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem”. His name was Joseph Vissarionovich, but he changed his last name to Stalin, meaning ‘Man of Steel’. Ironically, Americans know Superman as the ‘Man of Steel’ because he uses his strength to help people. Stalin used his power to control people and killed millions, many because they disagreed with him. Joseph Stalin was a brutal leader who ruled the Soviet Union during the Russian Communist Revolution.
Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1876, in the town of Gori (Georgia) to a poor family. During this time, their town was a part of the Russian Empire. His parents were Ekaterine Geladze and Besarion Jughashvilli. Ekaterine Galdze was called ‘Keke’ and her husband, Besarion was nicknamed ‘Beso’. He was a shoemaker and an alcoholic who beat his son. Stalin got smallpox at the age of 7, because of this his face was scarred and his left arm was weak. This made him an easy target for other children to make fun of him, but this made Stalin’s desire for power even stronger. Keke was a devoted Russian Orthodox Christian and wanted Joseph to become a priest. Her son did not share her dream. He read Karl Marx instead of the Bible and was eventually kicked out of the seminary. He became an atheist and stated: “You know, they are fooling us, there is no God… all this talk about God is sheer nonsense”. Joseph Stalin became a rebel and was known for committing a lot of crimes to support his cause. He robbed a bank in broad daylight, stealing 341,000 Russian rubles ($3.4 million in today’s value), which impressed Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks. This was just one of his many revolts. He got married to Ekaterine Svanidze in 1906. They had their first child, named Yakov. Ekaterine died of tuberculosis in 1907. After her death, he sent his son to be raised by her parents and changed his last name to Stalin.
When Vladimir Lenin organizes the Russian Revolution, Stalin plays a key role by running ‘Pravda’, the Bolshevik newspaper. He gains more prestige when he helps Lenin escape to Finland. When the Tsar loses power, Lenin comes to power and makes Joseph General Secretary of the Communist Party. “Though not a significant post at the time, it gave Stalin control overall party member appointments, which allowed him to build his base” (biography.com). The base he built consisted of all the people put into positions that gave him control over the central command, his first step in securing his eventual dictatorship. It is during this time he then had a second wife in 1919. Her name was Nadezhda Alliluyeva. “He abuses Nadezhda and she eventually kills herself in 1932. He makes sure her death is officially reported as being caused by appendicitis” (bbc.com). Together they had a son and a daughter. Nadezhda died in 1932 because of suicide. After Lenin died, Stalin took control of the Soviet Union.
After Lenin died, Stalin wanted to be a ruler, but some people thought Trotsky should take Lenin’s place. When Trotsky disagreed with him, Stalin had him exiled. Since Trotsky was out of the picture, Stalin easily made himself dictator. “Stalin promotes an image of himself as a great benevolent leader and hero of the Soviet Union” (bbc.com). He wanted to move his country from agriculture to become industrialized. He did not care about people. He showed no pity or mercy for anyone who stood in his way, from farmers to factory workers to comrades in the Communist Party. He was worried capitalist countries would take over Russia and destroy communism if he didn’t quickly modernize his country and did whatever he felt necessary to intensify his mightiness. He achieved major economic growth in the coal, oil, and steel industries very quickly because of these ruthless plans. Many workers could not achieve the goals he set. Stalin had many of them imprisoned as enemies of the state, and most were put to death. He also caused famines in areas he felt were overpopulated and murdered people because they disagreed with him or he just didn’t like them. The editors stated: “Historians aren’t sure how many people he had killed, but they estimate between 20 to 40 million” (ducksters.com). Let’s just say you needed to keep on Stalin’s good side. During World War II, Stalin initially made a pact with Hitler. It ended when the Germans attacked Poland and made their way into Russia. He was especially humiliated when Hitler purposely attacked the city named after Stalin – Stalingrad. Angry and refusing to give up, Joseph Stalin gave the order that his army was not to give an inch. He lost over a million men in that battle, but eventually backed Germany out of the Soviet Union. He defeated Hitler in 1943. When Stalin and the Russians tested their first atomic bomb in 1949, the Cold War began. Once allies, now the United States and Britain were against Russia. Probably the greatest changes made by Stalin were his industrialization of Russia and his role in defeating Hitler. He took a nice farming society and made it into a military and industrial forceful nation.
In conclusion, Joseph Stalin was a brutal leader who ruled the Soviet Union during the Russian Communist Revolution. He changed Russia in many ways and was ruthless with his power. He industrialized Russia and made it a powerful country, while at the same time, he was an evil man who not only caused his wife to commit suicide but was responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people.
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