Joseph+Stalin

Jospeh Stalin

Born Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, Stalin was one of the worst totalitarian autocrats of Russian history. His scars can still be seen throughout the country today. Besides what we know about Stalin's involvement in the USSR during the Interwar Years, we know quite a bit about his background, and it is not very quaint. He came from the "poor side of town" his father being a cobbler, and his mother a mere peasant. But this slow start did not cripple him in the educational field. He excelled in his schooling and soon got a scholarship to attend a seminary where priests trained. It was in this seminary school that turned Stalin towards the idea of Marxism, and eventually communism. From 1902 - 1913 Stalin was arrested 8 times and exiled to Siberia where he changed his name to Stalin meaning "man of steel" and escaped 7 of his 8 imprisonments. During the time of the Bolshevik Revolution and Lenin's reign, Stalin was elected as the General Secretary, at which he didn't hesitate to seize his opportunity to gain power. He quickly began putting his own officials into the communist power until the time came for Stalin to rival against Trotsky and easily take control of all of Russia. He died hating fascism and Germans in 1953.