Joseph Stalin was born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili on December 21, 1879. He was born in Gori, Georgia. Iosif entered into a theological seminary in 1894. Five years later, in ’99, he was expelled. He was elected as a member of the Tiflis Social Democratic Committee. In 1902, he was arrested for the first time of several to come. A year later he married his wife, Yekaterina Svanidze. He was then later transported to Eastern Siberia. In 1904, he escapes Siberia, returns to Tiflis and becomes Bolshevik. He then adopts the alias Koba. That year his son, Yakov is born. The Russo-Japanese War also starts that year and in 1905 the Russian Revolution occurs.
Iosif joins the Caucasian combat unit, taking part in bank robberies in order to gather funds for the Bolshevik party. In the next year, his wife, Yekaterina Svanidze, dies of T.B., or tuberculosis. He then becomes a member of the Baku Bolshevik Committee. Iosif is exiled to Solvychegodsk, Northern Vologda, but escapes after four months and returns to Baku. Three years later he is then again arrested on a visit to St. Petersburg, deported to Western Siberia, escapes after 2 months, and returns to the capitol. Iosif also that year clearly takes the alias of “Stalin” which means “steal.” Stalin is then again arrested in St. Petersburg and this time exiled for four years.
In 1924, Lenin dies and, suspiciously, is chosen to succeed him. Stalin’s victory was a triumph for the Communist party control over all government branches. He sets up the Comintern, the Communism International; a guide for international revolutionary activity. He pulls back the revolutionary ideas in other states to concentrate solely on Russian development. Stalin represented the traditional anti-Western strain in Russia. In mid-1926, Zinoviev, Trotsky, and Kamenev are expelled from their positions. Joseph Stalin then begins his mass-censorship. Instead of killing and threatening them though, he buys the press and monopolizes it. He has his rivals killed or expelled.
In 1929, Stalin begins his system of Five Year Plans to help industrialize Russia completely and without Westernizing Russia. These were extremely successful. They were completely controlled and built up by the government and state. That year, Stalin also began his Collectivization, which was to help to Communize Russia agriculturally by putting the state in charge of agriculture and distribution. This was refused by many, thus was a failure and created a mass famine all over Russia.
Stalin ruled with an iron fist and totalitarian rule. From 1937 to 1938 he led his Great Purge, where all opponents to Stalin and his version of Communism were arrested, exiled, and executed. Most of them were in fact killed and thousands of others were exiled to coerced labor camps in Siberia.
During WWII, Stalin found it hard at first to find a solid ally to side with. In the end, Stalin fought with the Allies against Hitler, gaining back territories and showing the rest of the world that Russia was a true, strong superpower to be reckoned with.
Joseph Stalin, when looked at without moral outlooks, was a great leader, like Hitler. Also like Hitler, he was morally a terrible person, killing as many if not even more people than Hitler during his reign.
