He thus increased the number of his subjects by about a hundred million. Weird & Wacky, Copyright © 2020 HowStuffWorks, a division of InfoSpace Holdings, LLC, a System1 Company. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. And with each ballot counted, the former vice president’s lead over President Donald Trump grew. Those who count the votes decide everything," the post says, attributing it to "Communist Tyrant and mass murderer Josef Stalin.". His iron will and deft political skills enabled him to play the loyal ally while never abandoning his vision of an expanded postwar Soviet empire. The photo was later proven to have been one of Stalin's staged and altered photos. Starting in the late 1920s, Joseph Stalin launched a series of five-year plans intended to transform the Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial superpower. But what do we know about his personal life? Three years later, in November 1917, the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. Stalin, who grew increasingly paranoid in his later years, died on March 5, 1953, at age 74, after suffering a stroke. He harbored a dislike in particular for a man named Trotsky, a Marxist who opposed Stalinism. Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin are seen at the Crimean Conference where they discussed the postwar reorganization of Germany and Europe. Ekaterina perished from typhus when her son was an infant. Born into poverty, Stalin became involved in revolutionary politics, as well as criminal activities, as a young man. Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. He served as the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922–1952) and premier of the Soviet Union (1941–1953). As a boy, Stalin contracted smallpox, which left him with lifelong facial scars. After his death, the Soviets initiated a de-Stalinization process. In August 1939, after first attempting to form an anti-Hitler alliance with the Western powers, he concluded a pact with Hitler, which encouraged the German dictator to attack Poland and begin World War II. Schwartz's colleague in the Vanderbilt University history department agrees. In August 1939, after first attempting to form an anti-Hitler alliance with the Western powers, he concluded a pact with Hitler, which encouraged the German dictator to attack Poland and begin World War II. During the 1930s, he made the country stronger but at the cost of millions of lives. Joseph Stalin lead Russia throughout World War Two and up to his death in 1953. The camps, like prisons throughout the world, were used to house criminals. By 1950, when it was prudent to do so, Stalin became best buddies with China and now had a major ally in the Cold War. Joseph Stalin - Joseph Stalin - Role in World War II: During World War II Stalin emerged, after an unpromising start, as the most successful of the supreme leaders thrown up by the belligerent nations. By 1950, when it was prudent to do so, Stalin became best buddies with China and now had a major ally in the Cold War. Frank Wcislo, associate professor of history, Fact Check: Purported Stalin Quote About Counting Votes Was NOT About General Elections, No, Joseph Stalin didn't say this statement about elections, distinguished professor of history, Vanderbilt University, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. After days of counting, President-elect Joe Biden’s home state of Pennsylvania pushed him past the 270 electoral votes to become the 46th president of the United States. It doesn't show up.". One post, an image of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin with text added, appears to attribute a quip about vote counting to the dictator. He became the de facto leader of the erstwhile USSR after the death of Vladimir Lenin in the year 1924 and by getting rid of all the people that he viewed as his challengers. The actions that Stalin took in the Soviet Union are sometimes referred to as "Stalinism". https://www.history.com/topics/russia/joseph-stalin. The region was part of the Russian Empire and later on the USSR before it became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Reading . Hopes for domestic relaxation, widely aroused in the Soviet Union during the war, were thus sadly disappointed. It was Lenin who helped Stalin to rise to the position of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1922. In 1942, as Germans pushed their way toward Stalingrad in the early days of World War II, Stalin issued one of his most well-known and cold-blooded edicts, Order No. Soviet history books were rewritten to give him a more prominent role in the revolution and mythologize other aspects of his life. "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. As the General Secretary, he built his power base while marking out the potential rivals and those who looked down on him since he was not as educated as his fellow colleagues in Lenin's Government. He was expelled for reading banned books and according to Stalin’s later claims, for his effort to convert his colleagues to Marxism. (Left to right) Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the Tehrān Conference, December 1943. "All I can say is, I've never seen it," Vanderbilt University history professor Thomas Schwartz said. 1. From. His government also controlled the Soviet media. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. In 1928, he forced collectivization—the replacement of private farms with state-run, collective farms—on the Soviet rural … He expanded the powers of the secret police, encouraged citizens to spy on one another and had millions of people killed or sent to the Gulag system of forced labor camps. He transformed his country from largely agricultural economy into an industrialized society, led the country during World War II and helped defeat the Nazi Germany, and turned the Soviet Union into a superpower that could be rivaled only by the United States. He is the man credited for catapulting the former Soviet Union from a dirt poor rural country to a Super Power capable of challenging the United States hegemony. When the Germans menaced Moscow in the winter of 1941, he remained in the threatened capital, helping to organize a great counter-offensive. Stalin and colleagues, 1929. During these years, Stalin had continued to move up the party ladder, and in 1922 he became secretary general of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, a role that enabled him to appoint his allies to government jobs and grow a base of political support. After days of counting, President-elect Joe Biden’s home state of … Later on in life, the man who was born Josef Djugashvilli would adopt the name Stalin, meaning "Man of Steel" in Russia. (Stalin had ignored warnings from the Americans and the British, as well as his own intelligence agents, about a potential invasion, and the Soviets were not prepared for war.). Claim: Joseph Stalin said, "It is enough that the people know there was an election. But it was Stalin who employed them to their most hideous and at least semi-effective ends. Did you know? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! A stroke in 1953 killed Josef Stalin while he was alone in his Dacha on March 5, 1953. Joffree rose to general of division in 1905 and then chief of the French general ...read more, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin is generally considered one of history’s worst tyrants, responsible for millions of civilian deaths. During World War II Stalin emerged, after an unpromising start, as the most successful of the supreme leaders thrown up by the belligerent nations. Millions of farmers refused to cooperate with Stalin’s orders and were shot or exiled as punishment. an image of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin with text added. He was arrested multiple times between 1902 and 1913, and subjected to imprisonment and exile in Siberia. Stalin, who died in 1953, ruled the former Soviet Union under a brutal regime for decades. Despite initially governing the Soviet Union as part of a collective leadership, he eventually consolidated power to become the country'… They took him to a concentration camp but they later allegedly offered his release in return for the captured Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus. Lenin founded the GULAG (an acronym for, in English, Main Administration of Collective Labor Camps), the network of prisons and forced labor camps throughout the Soviet Union. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Stalin's first act after becoming leader was to expel his rivals, including Trotsky in 1929. To Schwartz, the quote isn't a surprising statement from someone watching an election — but not necessarily indicative of a communist perspective. They were also successful in spreading Soviet Communism to its eastern neighbors including Yugoslavia, Poland and others, creating a "buffer zone" between the USSR and Western Europe.

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