Biography of Joseph Stalin

"Stalin" redirects here. For other uses, see Stalin (disambiguation).

Joseph Stalin Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин (Russian) იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე სტალინი(Georgian)
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 3 April 1922 – 16 October 1952
Preceded by	Vyacheslav Molotov (as Responsible Secretary)
Succeeded by	Nikita Khrushchev (office reestablished)
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office 6 May 1941 – 5 March 1953
First Deputies	Nikolai Voznesensky Vyacheslav Molotov
Preceded by	Vyacheslav Molotov
Succeeded by	Georgy Malenkov
People's Commissar for Defense of the Soviet Union
In office 19 July 1941 – 25 February 1946
Premier	Himself
Preceded by	Semyon Timoshenko
Succeeded by	Nikolai Bulganin after vacancy
Member of the Secretariat
In office 3 April 1922 – 5 March 1953
Full member of the Presidium
In office 25 March 1919 – 5 March 1953
Member of the Orgburo
In office 16 January 1919 – 5 March 1953
Personal details
Born	18 December 1878 Gori, Tiflis Governorate,Russian Empire
Died	5 March 1953 (aged 74) Kuntsevo Dacha, Kuntsevo,Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Lenin's Mausoleum, Moscow,Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (9 March 1953 - 31 October 1961) Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow, Russian Federation(from 31 October 1961)
Nationality	Georgian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse(s)	Ekaterina Svanidze (1906–1907) Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1919–1932)
Children	Yakov Dzhugashvili, Vasily Dzhugashvili, Svetlana Alliluyeva
Religion	None (atheist), formerlyGeorgian Orthodox
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Soviet Armed Forces
Years of service	1943–1953
Rank	Marshal of the Soviet Union(1943–1945) Generalissimus of the Soviet Union (1945–1953)
Commands	All (supreme commander)
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards

Joseph Stalin or Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Ста́лин, pronounced [ˈjosʲɪf vʲɪsɐˈrʲonəvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈstalʲɪn]; born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jugashvili, Georgian: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი, pronounced [iɔsɛb bɛsariɔnis d͡ze d͡ʒuɣaʃvili]; 18 December 1878^[1] – 5 March 1953) was the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953.

Among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was appointed General Secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922. He subsequently managed to consolidate power following the 1924 death of Vladimir Lenin through suppressing Lenin's criticisms (in the postscript of his testament), expanding the functions of his role, all the while eliminating any opposition. By the late 1920s, he was the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union. He remained general secretary until the post was abolished it in 1952, concurrently serving as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 onward.

Under Joseph Stalin's rule, the concept of "socialism in one country" became a central tenet of Soviet society. He replaced the New Economic Policy introduced by Lenin in the early 1920s with a highly centralised command economy, launching a period ofindustrialization and collectivization that resulted in the rapid transformation of the USSR from an agrarian society into an industrial power.^[2] However, the economic changes coincided with the imprisonment of millions of people in Soviet correctional labour camps^[3]and the deportation of many others to remote areas.^[3] The initial upheaval in agriculture disrupted food production and contributed to the catastrophic Soviet famine of 1932–1933, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine. Later, in a period that lasted from 1936–39, Stalin instituted a campaign against alleged enemies of his regime called the Great Purge, in which hundreds of thousands were executed. Major figures in the Communist Party, such as the old Bolsheviks, Leon Trotsky, and several Red Army leaders were killed after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government and Stalin.^[4]

In August 1939, Stalin entered into a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany that divided their influence within Eastern Europe, but Germany later violated the agreement and launched a massive invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Despite heavy human and territorial losses, Soviet forces managed to halt the Nazi incursion after the decisive battles of Moscow and Stalingrad. After defeating the Axis powers on the Eastern Front, the Red Army captured Berlin in May 1945, effectively ending the war in Europe for theAllies.^[5][6] The Soviet Union subsequently emerged as one of two recognized world superpowers, the other being the United States.^[7]The Yalta and Potsdam conferences established communist governments loyal to the Soviet Union in the Eastern Bloc countries asbuffer states, which Stalin deemed necessary in case of another invasion. He also fostered close relations with Mao Zedong in Chinaand Kim Il-sung in North Korea.

Stalin led the Soviet Union through its post-war reconstruction phase, which saw a significant rise in tension with the Western worldthat would later be known as the Cold War. During this period, the USSR became the second country in the world to successfully develop a nuclear weapon, as well as launching the Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature in response to another widespread famine and the Great Construction Projects of Communism. In the years following his death, Stalin and his regime have been condemned on numerous occasions, most notably in 1956 when his successor Nikita Khrushchev denounced his legacy and initiated a process of de-Stalinization. He remains a controversial figure today, with many regarding him as a tyrant^[8] similar to his wartime enemy Adolf Hitler; however, popular opinion within the Russian Federation is mixed.