Joseph Stalin was the iron ruler of the U.S.S.R, who made the country a formidable military and industrial superpower.
Born in Gori, Georgia in 1878, he played an active role in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Lenin chose Stalin to head the Workers’ and Peasants’ inspectorate, which made him a powerful man. He was appointed the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 3rd April, 1922.
In the beginning he acted as part of a collective leadership. But by the 1930’s Stalin had become a dictator. He consolidated his absolute power by shrewdly manoeuvring and isolating those who stood in his way, and by using police terror. Towards the end of the 1920’s, he had established a totalitarian rule that prohibited all sorts of opposition. His brutal reign is held responsible for the deaths of millions.
He made clever use of nationalism to strengthen his rule and promoted some aspects of Russian history, some national heroes and the Russian language.
Joseph Stalin ruled the country from 1929 to 1953, until his death.
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