Iosef Vissarionovich Dzhugashavili Born in 1879 to Georgian peasants, neither of whom spoke Russian. Father was a cobbler…also a violent and abusive drunk. He adopted the pseudonym “Stalin” meaning Man of Steel around 1910.

 Attended a church school from where He learned Russian and was recognized as the best pupil in the school. Later Soviet historians claimed the headmaster called him “the best student ever.” Stalin earned a scholarship to a Theological Seminary

 1898, after expulsion (skipped final exams and didn’t pay his tuition, and for forming a Social Democratic study circle.), he joined a secret group of Marxist revolutionaries - Social Democrats and embarked upon a career as a revolutionary.  In 1902, he was arrested for organizing workers to protest at a Rothchild manufacturing – 18 months in jail, then shipped off to Siberia.

 helped organize workers’ strikes…  set up a secret press to spread Marxist ideas…distributed illegal pamphlets…  participated in train and bank robberies…  by 1912, was a member of the inner circle of the Bolshevik party.

 When we examine the reasons behind the rise of Stalin, there are TWO MAIN FACTORS RESPONSIBLE:  Stalin’s Cunning Personality  Stalin Outwitted His Rivals  Stalin Pretended to have been Close to Lenin  Made Alliances  Used His Position as Secretary-General of the Party  Favourable Circumstances  Trotsky’s Weaknesses

1) Stalin Outwitted His Rivals  When Lenin died, there were four contenders to his place – Leon Trotsky, Lev Kamenev, Grigory Zinoviev and Joseph Stalin.  Although Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev were much more capable than Stalin, Stalin managed to outwit them and claim leadership despite Lenin’s will criticising Stalin and naming Trotsky as a successor.

1) Stalin Outwitted His Rivals  Stalin used Kamenev and Zinoviev to get rid of Trotsky before turning on Kamenev and Zinoviev in later years.  Stalin was able to outwit all his rivals because no one saw him as a threat to their rise in power. As a result, Stalin was able to use them against each other and rise to power.

2) Stalin Pretended to have been Close to Lenin  Stalin tricked Trotsky and made him miss Lenin’s funeral which reflected very badly on Trotsky.  Stalin also organised Lenin’s funeral and made himself the chief mourner which gave people the impression he was very close to Lenin.  As a result of pretending to be close to Lenin, many party members supported Stalin’s rise to power.

3) Trotsky’s Weaknesses  Stalin was also able to rise due to Trotsky’s weaknesses. Trotsky had a narrow support base limited to youths, students and the Red Army. As he was too confident of replacing Lenin, he did not bother to build a Party support base unlike Stalin.  He was not well liked in the Party and his views on world revolution were not popular as the Party members preferred the more practical Stalinist view of working on Socialism within the country first.  As a result, Stalin was more popular with the party members and was able to rise to power.

4) Made Alliances  Stalin made alliances with Kamenev and Zinoviev to have Trotsky removed and exiled from Russia.  Once he had achieved his purposes, Stalin turned on Kamenev and Zinoviev using other alliances and had them removed from the Party.  With all these threats removed, Stalin was able to rise within the party.

5) Used his Position as Secretary-General  Stalin used his position as Secretary-General of the Party to appoint his supporters to important posts, ensuring their loyalty.  By controlling the central Party machine, he was able to exert great influence on the Party members and get them to vote on his policies or initiatives (e.g. voting out of Trotsky in 1925).  As a result Stalin was able to rise in power because he was able to gain loyal supporters and influence the party to vote for decisions that would benefit him.

Growth of European Tensions

 One of the most surprising diplomatic events in history as the Germans and the Russians hated and feared one another.  In August 1939, the German Foreign Minister, Joachim von Ribbentrop, flew to Moscow to meet with Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and to sign a Non-Aggression Pact.

 Aimed to avoid war or delay the war in order to have time to strengthen his position. Overly states: ‘Russia’s chief concern was still to avoid involvement in any war, at any costs. Soviet foreign policy aimed to play one power off against another in the hope of escaping the impending conflict.  A deal with Hitler over Poland would enable Germany to fight Britain and France in the west giving Russia enough time to prepare its own defences.

 Hitler had known goals of expanding eastward and destroying communism in order to achieve lebensraum (space required for life, growth, or activity).  It allowed Hitler to invade Poland free from the threat of Soviet intervention, allowing for a quick victory.  Germany would be able to avoid a two-front war and Hitler could quickly defeat Britain and France.

 Germany and the Soviet Union would not engage in hostilities for 10 years.  If either country became involved in a conflict with a 3 rd party, the other country would remain neutral (giving Hitler the green light to invade Poland.)  The pact would start immediately.  The pact also contained Secret Protocols which became known after That Germany would take western Poland and Lithuania and the Soviet Union would take eastern Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Bessarabia (in Romania).

 Within a week of the Pact, Germany invaded Poland.  Two days later on 3 rd of September 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. (The Anglo-Polish Common Defence Act had been signed two days after the Nazi-Soviet Non- Aggression Pact.) Nazi’s invade Poland on Sept 1 st (WWII BEGINS)  Soviet Union invaded Poland on the 17 th of September  Poland surrendered on September 26 th 1939.

 Germany attacks Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.