Joseph Stalin By: April Tou

Early Life  Born on December 21, 1879, in Gori  Real Name: Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili  Father was an unsuccessful shoemaker; was said to have been cruel to his son and a drunkard  Mother became a washerwoman to help support their family  Had three older siblings who had died shortly after birth; grew up an only child

Connection to Vladimir Ilyich Lenin  Lenin was concerned that Stalin didn’t strongly oppose the provisional gov’t  Lenin arrived from exile, criticizing Stalin for not taking strong Bolshevik stand  Had history books rewritten saying he led the revolution with Lenin  Lenin named Stalin commissar of nationalities after becoming head of gov’t

Rise to Power  Active on southern military front  Became one of five members of Politburo (Political Bureau)  Elected general secretary of the Communist Party’s Central Committee  Plotted quietly; power built  Was unable to be removed by Lenin

Life as Dictator  Started the first of the five-year plans for economic development  Tried to destroy middle classes in Baltic countries and set up Communist governments  Set up a police system  Started a purge (elimination) of most of the old Bolsheviks associated with Lenin

Death  Started to replace top men in the Soviet government  Planned a great purge  Was announced to have suffered a brain hemorrhage on March 1, 1953  Died on March 5, 1953, in Moscow

1935 – Stalin’s Great Purge  Stalin began a great purge on Communist members  Most of the old Bolsheviks associated with Lenin  Also, chiefs and officers of the Soviet army  Reasons:  No one to threaten his power  No one to oppose his policies

1939 – The Nonaggression Pact  What it is: treaty which two or more nations agree not to attack each other  World War I and World War II – many nations signed non aggression pacts because there was no international force strong enough to prevent aggression  Between the U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and Germany  The Secret part: Stalin and Hitler planned to divide Poland between themselves

1945 – Yalta Conference  One of the most important meetings of key Allied leaders during World War II  Location: Yalta, Crimea  “Big Three”: Prime Minister of Britain, President of the United States, and Premier of the Soviet Union  Agreements were made:  Accept structure of the world  Establish order  Divide Germany  Support the Soviet-backed gov’t  Force Germany to give resources to the Soviet Union

1945 – The Cold War  The term used to describe intense rivalry between Communist and non-Communist nations after World War II.  Did not actually lead to fighting  Germany was divided into four zones  Non-Communist nations were against the U.S.S.R. and its satellites (controlled countries)  Tried to halt the spread of Communism

1953 – Stalin’s Death  Was honored; put in a tomb beside Lenin  Later, all towns, cities, and factories named after him were renamed  Was took out of the tomb and buried in a simple tomb  Stalinism (Stalin’s style of rule) was still used by Communist governments  Eliminates all opposition by using terror  Used until Communism collapsed in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe

Bibliography  Marrin, Albert. "Stalin, Joseph." World Book Online Reference Center [Place of access.] 18 Nov  Clemens, Diane Shaver. "Yalta Conference." World Book Online Reference Center [Place of access.] 19 Nov  Pranger, Robert J. "Nonaggression pact." World Book Online Reference Center [Place of access.] 19 Nov  Kaufman, Burton I. "Cold War." World Book Online Reference Center [Place of access.] 19 Nov