[533] In 1944, the German armies were pushed out of the Baltic states (with the exception of the Ostland), which were then re-annexed into the Soviet Union. [452] Stalin initiated a military build-up, with the Red Army more than doubling between January 1939 and June 1941, although in its haste to expand many of its officers were poorly trained. The Soviet Union, or U.S.S.R., was made up of 15 countries in Eastern Europe and Asia and lasted from 1922 until its fall in 1991. [293] Stalin in turn accused Kamenev and Zinoviev of reintroducing factionalism and thus instability into the party. [236] Lenin joined Trotsky in criticising him, and nobody spoke on his behalf at the conference. [220] By that time, Sovnarkom had turned its attention to spreading proletarian revolution abroad, to this end forming the Communist International in March 1919; Stalin attended its inaugural ceremony. [381], The Soviet Union experienced a major famine which peaked in the winter of 193233;[382] between five and seven million people died. [503], In April 1942, Stalin overrode Stavka by ordering the Soviets' first serious counter-attack, an attempt to seize German-held Kharkov in eastern Ukraine. After the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War, the Office of General Secretary was created by Vladimir Lenin in 1922 with the intention that it . Since Lenin had functioned as chairman of the Council of People's . [556] Within the Soviet Union he was widely regarded as the embodiment of victory and patriotism. [892], A vast literature devoted to Stalin has been produced. [829], Friendship was important to Stalin,[830] and he used it to gain and maintain power. Joseph Stalin Russia- what were conditions before took power. [143], In adulthood, Stalin measured 1.70m (5feet 7inches). Joseph Stalin Russia- how came to power. [48] They attempted to arrest him in March 1901, but he escaped and went into hiding,[49] living off the donations of friends and sympathisers. Get the answers you need, now! [85] At the conference Stalin met Lenin for the first time. [364] Religion retained an influence over much of the population; in the 1937 census, 57% of respondents were willing to admit to being religious. [7] His parents were Besarion Jughashvili and Ekaterine Geladze. During the same period, he carried out the Great Purges. Attacking Stalin's former policies, Khrushchev and many . [3] He was born on 18 December[O.S. [266] Some historians have questioned whether Lenin ever produced these, suggesting instead that they may have been written by Krupskaya, who had personal differences with Stalin;[254] Stalin, however, never publicly voiced concerns about their authenticity. [314] At this point, Stalin turned against the NEP, which put him on a course to the "left" even of Trotsky or Zinoviev. Vladimir Lenin, leader of the former Bolshevik Party and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, died on the 21st of January in 1924. [711] He first developed the idea in December 1924 and elaborated upon in his writings of 192526. [893], Leninists remain divided in their views on Stalin; some view him as Lenin's authentic successor, while others believe he betrayed Lenin's ideas by deviating from them. The Soviet Union was the world's first Marxist-Communist state . [201] The treaty gave vast areas of land and resources to the Central Powers and angered many in Russia; the Left Socialist Revolutionaries withdrew from the coalition government over the issue. What was the title of . [66] There, he co-edited a Georgian Marxist newspaper, Proletariatis Brdzola ("Proletarian Struggle"), with Philip Makharadze. He attracted a group of supporters through his classes in socialist theory[46] and co-organised a secret workers' mass meeting for May Day 1900,[47] at which he successfully encouraged many of the men to take strike action. Stalin was born in Georgia in the town of Gori,[2] then part of the Tiflis Governorate of the Russian Empire and home to a mix of Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Russians, and Jews. [487], Going against the advice of Zhukov and other generals, Stalin emphasised attack over defence. [485] By July, Germany's Luftwaffe was bombing Moscow,[484] and by October the Wehrmacht was amassing for a full assault on the capital. [738][739] His mustached face was pock-marked from smallpox during childhood; this was airbrushed from published photographs. [644] In 1951, he initiated the Mingrelian affair, a purge of the Georgian branch of the Communist Party which resulted in over 11,000 deportations. [539] Privately, Stalin sought to ensure that Poland would come fully under Soviet influence. [333] Stalin responded to the uprisings with an article insisting that collectivisation was voluntary and blaming any violence and other excesses on local officials. [204] To secure access to the dwindling food supply, in May 1918 Sovnarkom sent Stalin to Tsaritsyn to take charge of food procurement in southern Russia. [504] Comintern was dissolved in 1943,[505] and Stalin encouraged foreign MarxistLeninist parties to emphasise nationalism over internationalism to broaden their domestic appeal. work and the less danger there will be of a split due to some indiscretion. [693] The new state would then be able to ensure that all citizens had access to work, food, shelter, healthcare, and education, with the wastefulness of capitalism eliminated by a new, standardised economic system. [326] Although officially voluntary, many peasants joined the collectives out of fear they would face the fate of the kulaks; others joined amid intimidation and violence from party loyalists. 6 December]1878[4][h] and baptised on 29 December. [401] Stalin initiated confidential communications with Hitler in October 1933, shortly after the latter came to power in Germany. Notes from the 1957 Pravda publication: Below are published notes dictated by V. I. Lenin, December, 1922-January, 1923, including the "Letter to the Congress," known as the "Testament"; the letter "On Conferring Legislative Functions Upon . [542] After receiving a complaint about this from Yugoslav communist Milovan Djilas, Stalin asked how after experiencing the traumas of war a soldier could "react normally? [325] Stalin barred kulaks from joining these collectives. [869], Stalin strengthened and stabilised the Soviet Union. [136] The article was published under the pseudonym "K. Stalin",[139] a name he had used since 1912. History. The document known as Lenin's political testament was in fact a series of short letters, written to the Congress of Soviets over the course of a week in December 1922. The existing government of landlords and capitalists must be replaced by a new government, a government of workers and peasants.The existing pseudo-government which was not elected by the people and which is not accountable to the people must be replaced by a government recognised by the people, elected by representatives of the workers, soldiers and peasants and held accountable to their representatives. [158] Stalin was in the city when the February Revolution took place; uprisings broke out in Petrograd as Saint Petersburg had been renamed and Tsar Nicholas II abdicated to escape being violently overthrown. [865], The historian Robert Conquest stated that Stalin perhaps "determined the course of the twentieth century" more than any other individual. This concept was intricately linked to factional struggles within the party, particularly against Trotsky. [261] Stalin believed this would encourage independence sentiment among non-Russians, instead arguing that ethnic minorities would be content as "autonomous republics" within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Vladimir Lenin, Letter to the Thirteenth Party Congress. [684] Volkogonov believed that Stalin's Marxism was shaped by his "dogmatic turn of mind", suggesting that this had been instilled in the Soviet leader during his education in religious institutions. [ 1] Lenin had held the party together since 1917 and had been the central person to determine its policies. Lenin and Stalin Lenin's Death and Succession. [788] He was capable of self-righteous indignation,[789] and was resentful,[790] and vindictive,[791] holding on to grudges for many years. See answers Advertisement Advertisement archana2025 archana2025 Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central . Study now. [438], Stalin initiated all key decisions during the Terror, personally directing many of its operations and taking an interest in their implementation. [924] He remains a revered figure among many Russian nationalists, who feel nostalgic about the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II,[925] and he is regularly invoked approvingly within both Russia's far-left and far-right. [211] His use of state violence and terror was at a greater scale than most Bolshevik leaders approved of;[212] for instance, he ordered several villages to be torched to ensure compliance with his food procurement program. [232] In Moscow, Lenin and Trotsky blamed him for his behaviour in the PolishSoviet war. [84] On arrival, he met Lenin's wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, who informed him that the venue had been moved to Tampere in the Grand Duchy of Finland. [76] He publicly lambasted the "pogroms against Jews and Armenians" as being part of Tsar Nicholas II's attempts to "buttress his despicable throne". [724] He remained proud of his Georgian identity,[725] and throughout his life retained a heavy Georgian accent when speaking Russian. [101] In November 1907, his wife died of typhus,[102] and he left his son with her family in Tiflis. [238], The Soviet government sought to bring neighbouring states under its domination; in February 1921 it invaded the Menshevik-governed Georgia,[239] while in April 1921, Stalin ordered the Red Army into Turkestan to reassert Russian state control. [509] This resulted in the protracted Battle of Stalingrad. How many years did Joseph Stalin rule in Russia? [9], Besarion was a cobbler who was employed in a workshop owned by another man;[10] it was initially a financial success but later fell into decline,[11] and the family found itself living in poverty. [751] He often dined with other Politburo members and their families. [154], While Stalin was in exile, Russia entered the First World War, and in October 1916 Stalin and other exiled Bolsheviks were conscripted into the Russian Army, leaving for Monastyrskoe. [86] Although Stalin held Lenin in deep respect, he was vocal in his disagreement with Lenin's view that the Bolsheviks should field candidates for the forthcoming election to the State Duma; Stalin saw the parliamentary process as a waste of time. [78] Stalin's squads disarmed local police and troops,[79] raided government arsenals,[80] and raised funds through protection rackets on large local businesses and mines. [355] Priests, imams, and Buddhist monks faced persecution. [246] On this trip, Stalin met with his son Yakov, and brought him back to Moscow;[247] Nadezhda had given birth to another of Stalin's sons, Vasily, in March 1921. [796] Other historians linked his brutality not to any personality trait, but to his unwavering commitment to the survival of the Soviet Union and the international MarxistLeninist cause. [626] Both Stalin and Mao believed that a swift victory would ensue. [732] Described as a poor orator,[733] according to Volkogonov, Stalin's speaking style was "simple and clear, without flights of fancy, catchy phrases or platform histrionics". Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [231], In mid-August 1920, the Poles repulsed the Russian advance, and Stalin returned to Moscow to attend the Politburo meeting. [579] In 1949, he brought Nikita Khrushchev from Ukraine to Moscow, appointing him a Central Committee secretary and the head of the city's party branch. [599] Within Western countries, Stalin was increasingly portrayed as the "most evil dictator alive" and compared to Hitler. [62], Stalin left Batum in October, arriving at the small Siberian town of Novaya Uda in late November 1903. [405] At the Communist International's 7th Congress, held in JulyAugust 1935, the Soviet government encouraged Marxist-Leninists to unite with other leftists as part of a popular front against fascism. [289] He was supported in this by Bukharin, who, like Stalin, believed that the Left Opposition's proposals would plunge the Soviet Union into instability. [850] In later life, he disapproved of Svetlana's various suitors and husbands, putting a strain on his relationship with her. [576] He grew increasingly concerned that senior political and military figures might try to oust him; he prevented any of them from becoming powerful enough to rival him and had their apartments bugged with listening devices. For other uses, see. [934], Some positive sentiment can also be found elsewhere in the former Soviet Union. [496] During the war, Stalin was more tolerant of the Russian Orthodox Church, allowing it to resume some of its activities and meeting with Patriarch Sergius in September 1943. [257] Despite this comradeship, Lenin disliked what he referred to as Stalin's "Asiatic" manner and told his sister Maria that Stalin was "not intelligent". Either we do this or we'll be crushed. This attack proved unsuccessful. [16] Ekaterine worked as a house cleaner and launderer and was determined to send her son to school. [646] He was very interested in the reigns of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. [222] In December 1918, he drew up decrees recognising Marxist-governed Soviet republics in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia;[223] during the civil war these Marxist governments were overthrown and the Baltic countries became fully independent of Russia, an act Stalin regarded as illegitimate. 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