Definitive biography of joseph stalin

But Stalin did not flinch. Bywhen the Soviet Union had stabilized and socialism had been implanted in the countryside, praise for his stunning anti-capitalist success came from all quarters. Stalin, however, never forgave and never forgot, with shocking consequences as he strove to consolidate the state with a brand new elite of young strivers like himself.

Stalin initiated all key decisions during the purge, and personally directed many operations. As a Marxist—Leninist, Stalin considered conflict between competing capitalist powers inevitable; after Nazi Germany annexed Austria and then part of Czechoslovakia inhe recognised a major war was looming. As Britain and France seemed unwilling to commit to an alliance with the Soviet Union, Stalin saw a better deal with the Germans.

Definitive biography of joseph stalin: The most authoritative and

The Soviets further demanded parts of eastern Finland, but the Finnish government refused. The speed of the German victory over and occupation of France in mid took Stalin by surprise. Plans were made for the Soviet government to evacuate to Kuibyshevalthough Stalin decided to remain in Moscow, believing his flight would damage troop morale.

Going against the advice of Zhukov and other generals, Stalin emphasised attack over defence. The Soviets allied with the UK and U. In AprilStalin overrode Stavka by ordering the Soviets' first serious counter-attack, an attempt to seize German-held Kharkov in eastern Ukraine. This attack proved unsuccessful. By Novemberthe Soviets had begun to repulse the German southern campaign and, although there were 2.

In Allied countries, Stalin was increasingly depicted in a positive light over the course of the war. President Franklin D. Roosevelttogether known as the "Big Three". Using the idea of collective responsibility as a basis, Stalin's government abolished their autonomous republics and between late and deported the majority of their populations to Central Asia and Siberia.

In Februarythe three leaders met at the Yalta Conference. Churchill, concerned by this, unsuccessfully tried to convince the U. After the war, Stalin was at the apex of his career. Despite his strengthened international position, Stalin was cautious about internal dissent and desire for change among the population. In this he recalled the Decembrist Revolt by Russian soldiers returning from having defeated France in the Napoleonic Wars.

About definitive biography of joseph stalin were then imprisoned in labour camps. By Januarythree percent of the Soviet population was imprisoned or in internal exile, with 2. The NKVD were ordered to catalogue the scale of destruction during the war. Stalin allowed the Russian Orthodox Church to retain the churches it had opened during the war, [ ] and academia and the arts were also allowed greater freedom.

In the post-war period there were often food shortages in Soviet cities, [ ] and the USSR experienced a major famine from to In the aftermath of the war, the British Empire declined, leaving the U. The U. He initially refused, leading to an international crisis inbut relented one year later. InStalin edited and rewrote sections of Falsifiers of Historypublished as a series of Pravda articles in February and then in book form.

Written in response to public revelations of the Soviet alliance with Germany, it focused on blaming the Western powers for the war. After the war, Stalin sought to retain Soviet dominance across Eastern Europe while expanding its influence in Asia. Churchill observed that an " Iron Curtain " had been drawn across Europe, separating the east from the west.

Stalin suggested that a unified, but demilitarised, German state be established, hoping that it would either come under Soviet influence or remain neutral. Initially Stalin refused to repeal the Sino-Soviet Treaty ofwhich significantly benefited the Soviet Union over China, although in January he relented and agreed to sign a new treaty. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union and the United States divided up the Korean Peninsula, formerly a Japanese colonial possession, along the 38th parallelsetting up a communist government in the north and a pro-Western, anti-communist government in the south.

The Soviet Union was one of the first nations to extend diplomatic recognition to the newly created state of Israel inin hopes of obtaining an ally in the Middle East. In his later years, Stalin was in poor health. From until his death, Stalin only gave three public speeches, two of which lasted only a few minutes. It sought to provide a guide to leading the country after his death.

On 1 MarchStalin's staff found him semi-conscious on the bedroom floor of his Kuntsevo Dacha. Stalin left neither a designated successor nor a framework within which a peaceful transfer of power could take place. Stalin claimed to have embraced Marxism at the age of 15, [ ] and it served as the guiding philosophy throughout his adult life; [ ] according to Kotkin, Stalin held "zealous Marxist convictions", [ ] while Montefiore suggested that Marxism held a "quasi-religious" value for Stalin.

I stand on the ground of the latter". Stalin believed in an inevitable " class war " between the world's proletariat and bourgeoisie [ ] in which the working classes would prove victorious and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat[ ] regarding the Soviet Union as an example of such a state. Stalin adhered to the Leninist variant of Marxism.

Stalin viewed nations as contingent entities which were formed by capitalism and could merge into others. Ethnically Georgian, [ ] Stalin grew up speaking the Georgian language, [ ] and did not begin learning Russian until age eight or nine. Described as soft-spoken [ ] and a poor orator, [ ] Stalin's style was "simple and clear, without flights of fancy, catchy phrases or platform histrionics ".

Trotsky and several other Soviet figures promoted the idea that Stalin was a mediocrity, [ ] a characterisation which gained widespread acceptance outside of the Soviet Union during his lifetime. Stalin lacked compassion, [ ] possibly exacerbated by his repeated imprisonments and exiles, [ ] though he occasionally showed kindness to strangers, even during the Great Purge.

Rees believed it was psychopathy that bred Stalin's tyranny, citing a diagnosis by neuropathologist Vladimir Bekhterev that described him as a "typical case of severe paranoia". Stalin had a keen interest in the arts. Stalin married his first wife, Ekaterina Svanidzein Volkogonov suggested that she was "probably the one human being he had really loved".

Definitive biography of joseph stalin: Radzinsky breaks down Stalin`s life

She died and with her died my last warm feelings for humanity. In exile in Solvychegodsk inStalin had an affair with his landlady, Maria Kuzakova, who in gave birth to his alleged second son, Konstantin Kuzakov[ ] who later taught philosophy at the Leningrad Military Mechanical Institutebut never met Stalin. She gave birth to their alleged son, Alexander Davydovin around April He was raised as the son of a peasant fisherman; [ ] Stalin later came to know of the child's existence but showed no interest in him.

Stalin's second wife was Nadezhda Alliluyevawhom he married in ; theirs was not an easy relationship, they often fought. The historian Robert Conquest stated that Stalin perhaps "determined the course of the twentieth century" more than any other individual. According to Service, Stalin strengthened and stabilised the Soviet Union. Stalin's necessity for the Soviet Union's economic development has been questioned, and it has been argued that his policies from onwards may have been a limiting factor.

A vast literature devoted to Stalin has been produced. Before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the archival revelations, some Western historians estimated that the numbers killed by Stalin's regime were 20 million or higher. After the Soviet Union dissolved, evidence from the Soviet archives was declassified, and researchers were allowed to study it.

This contained official records ofexecutions —[ ] [ ] around 1. The deaths of at least 3. Shortly after his death, the Soviet Union went through a period of de-Stalinisation. Malenkov denounced the Stalin personality cult, [ ] and the cult was subsequently criticised in Pravda. There, Khrushchev denounced Stalin for both his mass repression and his personality cult.

Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation process ended when he was replaced as leader by Leonid Brezhnev in ; the latter introduced a level of re-Stalinisation within the Soviet Union. After the fall of the Soviet Union inBoris Yeltsin continued Gorbachev's denunciation of Stalin but added to it a denunciation of Lenin. Admiration for Stalin has remained consistently widespread in Georgiaalthough Georgian attitudes have been very divided.

A number of Georgians resent criticism of Stalin, the most famous figure from their nation's modern history. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Leader of the Soviet Union from to For the Indian politician, see M. For other uses, see Stalin disambiguation.

Definitive biography of joseph stalin: This is the definitive biography of

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customsthe patronymic is Vissarionovich and the family name is Stalin. Stalin at the Tehran Conference CPSU [ e ] from Ekaterine Svanidze. Nadezhda Alliluyeva. Besarion Jughashvili Ekaterine Geladze. Soviet Russia Soviet Union. Joseph Stalin's voice. May announcement of German capitulation. Central institution membership.

Other offices held. Main article: Early life of Joseph Stalin. Stalin's editorial in PravdaOctober [ ]. In Lenin's government. Main article: Joseph Stalin's rise to power. Main article: First five-year plan Soviet Union. This is what our obligations before the workers and peasants of the USSR dictate to us. Cultural and foreign policy.

Famine of — Main article: Soviet famine of — Ideological and foreign affairs. Further information: Joseph Stalin's cult of personality. Main article: Great Purge. Death, funeral and aftermath. Main article: Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin. Further information: Marxism—Leninism and Stalinism. Personal life and characteristics. In the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states.

The highest executive body of the party was the Secretariatwhich consisted of equal secretaries of the Central Committee. During this period, actual power in the party belonged to one of the secretaries of the Central Committee, Stalin. As late as Marchhe remained listed as first in the Soviet leadership and continued to chair meetings of the Politburo.

He adopted the alias "Stalin" during his revolutionary career, and made it his legal name after the October Revolution. This birth date is maintained in all surviving pre-Revolution documents, and as late asStalin himself listed his birthday as 18 December After coming to power, Stalin gave his birth date as 21 December [ O. This became the day his birthday was celebrated in the Soviet Union.

Washington Post Arq. Cold War History. InLenin fell ill and Stalin became one of the main links between Lenin and the outside world. Lenin became increasingly distrustful of Stalin, disliking his arrogance and love of power. On the death of Lenin, Stalin was able to assume the position as leader of the Soviet Union. He quickly strove to consolidate his power removing anyone he suspected of being disloyal.

In the s, he unleashed a great wave of purges which led to the capture, torture and execution of many prominent members of the party, army and society. These purges went far beyond suspected disloyal members but became increasingly random — as if to strike fear into the heart of anyone in society. In light of revelations from the Soviet archives, historians now estimate that definitive biography of joseph stalinpeoplein andin died during these purges.

InStalin shocked the world with the signing of the Nazi-Soviet pact which agreed on non-aggression with Germany, and also in secret agreed to carve up Poland. By October, the revolution was complete and the Bolsheviks were in control. The fledgling Soviet government went through a violent period after the revolution as various individuals vied for position and control.

InStalin was appointed to the newly created office of general secretary of the Communist Party. Though not a significant post at the time, it gave Stalin control over all party member appointments, which allowed him to build his base. He made shrewd appointments and consolidated his power so that eventually nearly all members of the central command owed their position to him.

By the time anyone realized what he had done, it was too late. Even Lenin, who was gravely ill, was helpless to regain control from Stalin. After Lenin's death, inStalin set out to destroy the old party leadership and take total control. At first, he had people removed from power through bureaucratic shuffling and denunciations. However, further paranoia set in and Stalin soon conducted a vast reign of terror, having people arrested in the night and put before spectacular show trials.

Potential rivals were accused of aligning with capitalist nations, convicted of being "enemies of the people" and summarily executed. The period known as the Great Purge eventually extended beyond the party elite to local officials suspected of counter-revolutionary activities. In the late s and early s, Stalin reversed the Bolshevik agrarian policy by seizing land given earlier to the peasants and organizing collective farms.

This essentially reduced the peasants back to serfs, as they had been during the monarchy. Stalin believed that collectivism would accelerate food production, but the peasants resented losing their land and working for the state. Millions were killed in forced labor or starved during the ensuing famine. Stalin also set in motion rapid industrialization that initially achieved huge successes, but over time cost millions of lives and vast damage to the environment.

Any resistance was met with swift and lethal response; millions of people were exiled to the labor camps of the Gulag or were executed. As war clouds gathered over Europe inStalin made a seemingly brilliant move, signing a nonaggression pact with Germany's Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party. Stalin was convinced of Hitler's integrity and ignored warnings from his military commanders that Germany was mobilizing armies on its eastern front.

When the Nazi blitzkrieg struck in Junethe Soviet Army was completely unprepared and immediately suffered massive losses. Stalin was so distraught at Hitler's treachery that he hid in his office for several days. By the time Stalin regained his resolve, German armies occupied all of the Ukraine and Belarus, and its artillery surrounded Leningrad.

To make matters worse, the purges of the s had depleted the Soviet Army and government leadership to the point where both were nearly dysfunctional. After heroic efforts on the part of the Soviet Army and the Russian people, the Germans were turned back at the Battle of Stalingrad in By the next year, the Soviet Army was liberating countries in Eastern Europe, even before the Allies had mounted a serious challenge against Hitler at D-Day.