Joseph Stalin

After recieving permenant scars from having smallpox as a child, he became insecure about his face. He also had a mildly deformed arm, his left arm was shorter than his right. Stalin felt like life had treated him unfairly and thus creating a strong desire for power and respect. Because of his beliefs about himsef, he built a cult of personalitiy around himsef. He renamed cities, changed the Soviet Union national anthem and put his name in it, rewrote history textbooks to exaggerate his power and greatness. He also made himself the subject of artwork, paintings, and music. Stalin would have the photographs of him airbrushed to hide his scars and deformities.

His Reign

December 18, 1878 - Born as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili March 5, 1953 - died in Moscow, Russia

He became dictator in the late 1920's and ruled for more than 2 decades. Stalin believed that by injecting fear into his subjects, they were more liekly to respect him. He would execute anyone who disagreed with him. He launched a series of 5-year plans that plotted to turn the Soviet Union from a peasant society to an industrial superpower. In the 1930's, Stalin instituted The Great Purge which was a series of campaigns that were designed to rid the Communist Party, the military, and other parts of the Soviet society. He prosecuted a reign of terror, purges, executions, exiles to labor camps, and persecutions in the post war USSR. Joseph Stalin is responsible for an estimated amount of 20 to 40 million deaths. He is known as one of historys most prolific killers.

WW2

On the eve before WW2 in 1939, Stalin signed a non-agression pact with Adolf Hitler. Hitler, in June of 1941, broke the pact and invaded the USSR. Stalin began to fear Germany's power so he participated in the major Allied conferences. He played a loyal ally and helped defeat Nazism.

Citations

"Biography: Joseph Stalin." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. "Joseph Stalin Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. "Joseph Stalin." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web.

Joseph Stalin

Biography

Fun Facts

Dictator of the Soviet Union

"Under the Leadership of the Great Stalin - Forward to Communism"

- His name, Joseph Stalin, translates to Man of Steel. - President Harry Truman called him "A Little Bit of a Squirt" because Stalin was 5 foot 4. - After his 1st wife died he said, "She's died and with her have died my last warm feelings for humanity." - Stalin was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for contributing to the end of WW2 and Nazism - He ordered scientists to create a Human-Ape hybrid.