In this he recalled the 1825 Decembrist Revolt by Russian soldiers returning from having defeated France in the Napoleonic Wars.
The seminary's journal noted that he declared himself an atheist, stalked out of prayers and refused to doff his hat to monks. Stalin joined a forbidden book club at the school; he was particularly influenced by Nikolay Chernyshevsky's 1863 pro-revolutionary novel What Is To Be Done? Another influential text was Alexander Kazbegi's The Patricide, with Stalin adopting the nickname "Koba" from that of the book's bandit protagonist.
He also read Capital, the 1867 book by German sociological theorist Karl Marx.
Conversely, his totalitarian government has been widely condemned for overseeing mass repression, ethnic cleansing, wide-scale deportation, hundreds of thousands of executions, and famines that killed millions. ==Early life== ===Childhood to young adulthood: 1878–1899=== Stalin's birth name was Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili.
Ekaterine and Stalin left the home by 1883 and began a wandering life, moving through nine different rented rooms over the next decade.
Stalin faced several severe health problems: An 1884 smallpox infection left him with facial scars; and at age 12 he was seriously injured when he was hit by a phaeton, likely the cause of a lifelong disability in his left arm. In August 1894, Stalin enrolled in the Orthodox Spiritual Seminary in Tiflis, enabled by a scholarship that allowed him to study at a reduced rate.
In 1886, they moved into the house of a family friend, Father Christopher Charkviani.
In September 1888, Stalin enrolled at the Gori Church School, a place secured by Charkviani.
Stalin faced several severe health problems: An 1884 smallpox infection left him with facial scars; and at age 12 he was seriously injured when he was hit by a phaeton, likely the cause of a lifelong disability in his left arm. In August 1894, Stalin enrolled in the Orthodox Spiritual Seminary in Tiflis, enabled by a scholarship that allowed him to study at a reduced rate.
In November 1901, he was elected to the Tiflis Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), a Marxist party founded in 1898. That month, Stalin travelled to the port city of Batumi.
Stalin left the seminary in April 1899 and never returned. ===Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party: 1899–1904=== In October 1899, Stalin began work as a meteorologist at the Tiflis observatory.
He attracted a group of supporters through his classes in socialist theory and co-organised a secret workers' mass meeting for May Day 1900, at which he successfully encouraged many of the men to take strike action.
They attempted to arrest him in March 1901, but he escaped and went into hiding, living off the donations of friends and sympathisers.
Remaining underground, he helped plan a demonstration for May Day 1901, in which 3,000 marchers clashed with the authorities.
In November 1901, he was elected to the Tiflis Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), a Marxist party founded in 1898. That month, Stalin travelled to the port city of Batumi.
Stalin organised another mass demonstration on the day of their funeral, before being arrested in April 1902.
Held first in Batumi Prison and then Kutaisi Prison, in mid-1903 he was sentenced to three years of exile in eastern Siberia. Stalin left Batumi in October, arriving at the small Siberian town of Novaya Uda in late November 1903.
His second attempt, in January 1904, was successful and he made it to Tiflis.
Although he established a Bolshevik stronghold in the mining town of Chiatura, Bolshevism remained a minority force in the Menshevik-dominated Georgian revolutionary scene. ===Revolution of 1905 and its aftermath: 1905–1912=== In January 1905, government troops massacred protesters in Saint Petersburg.
Unrest soon spread across the Russian Empire in what came to be known as the Revolution of 1905.
They launched attacks on the government's Cossack troops and pro-Tsarist Black Hundreds, co-ordinating some of their operations with the Menshevik militia. In November 1905, the Georgian Bolsheviks elected Stalin as one of their delegates to a Bolshevik conference in Saint Petersburg.
In April 1906, Stalin attended the RSDLP Fourth Congress in Stockholm; this was his first trip outside the Russian Empire.
Lenin and Stalin disagreed with this decision and later privately discussed how they could continue the robberies for the Bolshevik cause. Stalin married Kato Svanidze in a church ceremony at Senaki in July 1906.
Stalin married twice and had several offspring. Stalin married his first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze, in 1906.
In March 1907 she bore a son, Yakov.
He attended the Fifth RSDLP Congress, held in London in May–June 1907.
After returning to Tiflis, Stalin organised the robbing of a large delivery of money to the Imperial Bank in June 1907.
In August 1907, he attended the Seventh Congress of the Second International — an international socialist organisation — in Stuttgart, Germany.
In November 1907, his wife died of typhus, and he left his son with her family in Tiflis.
By 1907, he grew his hair long and often wore a beard; for clothing, he often wore a traditional Georgian chokha or a red satin shirt with a grey coat and black fedora.
In early 1908, he travelled to the Swiss city of Geneva to meet with Lenin and the prominent Russian Marxist Georgi Plekhanov, although the latter exasperated him. In March 1908, Stalin was arrested and interned in Bailov Prison in Baku.
He was eventually sentenced to two years exile in the village of Solvychegodsk, Vologda Province, arriving there in February 1909.
In March 1910, he was arrested again and sent back to Solvychegodsk.
In June 1911, Stalin was given permission to move to Vologda, where he stayed for two months, having a relationship with Pelageya Onufrieva.
He escaped to Saint Petersburg, where he was arrested in September 1911 and sentenced to a further three-year exile in Vologda. ===Rise to the Central Committee and editorship of Pravda: 1912–1917=== In January 1912, while Stalin was in exile, the first Bolshevik Central Committee was elected at the Prague Conference.
He escaped to Saint Petersburg, where he was arrested in September 1911 and sentenced to a further three-year exile in Vologda. ===Rise to the Central Committee and editorship of Pravda: 1912–1917=== In January 1912, while Stalin was in exile, the first Bolshevik Central Committee was elected at the Prague Conference.
In February 1912, Stalin again escaped to Saint Petersburg, tasked with converting the Bolshevik weekly newspaper, Zvezda ("Star") into a daily, Pravda ("Truth").
The new newspaper was launched in April 1912, although Stalin's role as editor was kept secret. In May 1912, he was arrested again and imprisoned in the Shpalerhy Prison, before being sentenced to three years exile in Siberia.
Stalin returned to Saint Petersburg, where he continued editing and writing articles for Pravda. After the October 1912 Duma elections, where six Bolsheviks and six Mensheviks were elected, Stalin wrote articles calling for reconciliation between the two Marxist factions, for which Lenin criticised him.
In late 1912, Stalin twice crossed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire to visit Lenin in Kraków, eventually bowing to Lenin's opposition to reunification with the Mensheviks.
Stalin", a name he had used since 1912.
Throughout his life, he used various nicknames and pseudonyms, including "Koba", "Soselo", and "Ivanov", adopting "Stalin" in 1912; it was based on the Russian word for "steel" and has often been translated as "Man of Steel". In adulthood, Stalin measured tall.
In January 1913, Stalin travelled to Vienna, where he researched the 'national question' of how the Bolsheviks should deal with the Russian Empire's national and ethnic minorities.
Lenin, who encouraged Stalin to write an article on the subject, wanted to attract those groups to the Bolshevik cause by offering them the right of secession from the Russian state, but also hoped they would remain part of a future Bolshevik-governed Russia. Stalin's article Marxism and the National Question was first published in the March, April, and May 1913 issues of the Bolshevik journal Prosveshcheniye; Lenin was pleased with it.
Stalin retained the name for the rest of his life, possibly because it was used on the article that established his reputation among the Bolsheviks. In February 1913, Stalin was arrested while back in Saint Petersburg.
In March 1914, concerned over a potential escape attempt, the authorities moved Stalin to the hamlet of Kureika on the edge of the Arctic Circle.
In or about December 1914, Pereprygia gave birth to Stalin's child, although the infant soon died.
She gave birth to another of his children, Alexander, circa April 1917. In Kureika, Stalin lived closely with the indigenous Tunguses and Ostyak, and spent much of his time fishing. ===Russian Revolution: 1917=== 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.
After the Bolsheviks seized power during the October Revolution and created a one-party state under Lenin's newly renamed Communist Party in 1917, Stalin joined its governing Politburo.
She gave birth to another of his children, Alexander, circa April 1917. In Kureika, Stalin lived closely with the indigenous Tunguses and Ostyak, and spent much of his time fishing. ===Russian Revolution: 1917=== 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.
They arrived in Krasnoyarsk in February 1917, where a medical examiner ruled Stalin unfit for military service because of his crippled arm.
as a senior Bolshevik, member of the party's Central Committee, and editor of its main newspaper"; the historian Stephen Kotkin similarly noted that Stalin had been "in the thick of events" in the build-up to the coup. ==In Lenin's government== ===Consolidating power: 1917–1918=== On 26 October 1917, Lenin declared himself chairman of a new government, the Council of People's Commissars ("Sovnarkom").
In November 1917, he signed the Decree on Nationality, according ethnic and national minorities living in Russia the right of secession and self-determination.
Stalin believed in the need to adapt Marxism to changing circumstances; in 1917, he declared that "there is dogmatic Marxism and there is creative Marxism.
Montefiore was of the view that "after 1917, [Stalin] became quadri-national: Georgian by nationality, Russian by loyalty, internationalist by ideology, Soviet by citizenship." Stalin had a soft voice, and when speaking Russian did so slowly, carefully choosing his phrasing.
Socialist revolutionaries accused Stalin's talk of federalism and national self-determination as a front for Sovnarkom's centralising and imperialist policies. Because of the ongoing First World War, in which Russia was fighting the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Lenin's government relocated from Petrograd to Moscow in March 1918.
Lenin eventually convinced the other senior Bolsheviks of his viewpoint, resulting in signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.
The governing RSDLP party was soon renamed, becoming the Russian Communist Party. ===Military Command: 1918–1921=== After the Bolsheviks seized power, both right and left-wing armies rallied against them, generating the Russian Civil War.
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.
His use of state violence and terror was at a greater scale than most Bolshevik leaders approved of; for instance, he ordered several villages to be torched to ensure compliance with his food procurement program. In December 1918, Stalin was sent to Perm to lead an inquiry into how Alexander Kolchak's White forces had been able to decimate Red troops based there.
In December 1918, he drew up decrees recognising Marxist-governed Soviet republics in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia; during the civil war these Marxist governments were overthrown and the Baltic countries became fully independent of Russia, an act Stalin regarded as illegitimate.
Stalin became part of an informal foursome leading the government, alongside Lenin, Trotsky, and Sverdlov; of these, Sverdlov was regularly absent and died in March 1919.
He returned to Moscow between January and March 1919, before being assigned to the Western Front at Petrograd.
In November 1919, the government nonetheless awarded him the Order of the Red Banner for his wartime service. The Bolsheviks won the Russian civil war by the end of 1919.
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.
In February 1920, he was appointed to head the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate; that same month he was also transferred to the Caucasian Front. Following earlier clashes between Polish and Russian troops, the Polish–Soviet War broke out in early 1920, with the Poles invading Ukraine and taking Kyiv on 7 May.
Along the Southwest Front, he became determined to conquer Lviv; in focusing on this goal he disobeyed orders in early August to transfer his troops to assist Mikhail Tukhachevsky's forces that were attacking Warsaw. In mid-August 1920, the Poles repulsed the Russian advance, and Stalin returned to Moscow to attend the Politburo meeting.
Religion retained an influence over much of the population; in the 1937 census, 57% of respondents identified as religious. Throughout the 1920s and beyond, Stalin placed a high priority on foreign policy.
By the 1920s, he was also suspicious and conspiratorial, prone to believing that people were plotting against him and that there were vast international conspiracies behind acts of dissent.
The Polish-Soviet War ended on 18 March 1921, when a peace treaty was signed in Riga. ===Lenin's final years: 1921–1923=== The Soviet government sought to bring neighbouring states under its domination; in February 1921 it invaded the Menshevik-governed Georgia, while in April 1921, Stalin ordered the Red Army into Turkestan to reassert Russian state control.
On this trip, Stalin met with his son Yakov, and brought him back to Moscow; Nadezhda had given birth to another of Stalin's sons, Vasily, in March 1921. After the civil war, workers' strikes and peasant uprisings broke out across Russia, largely in opposition to Sovnarkom's food requisitioning project; as an antidote, Lenin introduced market-oriented reforms: the New Economic Policy (NEP).
They had two biological children—a son, Vasily, and a daughter, Svetlana—and adopted another son, Artyom Sergeev, in 1921.
Serving in the Russian Civil War before overseeing the Soviet Union's establishment in 1922, Stalin assumed leadership over the country following Lenin's 1924 death.
At the 11th Party Congress in 1922, Lenin nominated Stalin as the party's new General Secretary.
For Lenin, it was advantageous to have a key ally in this crucial post. In May 1922, a massive stroke left Lenin partially paralyzed.
The USSR's formation was ratified in December 1922; although officially a federal system, all major decisions were taken by the governing Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow. Their differences also became personal; Lenin was particularly angered when Stalin was rude to his wife Krupskaya during a telephone conversation.
Serving in the Russian Civil War before overseeing the Soviet Union's establishment in 1922, Stalin assumed leadership over the country following Lenin's 1924 death.
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; Stalin, however, never publicly voiced concerns about their authenticity. ==Consolidation of power== ===Succeeding Lenin: 1924–1927=== Lenin died in January 1924.
During the 13th Party Congress in May 1924, "Lenin's Testament" was read only to the leaders of the provincial delegations.
He was supported in this by Bukharin, who, like Stalin, believed that the Left Opposition's proposals would plunge the Soviet Union into instability. In late 1924, Stalin moved against Kamenev and Zinoviev, removing their supporters from key positions.
His growing influence was reflected in naming of various locations after him; in June 1924 the Ukrainian mining town of Yuzovka became Stalino, and in April 1925, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad on the order of Mikhail Kalinin and Avel Enukidze. In 1926, Stalin published On Questions of Leninism.
He first developed the idea in December 1924 and elaborated upon in his writings of 1925–26.
In 1925, the two moved into open opposition to Stalin and Bukharin.
His growing influence was reflected in naming of various locations after him; in June 1924 the Ukrainian mining town of Yuzovka became Stalino, and in April 1925, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad on the order of Mikhail Kalinin and Avel Enukidze. In 1926, Stalin published On Questions of Leninism.
He first developed the idea in December 1924 and elaborated upon in his writings of 1925–26.
His choice of favoured holiday house changed over the years, although he holidayed in southern parts of the USSR every year from 1925 to 1936 and again from 1945 to 1951.
In his private life, he divided his time between his Kremlin apartment and a dacha at Zubalova; his wife gave birth to a daughter, Svetlana, in February 1926. In the wake of Lenin's death, various protagonists emerged in the struggle to become his successor: alongside Stalin was Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, and Mikhail Tomsky.
The factionalist arguments continued, with Stalin threatening to resign in October and then December 1926 and again in December 1927.
His growing influence was reflected in naming of various locations after him; in June 1924 the Ukrainian mining town of Yuzovka became Stalino, and in April 1925, Tsaritsyn was renamed Stalingrad on the order of Mikhail Kalinin and Avel Enukidze. In 1926, Stalin published On Questions of Leninism.
Instead, the KMT repressed the Communists and a civil war broke out between the two sides. ===Dekulakisation, collectivisation, and industrialisation: 1927–1931=== ====Economic policy==== The Soviet Union lagged behind the industrial development of Western countries, and there had been a shortfall of grain; 1927 produced only 70% of grain produced in 1926.
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin ( – 5 March 1953), real name Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili, was a Georgian revolutionary and the ruler of the Soviet Union from 1927 until 1953.
The factionalist arguments continued, with Stalin threatening to resign in October and then December 1926 and again in December 1927.
In October 1927, Zinoviev and Trotsky were removed from the Central Committee; the latter was exiled to Kazakhstan and later deported from the country in 1929.
In 1927, there was some argument in the party over Soviet policy regarding China.
Instead, the KMT repressed the Communists and a civil war broke out between the two sides. ===Dekulakisation, collectivisation, and industrialisation: 1927–1931=== ====Economic policy==== The Soviet Union lagged behind the industrial development of Western countries, and there had been a shortfall of grain; 1927 produced only 70% of grain produced in 1926.
At this point, Stalin turned against the NEP, which put him on a course to the "left" even of Trotsky or Zinoviev. In early 1928 Stalin travelled to Novosibirsk, where he alleged that kulaks were hoarding their grain and ordered that the kulaks be arrested and their grain confiscated, with Stalin bringing much of the area's grain back to Moscow with him in February.
In 1928, the first five-year plan was launched, its main focus on boosting heavy industry; it was finished a year ahead of schedule, in 1932.
His speeches and articles reflected his utopian vision of the Soviet Union rising to unparalleled heights of human development, creating a "new Soviet person". ====Cultural and foreign policy==== In 1928, Stalin declared that class war between the proletariat and their enemies would intensify as socialism developed.
The first major show trial in the USSR was the Shakhty Trial of 1928, in which several middle-class "industrial specialists" were convicted of sabotage.
At its 6th Congress in July 1928, Stalin informed delegates that the main threat to socialism came not from the right but from non-Marxist socialists and social democrats, whom he called "social fascists"; Stalin recognised that in many countries, the social democrats were the Marxist-Leninists' main rivals for working-class support.
Stalin's necessity for Soviet Union's economic development has been questioned, with it being argued that Stalin's policies from 1928 on may have only been a limiting factor. Stalin's Soviet Union has been characterised as a totalitarian state, with Stalin its authoritarian leader.
In October 1927, Zinoviev and Trotsky were removed from the Central Committee; the latter was exiled to Kazakhstan and later deported from the country in 1929.
According to Stalin biographer Dmitri Volkogonov, de-kulakisation was "the first mass terror applied by Stalin in his own country." In 1929, the Politburo announced the mass collectivisation of agriculture, establishing both kolkhozy collective farms and sovkhoz state farms.
In November 1929 Stalin removed him from the Politburo. Officially, the Soviet Union had replaced the "irrationality" and "wastefulness" of a market economy with a planned economy organised along a long-term, precise, and scientific framework; in reality, Soviet economics were based on ad hoc commandments issued from the centre, often to make short-term targets.
From 1929 to 1930, further show trials were held to intimidate opposition: these included the Industrial Party Trial, Menshevik Trial, and Metro-Vickers Trial.
In 1929, his son Yakov unsuccessfully attempted suicide; his failure earned Stalin's contempt.
Despite initially governing the country as part of a collective leadership, he ultimately consolidated power to become the Soviet Union's dictator by the 1930s.
By 1937, he had complete personal control over the party and state. Stalin's government promoted Marxism–Leninism abroad through the Communist International and supported European anti-fascist movements during the 1930s, particularly in the Spanish Civil War.
In January 1930, the Politburo approved the liquidation of the kulak class; accused kulaks were rounded up and exiled to other parts of the country or to concentration camps.
By July 1930, over 320,000 households had been affected by the de-kulakisation policy.
Famine broke out in many areas, with the Politburo frequently ordering distribution of emergency food relief to these regions. Armed peasant uprisings against dekulakisation and collectivisation broke out in Ukraine, northern Caucasus, southern Russia, and central Asia, reaching their apex in March 1930; these were suppressed by the Red Army.
From 1929 to 1930, further show trials were held to intimidate opposition: these included the Industrial Party Trial, Menshevik Trial, and Metro-Vickers Trial.
During the later 1930s, Stalin placed "a few limits on the worship of his own greatness".
During these years, approximately 1.6 million people were arrested, 700,000 were shot, and an unknown number died under NKVD torture. During the 1930s and 1940s, NKVD groups assassinated defectors and opponents abroad; in August 1940, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico, eliminating the last of Stalin's opponents among the former Party leadership.
Militarily, the Soviets also faced a threat from the east, with Soviet troops clashing with the expansionist Japanese in the latter part of the 1930s.
He enjoyed music, owning around 2,700 records, and frequently attending the Bolshoi Theatre during the 1930s and 1940s.
Many religious buildings were demolished, most notably Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, destroyed in 1931 to make way for the (never completed) Palace of the Soviets.
The 1931 and 1932 harvests had been poor ones because of weather conditions and had followed several years in which lower productivity had resulted in a gradual decline in output.
This led to severe disruptions of food production that contributed to the famine of 1932–33.
By 1932, about 62% of households involved in agriculture were part of collectives, and by 1936 this had risen to 90%.
In 1928, the first five-year plan was launched, its main focus on boosting heavy industry; it was finished a year ahead of schedule, in 1932.
In November 1932, after a group dinner in the Kremlin in which Stalin flirted with other women, Nadezhda shot herself. Publicly, the cause of death was given as appendicitis; Stalin also concealed the real cause of death from his children.
Stalin's friends noted that he underwent a significant change following her suicide, becoming emotionally harder. ===Major crises: 1932–1939=== ====Famine==== Within the Soviet Union, there was widespread civic disgruntlement against Stalin's government.
Social unrest, previously restricted largely to the countryside, was increasingly evident in urban areas, prompting Stalin to ease on some of his economic policies in 1932.
In May 1932, he introduced a system of kolkhoz markets where peasants could trade their surplus produce.
At the same time, penal sanctions became more severe; at Stalin's instigation, in August 1932 a decree was introduced wherein the theft of even a handful of grain could be a capital offense.
Like its predecessor, this plan was repeatedly amended to meet changing situations; there was for instance an increasing emphasis placed on armament production after Adolf Hitler became German chancellor in 1933. The Soviet Union experienced a major famine which peaked in the winter of 1932–33; between five and seven million people died.
The 1931 and 1932 harvests had been poor ones because of weather conditions and had followed several years in which lower productivity had resulted in a gradual decline in output.
Along with other senior figures, he had a dacha at Zubalova, 35 km outside Moscow, although ceased using it after Nadezhda's 1932 suicide.
After 1932, he favoured holidays in Abkhazia, being a friend of its leader, Nestor Lakoba.
Nadezdha suspected that this was the case, and committed suicide in 1932.
Like its predecessor, this plan was repeatedly amended to meet changing situations; there was for instance an increasing emphasis placed on armament production after Adolf Hitler became German chancellor in 1933. The Soviet Union experienced a major famine which peaked in the winter of 1932–33; between five and seven million people died.
Stalin initiated confidential communications with Hitler in October 1933, shortly after the latter came to power in Germany.
In May 1933, he released from prison many convicted of minor offenses, ordering the security services not to enact further mass arrests and deportations.
To eradicate accused "enemies of the working class", Stalin instituted the Great Purge, in which over a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 executed between 1934 and 1939.
By 1938, Stalin's inner circle had gained a degree of stability, containing the personalities who would remain there until Stalin's death. Seeking improved international relations, in 1934 the Soviet Union secured membership of the League of Nations, of which it had previously been excluded.
In September 1934, he launched a commission to investigate false imprisonments; that same month he called for the execution of workers at the Stalin Metallurgical Factory accused of spying for Japan.
This mixed approach began to change in December 1934, after prominent party member Sergey Kirov was murdered.
In 1934, his new Kuntsevo Dacha was built; 9 km from the Kremlin, it became his primary residence.
There are unproven rumours that from 1934 onward he had a relationship with his housekeeper Valentina Istomina.
Montefiore argued that while Stalin initially ruled as part of a Communist Party oligarchy, the Soviet government transformed from this oligarchy into a personal dictatorship in 1934, with Stalin only becoming "absolute dictator" between March and June 1937, when senior military and NKVD figures were eliminated.
Stalin would not acknowledge that his policies had contributed to the famine, the existence of which was kept secret from foreign observers. ====Ideological and foreign affairs==== In 1935–36, Stalin oversaw a new constitution; its dramatic liberal features were designed as propaganda weapons, for all power rested in the hands of Stalin and his Politburo.
Stalin nevertheless recognised the threat posed by fascism and sought to establish better links with the liberal democracies of Western Europe; in May 1935, the Soviets signed a treaty of mutual assistance with France and Czechoslovakia.
At the Communist International's 7th Congress, held in July–August 1935, the Soviet government encouraged Marxist-Leninists to unite with other leftists as part of a popular front against fascism.
In 1935, he ordered the NKVD to expel suspected counter-revolutionaries from urban areas; in early 1935, over 11,000 were expelled from Leningrad.
In 1935 he began using a new dacha provided for him by Lakoba at Novy Afon; in 1936, he had the Kholodnaya Rechka dacha built on the Abkhazian coast, designed by Miron Merzhanov. ===Personality=== Trotsky and several other Soviet figures promoted the idea that Stalin was a mediocrity.
By 1932, about 62% of households involved in agriculture were part of collectives, and by 1936 this had risen to 90%.
In turn, the anti-communist governments of Germany, Fascist Italy and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July 1936, the Soviets sent 648 aircraft and 407 tanks to the left-wing Republican faction; these were accompanied by 3,000 Soviet troops and 42,000 members of the International Brigades set up by the Communist International.
In 1936, Nikolai Yezhov became head of the NKVD. Stalin orchestrated the arrest of many former opponents in the Communist Party as well as sitting members of the Central Committee: denounced as Western-backed mercenaries, many were imprisoned or exiled internally.
The first Moscow Trial took place in August 1936; Kamenev and Zinoviev were among those accused of plotting assassinations, found guilty in a show trial, and executed.
By late 1937, all remnants of collective leadership were gone from the Politburo, which was controlled entirely by Stalin. There were mass expulsions from the party, with Stalin commanding foreign communist parties to also purge anti-Stalinist elements. Repressions further intensified in December 1936 and remained at a high level until November 1938, a period known as the Great Purge.
His choice of favoured holiday house changed over the years, although he holidayed in southern parts of the USSR every year from 1925 to 1936 and again from 1945 to 1951.
In 1935 he began using a new dacha provided for him by Lakoba at Novy Afon; in 1936, he had the Kholodnaya Rechka dacha built on the Abkhazian coast, designed by Miron Merzhanov. ===Personality=== Trotsky and several other Soviet figures promoted the idea that Stalin was a mediocrity.
By 1937, he had complete personal control over the party and state. Stalin's government promoted Marxism–Leninism abroad through the Communist International and supported European anti-fascist movements during the 1930s, particularly in the Spanish Civil War.
Religion retained an influence over much of the population; in the 1937 census, 57% of respondents identified as religious. Throughout the 1920s and beyond, Stalin placed a high priority on foreign policy.
With the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in July 1937, the Soviet Union and China signed a non-aggression pact the following August.
The second Moscow Show Trial took place in January 1937, and the third in March 1938, in which Bukharin and Rykov were accused of involvement in the alleged Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist plot and sentenced to death.
By late 1937, all remnants of collective leadership were gone from the Politburo, which was controlled entirely by Stalin. There were mass expulsions from the party, with Stalin commanding foreign communist parties to also purge anti-Stalinist elements. Repressions further intensified in December 1936 and remained at a high level until November 1938, a period known as the Great Purge.
By the latter part of 1937, the purges had moved beyond the party and were affecting the wider population.
In July 1937, the Politburo ordered a purge of "anti-Soviet elements" in society, targeting anti-Stalin Bolsheviks, former Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, priests, ex-White Army soldiers, and common criminals.
Montefiore argued that while Stalin initially ruled as part of a Communist Party oligarchy, the Soviet government transformed from this oligarchy into a personal dictatorship in 1934, with Stalin only becoming "absolute dictator" between March and June 1937, when senior military and NKVD figures were eliminated.
In 1938, The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), colloquially known as the Short Course, was released; Conquest later referred to it as the "central text of Stalinism".
By 1938, Stalin's inner circle had gained a degree of stability, containing the personalities who would remain there until Stalin's death. Seeking improved international relations, in 1934 the Soviet Union secured membership of the League of Nations, of which it had previously been excluded.
The second Moscow Show Trial took place in January 1937, and the third in March 1938, in which Bukharin and Rykov were accused of involvement in the alleged Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist plot and sentenced to death.
By late 1937, all remnants of collective leadership were gone from the Politburo, which was controlled entirely by Stalin. There were mass expulsions from the party, with Stalin commanding foreign communist parties to also purge anti-Stalinist elements. Repressions further intensified in December 1936 and remained at a high level until November 1938, a period known as the Great Purge.
The real motivation for the terror, according to Harris, was an excessive fear of counterrevolution. ==World War II== ===Pact with Nazi Germany: 1939–1941=== As a Marxist–Leninist, Stalin expected an inevitable conflict between competing capitalist powers; after Nazi Germany annexed Austria and then part of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Stalin recognised a war was looming.
He favoured the Western genre; his favourite film was the 1938 picture Volga Volga. Stalin was a keen and accomplished billiards player, and collected watches.
To eradicate accused "enemies of the working class", Stalin instituted the Great Purge, in which over a million were imprisoned and at least 700,000 executed between 1934 and 1939.
In 1939, it signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, resulting in the Soviet invasion of Poland.
Germany and Italy backed the Nationalist faction, which was ultimately victorious in March 1939.
Yezhov was arrested in April 1939 and executed in 1940.
The real motivation for the terror, according to Harris, was an excessive fear of counterrevolution. ==World War II== ===Pact with Nazi Germany: 1939–1941=== As a Marxist–Leninist, Stalin expected an inevitable conflict between competing capitalist powers; after Nazi Germany annexed Austria and then part of Czechoslovakia in 1938, Stalin recognised a war was looming.
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.
On 3 May 1939, Stalin replaced his western-oriented foreign minister Maxim Litvinov with Vyacheslav Molotov.
In May 1939, Germany began negotiations with the Soviets, proposing that Eastern Europe be divided between the two powers.
In August 1939, the Soviet Union signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact with Germany, a non-aggression pact negotiated by Molotov and German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop.
The Soviets invaded Finland in November 1939, yet despite numerical inferiority, the Finns kept the Red Army at bay.
Written in response to public revelations of the 1939 Soviet alliance with Germany, it focused on blaming Western powers for the war.
During these years, approximately 1.6 million people were arrested, 700,000 were shot, and an unknown number died under NKVD torture. During the 1930s and 1940s, NKVD groups assassinated defectors and opponents abroad; in August 1940, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico, eliminating the last of Stalin's opponents among the former Party leadership.
Yezhov was arrested in April 1939 and executed in 1940.
Between 1940 and 1941 he also purged the military, leaving it with a severe shortage of trained officers when war broke out. As Britain and France seemed unwilling to commit to an alliance with the Soviet Union, Stalin saw a better deal with the Germans.
In June 1940, the Red Army occupied the Baltic states, which were forcibly merged into the Soviet Union in August; they also invaded and annexed Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, parts of Romania.
One of the most noted instances was the Katyn massacre of April and May 1940, in which around 22,000 members of the Polish armed forces, police, and intelligentsia were executed. The speed of the German victory over and occupation of France in mid-1940 took Stalin by surprise.
After the Tripartite Pact was signed by Axis Powers Germany, Japan, and Italy in October 1940, Stalin proposed that the USSR also join the Axis alliance.
He enjoyed music, owning around 2,700 records, and frequently attending the Bolshoi Theatre during the 1930s and 1940s.
Germany ended the pact by invading the Soviet Union in 1941.
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.
Between 1940 and 1941 he also purged the military, leaving it with a severe shortage of trained officers when war broke out. As Britain and France seemed unwilling to commit to an alliance with the Soviet Union, Stalin saw a better deal with the Germans.
To demonstrate peaceful intentions toward Germany, in April 1941 the Soviets signed a neutrality pact with Japan.
Although de facto head of government for a decade and a half, Stalin concluded that relations with Germany had deteriorated to such an extent that he needed to deal with the problem as de jure head of government as well: on 6 May, Stalin replaced Molotov as Premier of the Soviet Union. ===German invasion: 1941–1942=== In June 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union, initiating the war on the Eastern Front.
In June 1941, he ordered a scorched earth policy of destroying infrastructure and food supplies before the Germans could seize them, also commanding the NKVD to kill around 100,000 political prisoners in areas the Wehrmacht approached.
joined the war against Germany in 1941, little direct American assistance reached the Soviets until late 1942.
By the end of 1943, the Soviets occupied half of the territory taken by the Germans from 1941 to 1942.
Soviet military industrial output also had increased substantially from late 1941 to early 1943 after Stalin had moved factories well to the east of the front, safe from German invasion and aerial assault. In Allied countries, Stalin was increasingly depicted in a positive light over the course of the war.
In 1941, the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed a concert to celebrate his birthday, and in 1942, Time magazine named him "Man of the Year".
Academia and the arts were also allowed greater freedom than they had prior to 1941.
227 in July 1942, which directed that those retreating unauthorised would be placed in "penal battalions" used as cannon fodder on the front lines.
Stalin exploited Nazi anti-Semitism, and in April 1942 he sponsored the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) to garner Jewish and foreign support for the Soviet war effort. The Soviets allied with the United Kingdom and United States; although the U.S.
joined the war against Germany in 1941, little direct American assistance reached the Soviets until late 1942.
Comintern was dissolved in 1943, and Stalin encouraged foreign Marxist–Leninist parties to emphasise nationalism over internationalism to broaden their domestic appeal. In April 1942, Stalin overrode Stavka by ordering the Soviets' first serious counter-attack, an attempt to seize German-held Kharkov in eastern Ukraine.
In June 1942, the German Army began a major offensive in Southern Russia, threatening Stalingrad; Stalin ordered the Red Army to hold the city at all costs.
In December 1942, he placed Konstantin Rokossovski in charge of holding the city.
The Soviet victory there marked a major turning point in the war; in commemoration, Stalin declared himself Marshal of the Soviet Union. ===Soviet counter-attack: 1942–1945=== By November 1942, the Soviets had begun to repulse the important German strategic southern campaign and, although there were 2.5 million Soviet casualties in that effort, it permitted the Soviets to take the offensive for most of the rest of the war on the Eastern Front.
By the end of 1943, the Soviets occupied half of the territory taken by the Germans from 1941 to 1942.
In 1941, the London Philharmonic Orchestra performed a concert to celebrate his birthday, and in 1942, Time magazine named him "Man of the Year".
Churchill flew to Moscow to visit Stalin in August 1942 and again in October 1944.
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.
Comintern was dissolved in 1943, and Stalin encouraged foreign Marxist–Leninist parties to emphasise nationalism over internationalism to broaden their domestic appeal. In April 1942, Stalin overrode Stavka by ordering the Soviets' first serious counter-attack, an attempt to seize German-held Kharkov in eastern Ukraine.
In February 1943, the German troops attacking Stalingrad surrendered.
By the end of 1943, the Soviets occupied half of the territory taken by the Germans from 1941 to 1942.
Soviet military industrial output also had increased substantially from late 1941 to early 1943 after Stalin had moved factories well to the east of the front, safe from German invasion and aerial assault. In Allied countries, Stalin was increasingly depicted in a positive light over the course of the war.
Stalin scarcely left Moscow throughout the war, with Roosevelt and Churchill frustrated with his reluctance to travel to meet them. In November 1943, Stalin met with Churchill and Roosevelt in Tehran, a location of Stalin's choosing.
Using the idea of collective responsibility as a basis, Stalin's government abolished their autonomous republics and between late 1943 and 1944 deported the majority of their populations to Central Asia and Siberia.
Churchill flew to Moscow to visit Stalin in August 1942 and again in October 1944.
Discussing the fate of the Balkans, later in 1944 Churchill agreed to Stalin's suggestion that after the war, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, and Yugoslavia would come under the Soviet sphere of influence while Greece would come under that of the West. In 1944, the Soviet Union made significant advances across Eastern Europe toward Germany, including Operation Bagration, a massive offensive in the Byelorussian SSR against the German Army Group Centre.
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.
Using the idea of collective responsibility as a basis, Stalin's government abolished their autonomous republics and between late 1943 and 1944 deported the majority of their populations to Central Asia and Siberia.
Despite initial setbacks, the Soviet Red Army repelled the German incursion and captured Berlin in 1945, ending World War II in Europe.
Over one million people were deported as a result of the policy. In February 1945, the three leaders met at the Yalta Conference.
that the Western Allies should pursue the same goal. ===Victory: 1945=== In April 1945, the Red Army seized Berlin, Hitler committed suicide, and Germany surrendered in May.
rebuffed Stalin's desire for the Red Army to take a role in the Allied occupation of Japan. Stalin attended the Potsdam Conference in July–August 1945, alongside his new British and U.S.
Germany was divided into four zones: Soviet, U.S., British, and French, with Berlin itself—located within the Soviet area—also subdivided thusly. ==Post-war era== ===Post-war reconstruction and famine: 1945–1947=== After the war, Stalin was—according to Service—at the "apex of his career".
His armies controlled Central and Eastern Europe up to the River Elbe. In June 1945, Stalin adopted the title of Generalissimus, and stood atop Lenin's Mausoleum to watch a celebratory parade led by Zhukov through Red Square.
In the Baltic states, where there was much opposition to Soviet rule, de-kulakisation and de-clericalisation programs were initiated, resulting in 142,000 deportations between 1945 and 1949.
Capital punishment was abolished in 1947 but reinstalled in 1950. Stalin's health was deteriorating, and heart problems forced a two-month vacation in the latter part of 1945. 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.
Initially Stalin refused to repeal the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1945, which significantly benefited the Soviet Union over China, although in January 1950 he relented and agreed to sign a new treaty between the two countries.
His choice of favoured holiday house changed over the years, although he holidayed in southern parts of the USSR every year from 1925 to 1936 and again from 1945 to 1951.
In 1946, the state published Stalin's Collected Works.
In the Leningrad Affair, the city's leadership was purged amid accusations of treachery; executions of many of the accused took place in 1950. In the post-war period there were often food shortages in Soviet cities, and the USSR experienced a major famine from 1946 to 1947.
Sparked by a drought and ensuing bad harvest in 1946, it was exacerbated by government policy towards food procurement, including the state's decision to build up stocks and export food internationally rather than distributing it to famine hit areas.
He initially refused, leading to an international crisis in 1946, but one year later Stalin finally relented and moved the Soviet troops out. Stalin also tried to maximise Soviet influence on the world stage, unsuccessfully pushing for Libya—recently liberated from Italian occupation—to become a Soviet protectorate.
In Czechoslovakia, where the communists did have a level of popular support, they were elected the largest party in 1946.
In 1951, he initiated the Mingrelian affair, a purge of the Georgian branch of the Communist Party which resulted in over 11,000 deportations. From 1946 until his death, Stalin only gave three public speeches, two of which lasted only a few minutes.
After Stalin's death, Khrushchev claimed that Stalin encouraged him to incite anti-Semitism in Ukraine, allegedly telling him that "the good workers at the factory should be given clubs so they can beat the hell out of those Jews." In 1946, Stalin allegedly said privately that "every Jew is a potential spy." Conquest stated that although Stalin had Jewish associates, he promoted anti-Semitism.
In 1947, it brought out a second edition of his official biography, which eulogised him to a greater extent than its predecessor.
Recognising the need for drastic steps to be taken to combat inflation and promote economic regeneration, in December 1947 Stalin's government devalued the ruble and abolished the ration-book system.
Capital punishment was abolished in 1947 but reinstalled in 1950. Stalin's health was deteriorating, and heart problems forced a two-month vacation in the latter part of 1945. 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.
In the Leningrad Affair, the city's leadership was purged amid accusations of treachery; executions of many of the accused took place in 1950. In the post-war period there were often food shortages in Soviet cities, and the USSR experienced a major famine from 1946 to 1947.
Much of this was constructed by prison labour. ===Cold War policy: 1947–1950=== In the aftermath of the Second World War, the British Empire declined, leaving the U.S.
It launched the Marshall Plan in June 1947, with which it sought to undermine Soviet hegemony in eastern Europe.
In September 1947, a meeting of East European communist leaders was held in Szklarska Poręba, Poland, from which was formed Cominform to co-ordinate the Communist Parties across Eastern Europe and also in France and Italy.
The 1947 Hungarian elections were also rigged, with the Hungarian Working People's Party taking control.
Within Western countries, Stalin was increasingly portrayed as the "most evil dictator alive" and compared to Hitler. In 1948, Stalin edited and rewrote sections of Falsifiers of History, published as a series of Pravda articles in February 1948 and then in book form.
In March 1948, Stalin launched an anti-Tito campaign, accusing the Yugoslav communists of adventurism and deviating from Marxist–Leninist doctrine.
At the second Cominform conference, held in Bucharest in June 1948, East European communist leaders all denounced Tito's government, accusing them of being fascists and agents of Western capitalism.
When the US and UK remained opposed to this, Stalin sought to force their hand by blockading Berlin in June 1948.
Stalin wanted to avoid direct Soviet conflict with the U.S., convincing the Chinese to aid the North. The Soviet Union was one of the first nations to extend diplomatic recognition to the newly created state of Israel in 1948.
In November 1948, he abolished the JAC, and show trials took place for some of its members.
Stalin led his country through the post-war reconstruction, during which it developed a nuclear weapon in 1949.
In the Baltic states, where there was much opposition to Soviet rule, de-kulakisation and de-clericalisation programs were initiated, resulting in 142,000 deportations between 1945 and 1949.
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.
Still, Stalin foresaw the undesirability of a nuclear conflict, saying in 1949 that "atomic weapons can hardly be used without spelling the end of the world." He personally took a keen interest in the development of the weapon.
In August 1949, the bomb was successfully tested in the deserts outside Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan.
Stalin also initiated a new military build-up; the Soviet army was expanded from 2.9 million soldiers, as it stood in 1949, to 5.8 million by 1953. The US began pushing its interests on every continent, acquiring air force bases in Africa and Asia and ensuring pro-U.S.
In April 1949, the Western powers established the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), an international military alliance of capitalist countries.
In 1949, celebrations took place to mark Stalin's seventieth birthday (although he was 71 at the time,) at which Stalin attended an event in the Bolshoi Theatre alongside Marxist–Leninist leaders from across Europe and Asia. ====Eastern Bloc==== After the war, Stalin sought to retain Soviet dominance across Eastern Europe while expanding its influence in Asia.
He gambled that the others would not risk war, but they airlifted supplies into West Berlin until May 1949, when Stalin relented and ended the blockade.
In September 1949 the Western powers transformed Western Germany into an independent Federal Republic of Germany; in response the Soviets formed East Germany into the German Democratic Republic in October.
It was aimed for economic autarky within the Eastern Bloc. ====Asia==== In October 1949, Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong took power in China.
In December 1949, Mao visited Stalin.
North Korean leader Kim Il-sung visited Stalin in March 1949 and again in March 1950; he wanted to invade the south and although Stalin was initially reluctant to provide support, he eventually agreed by May 1950.
Capital punishment was abolished in 1947 but reinstalled in 1950. Stalin's health was deteriorating, and heart problems forced a two-month vacation in the latter part of 1945. 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.
In the Leningrad Affair, the city's leadership was purged amid accusations of treachery; executions of many of the accused took place in 1950. In the post-war period there were often food shortages in Soviet cities, and the USSR experienced a major famine from 1946 to 1947.
Initially Stalin refused to repeal the Sino-Soviet Treaty of 1945, which significantly benefited the Soviet Union over China, although in January 1950 he relented and agreed to sign a new treaty between the two countries.
North Korean leader Kim Il-sung visited Stalin in March 1949 and again in March 1950; he wanted to invade the south and although Stalin was initially reluctant to provide support, he eventually agreed by May 1950.
The North Korean Army launched the Korean War by invading the south in June 1950, making swift gains and capturing Seoul.
There were rumours, although they have never been substantiated, that Stalin was planning on deporting all Soviet Jews to the Jewish Autonomous Region in Birobidzhan, eastern Siberia. ===Final years: 1950–1953=== In his later years, Stalin was in poor health.
He took increasingly long holidays; in 1950 and again in 1951 he spent almost five months vacationing at his Abkhazian dacha.
In 1950, Stalin issued the article "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics", which reflected his interest in questions of Russian nationhood. In 1952, Stalin's last book, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR, was published.
He took increasingly long holidays; in 1950 and again in 1951 he spent almost five months vacationing at his Abkhazian dacha.
In 1951, he initiated the Mingrelian affair, a purge of the Georgian branch of the Communist Party which resulted in over 11,000 deportations. From 1946 until his death, Stalin only gave three public speeches, two of which lasted only a few minutes.
His choice of favoured holiday house changed over the years, although he holidayed in southern parts of the USSR every year from 1925 to 1936 and again from 1945 to 1951.
Stalin nevertheless mistrusted his doctors; in January 1952 he had one imprisoned after they suggested that he should retire to improve his health.
In September 1952, several Kremlin doctors were arrested for allegedly plotting to kill senior politicians in what came to be known as the Doctors' Plot; the majority of the accused were Jewish.
In 1950, Stalin issued the article "Marxism and Problems of Linguistics", which reflected his interest in questions of Russian nationhood. In 1952, Stalin's last book, Economic Problems of Socialism in the USSR, was published.
In October 1952, Stalin gave an hour and a half speech at the Central Committee plenum.
In 1952, he also eliminated the Politburo and replaced it with a larger version which he called the Presidium. ====Death, funeral and aftermath==== On 1 March 1953, Stalin's staff found him semi-conscious on the bedroom floor of his Volynskoe dacha.
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin ( – 5 March 1953), real name Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili, was a Georgian revolutionary and the ruler of the Soviet Union from 1927 until 1953.
After Stalin's death in 1953, he was eventually succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who denounced him and initiated the de-Stalinisation of Soviet society. Widely considered one of the 20th century's most significant figures, Stalin was the subject of a pervasive personality cult within the international Marxist–Leninist movement, which revered him as a champion of the working class and socialism.
By January 1953, three percent of the Soviet population was imprisoned or in internal exile, with 2.8 million in "special settlements" in isolated areas and another 2.5 million in camps, penal colonies, and prisons. The NKVD were ordered to catalogue the scale of destruction during the war.
Stalin also initiated a new military build-up; the Soviet army was expanded from 2.9 million soldiers, as it stood in 1949, to 5.8 million by 1953. The US began pushing its interests on every continent, acquiring air force bases in Africa and Asia and ensuring pro-U.S.
In 1952, he also eliminated the Politburo and replaced it with a larger version which he called the Presidium. ====Death, funeral and aftermath==== On 1 March 1953, Stalin's staff found him semi-conscious on the bedroom floor of his Volynskoe dacha.
Stalin died on 5 March 1953.
The collective leadership included the following eight senior members of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union listed according to the order of precedence presented formally on 5 March 1953: Georgy Malenkov, Lavrentiy Beria, Vyacheslav Molotov, Kliment Voroshilov, Nikita Khrushchev, Nikolai Bulganin, Lazar Kaganovich and Anastas Mikoyan.
The new leaders sought rapprochement with Yugoslavia and a less hostile relationship with the U.S., pursuing a negotiated end to the Korean War in July 1953.
Since his death many more biographies have been written, although until the 1980s these relied largely on the same sources of information.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Stalin has retained popularity in Russia and Georgia as a victorious wartime leader who established the Soviet Union as a major world power.
Service suggested that the country might have collapsed long before 1991 without Stalin.
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