Joseph Stalin was born in 1879 in Georgia and later became the leader of the Soviet Union. He rose to power by becoming the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1922. As the leader, he industrialized and centralized Russia through five-year plans, but this caused disruption and the imprisonment of millions of people. Stalin transformed Russia from an agrarian society into an industrial power, but his methods were brutal and resulted in widespread death and famine. He ruled as dictator until his death in 1953, establishing a totalitarian regime through secret police and purges of potential rivals.

1. JOSEPH STALIN
Period 6
Prithvi Setty and Raeek Rahman

2. Background Information
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Iosif Vissarionovich
Dzhugashvili was born on
December 18, 1879 at
Gori, Georgia, Russia
Later became known as
Joseph Stalin
Children in his village
treated him badly which
resulted in him wanting
respect when he grew up
“Stalin” means steel in
Russian
At the age of 23

4. Politics
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Appointed to general secretary of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Was a Marxist but adjusted the philosophy to
reason for the millions of Russians he killed
Believed communism followed
capitalism, believed it could be done forcefully
Industrialized and centralized Russia
Said “One death is a tragedy; one million is a
statistic.”

6. Important dates
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No real date of beginning of his dictatorship in
Russia, but thought to be around 1930
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party from 1922 to 1952
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1941 to 1953
People’s Commissar for Defense of the Soviet Union
from 1941 to 1946
Member of the Secretariat from 1922 to 1953
Member of the Presidium from 1919 to 1953
Member of Orgburo from 1919 to 1953
Died on March 5th 1953

7. Quotes
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“Death is the solution to all
problems. No man - no
problem”
“In the Soviet army it takes
more courage to retreat than
advance.”
“Print is the sharpest and
the strongest weapon of our
party.”
“Ideas are far more powerful
than guns. We don't let our
people have guns. Why
should we let them have
ideas?”

8. Stalin’s Rule
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Transformation of agrarian society to industrial
power  imprisonment of millions of people
Initial upheaval in agriculture  disruption of
food production

9. How Stalin became leader
With help of Levkamener, Lenin had Stalin
appointed General Secretary
Rose to power through this position

10. Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler were allies at some point.