Who is Joseph Stalin?
Joseph Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However through his five year plan of industrializing Russia, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign by hunger, famine, and harsh labor. Once in power, he collectivized farming and had potential enemies executed or sent to forced labor camps. Stalin aligned with the United States and Britain in World War II (1939-1945) but afterward engaged in an increasingly tense relationship with the West known as the Cold War (1946-1991).
December 21, 1879 Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, later known as Joseph Stalin, is born in the village of Gori in Georgia.
1888 Stalin enrolls in Gori Church School.
1894 Stalin begins studies at Tiflis Theological Seminary in Georgia.
December 1903 Stalin joins the Bolsheviks.
1922 As Russia becomes the Soviet Union, Stalin becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party and is responsible for placing others in specific jobs. He understands that controlling people and what they do is key to gaining power and eventually has many key people in his debt for the jobs they have.
1928 Through brutal punishment Stalin forced his people to work durng what is called the Five Year Plan to industrialize Russia Stalin seizes farms and factories that were crucial to the nation's agriculture. People would die or be punished through labor if they objected Stalin's plan and many would starve to death due to the famine and the failure of his plan
1947 Stalin rejects the Marshall plan which will aid Europe after WWII because it would help out Germany
1950 Stalin gives North Korea a communist country permission to invade south Korea which is not because he was scared Eastern countries would abolish communism
March 5, 1953 Stalin dies of stroke
1888 Stalin enrolls in Gori Church School.
- Stalin begins basic studies at the Gori Church School. Even though he speaks Georgian at home, he is permitted to speak only Russian at school due to the rules of Tsar Alexander III.
1894 Stalin begins studies at Tiflis Theological Seminary in Georgia.
- Stalin receives a scholarship to Tiflis Theological Seminary in Georgia but gets involved in revolutionary activities instead of studying. He learns about the ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels and is expelled from the school when his revolutionary ideas are discovered.
December 1903 Stalin joins the Bolsheviks.
- While in Siberia, Stalin learns that Vladimir Lenin has formed the Bolsheviks, a political group that believes in the ideas of Karl Marx. Stalin already admires Lenin and joins his group. The Bolsheviks will go on to become the Communist Party.
1922 As Russia becomes the Soviet Union, Stalin becomes General Secretary of the Communist Party and is responsible for placing others in specific jobs. He understands that controlling people and what they do is key to gaining power and eventually has many key people in his debt for the jobs they have.
1928 Through brutal punishment Stalin forced his people to work durng what is called the Five Year Plan to industrialize Russia Stalin seizes farms and factories that were crucial to the nation's agriculture. People would die or be punished through labor if they objected Stalin's plan and many would starve to death due to the famine and the failure of his plan
1947 Stalin rejects the Marshall plan which will aid Europe after WWII because it would help out Germany
1950 Stalin gives North Korea a communist country permission to invade south Korea which is not because he was scared Eastern countries would abolish communism
March 5, 1953 Stalin dies of stroke