Who is stalin in the russian revolution

Simultaneously, he pressed forward with a program of rapid industrialization, which began with the ambitious first Five-Year Plan in Stalin believed the Soviet Union had to industrialize rapidly in order to strengthen the Communist regime and enable the country to defend itself against foreign enemies. The plan, which was financed by exploiting resources in the countryside, resulted in the near collapse of Soviet agriculture and the deaths of millions of peasants from famine.

Industrialization was achieved, but at great cost Although Stalin's policy in the mids was to support the Communist International Comintern in forming a popular front against the rise of fascism in Europe, he gave up the idea of collective security with the West and in August decided upon an alliance with Nazi Germany.

Although the Soviets were poorly prepared for the invasion and at first suffered huge losses, the country rallied behind Stalin, who assumed direct leadership of the war effort. Following their defeat at the Battle of Stalingrad in January , the Nazis lost the initiative and were finally forced to retreat in , which allowed Soviet troops to move into Eastern Europe.

Having obtained recognition from Allied governments of a Soviet sphere of influence in these newly liberated countries, Stalin established puppet Communist regimes and drew the so-called Iron Curtain between Eastern and Western Europe. In the Soviets established the Communist Information Bureau Cominform , an international body of Communist leaders that was to ensure conformity with the Soviet line.

Yugoslavia was expelled from the alliance in after Stalin condemned renegade Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito for refusing to follow Soviet orders. Stalin was determined to catch up with the United States in developing the atomic bomb; he ordered that no resources be spared toward that goal, which was achieved in August , shortly after his death.

By Stalin's mental and physical health had begun to deteriorate and he was absent from the Kremlin, the government headquarters in Moscow, for long periods of time.

His subordinates were fearful of becoming victims of Stalin's growing paranoia, which manifested itself in plans for another purge. In January Stalin ordered the arrest of a group of Kremlin doctors on charges of plotting the medical murder of high-level Soviet officials.

Just as a renewal of mass terror seemed imminent, Stalin died of complications from a stroke in March. Although the nation was plunged into grief, Stalin's political successors expressed relief and moved quickly to reverse some of the most brutal features of his regime.

Nikita Khrushchev, who replaced Stalin as general secretary called first secretary until of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union CPSU , denounced Stalin's methods of rule and political theories, known as Stalinism, in his "secret speech" to the 20th Party Congress in Stalin's historical legacy is overwhelmingly negative.

Although his policies transformed the USSR from an agrarian-based society into an industrialized nation with a powerful military arsenal, the transformation was accomplished at the cost of millions of lives. Stalin's militant distrust of the West and his assertion of Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe gave rise to the Cold War.

In , he joined the Social Democratic Labor Party and worked full-time for the revolutionary movement. In , he was arrested for coordinating a labor strike and exiled to Siberia, the first of his many arrests and exiles in the fledgling years of the Russian Revolution. It was during this time that he adopted the name Stalin, meaning "steel" in Russian. Though never a strong orator like Vladimir Lenin or an intellectual like Leon Trotsky , Stalin excelled in the mundane operations of the revolution, calling meetings, publishing leaflets and organizing strikes and demonstrations.

After escaping from exile, he was marked by the Okhranka, the tsar's secret police as an outlaw and continued his work in hiding, raising money through robberies, kidnappings and extortion.

In February , the Russian Revolution began. By March, the tsar had abdicated the throne and was placed under house arrest. For a time, the revolutionaries supported a provisional government, believing a smooth transition of power was possible. But in April , Bolshevik leader Lenin denounced the provisional government, arguing that the people should rise up and take control by seizing land from the rich and factories from the industrialists. 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. In , Stalin 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, in , Stalin 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 in , Stalin 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 June , the 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.

Stalin had been suspicious of the West since the inception of the Soviet Union , and once the Soviet Union had entered the war, Stalin had demanded the Allies open up a second front against Germany. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

In , the year Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he named Joseph Goebbels , his trusted friend and colleague, to the key post of minister for public enlightenment and propaganda. In this capacity, Goebbels was charged with presenting Hitler to At the height of the Ukrainian famine under Joseph Stalin, starving people roamed the countryside, desperate for something, anything to eat.

In the village of Stavyshche, a young peasant boy watched as the wanderers dug into empty gardens with their bare hands. Many were During the late s and early s, the prospect of communist subversion at home and abroad seemed frighteningly real to many people in the United States.

For many Americans, the most enduring Since its start a century ago, Communism, a political and economic ideology that calls for a classless, government-controlled society in which everything is shared equally, has seen a series of surges—and declines. What started in Russia, became a global revolution, taking The question of where Russia begins and ends—and who constitutes the Russian people—has preoccupied Russian thinkers for centuries.

Joseph Hooker was a career U. Hooker entered the Civil War in as a brigadier general and gained a reputation as a reliable combat Perhaps unsurprisingly, his only daughter, Svetlana, found it extraordinarily difficult growing up in the Kremlin under his care. Though Stalin Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. The Soviet Union Under Joseph Stalin Starting in the late s, Joseph Stalin launched a series of five-year plans intended to transform the Soviet Union from a peasant society into an industrial superpower.

Recommended for you. How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland. Joseph Stalin. Stalin on Korean War. Joseph Goebbels. Joseph Goebbels In , the year Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany, he named Joseph Goebbels , his trusted friend and colleague, to the key post of minister for public enlightenment and propaganda.