Life of Stalin
Joseph Stalin was a paranoid leader who butchered more of his own people than anyone other than perhaps Mao. Here is an overview of the life of Stalin.
Life of Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Iosif Vissarionovicn Dzhugashvili) is best known as the dictator who brought the Communist Party to its full power in Russia. As the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union starting in 1922, Stalin managed to grasp full power over the Soviet Union and held it until his death on March 5, 1953. The life of Stalin, however, started in a less eventful way.
The life of Stalin started in the Russian state of Georgia in the year 1878. He was not born with the name of Stalin, but adopted it in the year 1913, taking the name from the Russian word for “steel”. Much of his early life is not well documented, with few people knowing his history. His mother was born a serf, and her other children (Stalin's siblings) died young, leaving him as an only child. Stalin's father was a cobbler who lost his own business and was forced to go work in a shoe factory. He rarely saw his wife and child, but when he did, Stalin's father brutally beat his family.
Joseph Stalin's childhood education took place in the Gori Church School, where he was taught alongside the children of richer, more influential parents. His school was taught in Russian (instead of his native Georgian language) and he was constantly mocked for his poor accent. Stalin's mother wanted him to become a priest, so after grammar school, he attended seminary – not because he wanted to be a priest himself, but because other schooling wasn't available. At the seminary, he first became associated with the socialist party (specifically, the branch of the party that became the communist party).
Here is where the life of Stalin changes. In 1899, Stalin quit the seminary and started propagandizing Marxism. He started working with the political underground between 1902 and 1917, resulting in many instances of being jailed and exiled to Siberia. After the Revolution of 1905, Stalin was responsible for leading “fighting squads” in bank robberies in order to raise funds for the Bolshevik party. By 1912, he was integral enough to the Communist Party that he was appointed to the Central Committee.
Throughout the life of Stalin, there were many familial problems as well. He had two wives, the first of which died only four years into his marriage. But these family issues didn't stop Joseph Stalin from his ultimate goal of being the head of the Communist Party.
