Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili was born on December 18, 1878, in the Georgian town of Gori to a shoemaker's family. His father, Vissarion Dzhugashvili, was an alcoholic and died early. His mother, Ekaterina (Keke), worked as a laundress and dreamed that her son would become a priest.

EDUCATION AND EARLY PATH

1888–1894 — Gori Church School 1894–1899 — Tiflis Theological Seminary (expelled for revolutionary activity)

At the seminary, Joseph became acquainted with Marxism. He was attracted by ideas of revolutionary transformation of society.

REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY

1898 — joined the RSDLP 1901–1902 — organized strikes in Batumi 1902–1913 — repeatedly arrested and exiled (escaped 6 times) 1907 — participated in "expropriations" (robberies to finance the party) 1912 — co-opted into the party Central Committee, adopted the pseudonym "Stalin" (from the word "steel") 1913 — wrote "Marxism and the National Question" at Lenin's request

Stalin was not an orator or theorist on the level of Lenin or Trotsky. His strength lay in organizational work, patience, and ability to maneuver.

1917

The February Revolution found Stalin in exile in Turukhansk region. In March he returned to Petrograd and joined the editorial board of Pravda.

During the October uprising, Stalin did not play a leading role—the main organizers were Lenin and Trotsky. But he received an important post: People's Commissar for Nationalities.

"Stalin is a man who, at the decisive moment, will always be on the winning side"—as contemporaries characterized him.

The Civil War (1918–1921) became a school for future Stalinist methods: cruelty, suspicion, readiness for mass violence.

STALIN'S ROLE

Stalin was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council on several fronts:

- Tsaritsyn (1918) — defense of the city from the Whites - Petrograd (1919) — fight against Yudenich - Southern Front (1920) — war with Poland

At the front, Stalin displayed qualities that would later become his "calling card": — Distrust of military specialists ("spetsy") — Readiness to execute for "treason" — Conflicts with Trotsky (Commissar for Military Affairs)

TSARITSYN (FUTURE STALINGRAD)

The defense of Tsaritsyn in 1918 was Stalin's first major military experience. He organized mass repressions against "counter-revolutionaries" and saboteurs. Hundreds of people were shot.

Stalin entered into sharp conflict with Trotsky, who demanded the use of former tsarist officers. Stalin considered them potential traitors.

Stalin later presented the "Tsaritsyn experience" as his main achievement in the Civil War, although military historians assess his role more modestly.

RESULTS

The Civil War: — Strengthened Stalin's position in the party — Gave experience of governing in crisis conditions — Formed a circle of devoted associates (Voroshilov, Budyonny) — Deepened the conflict with Trotsky

The methods of the Civil War—executions, hostages, "class terror"—Stalin later applied not to enemies, but to his own people.

After the Civil War, Lenin created a structure intended to ensure collective party leadership. However, Stalin used the post of General Secretary to seize sole power.

GENERAL SECRETARY

On April 3, 1922, Stalin was elected General Secretary of the RCP(b) Central Committee. The post was considered technical—Lenin was the "leader," Bukharin the chief theoretician, Trotsky the army organizer.

But Stalin understood the main thing: whoever controls the apparatus controls the party. He: — Placed his people in key positions — Controlled the agenda of meetings — Formed the composition of congresses and conferences

LENIN'S TESTAMENT

In late 1922 – early 1923, the seriously ill Lenin dictated a "Letter to the Congress" (known as the "testament"):

"Stalin is too rude, and this defect... becomes intolerable in the post of General Secretary. Therefore I propose to the comrades to think of a way to remove Stalin from this post."

Lenin died on January 21, 1924. His testament was read at the 13th Congress (May 1924) but was NOT published. Stalin remained in his post.

ELIMINATION OF RIVALS

Stalin systematically defeated all oppositions, using "bloc" tactics:

1923–1925: Bloc with Zinoviev and Kamenev against Trotsky — Trotsky accused of "Trotskyism" and removed from commissar post

1925–1927: Bloc with Bukharin against the "New Opposition" (Zinoviev, Kamenev) — Zinoviev and Kamenev expelled from the party

1928–1929: Defeat of the "Right Opposition" (Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky) — Bukharin removed from all posts

By 1929, Stalin became the sole leader. Trotsky was exiled from the USSR. The other former leaders were humiliated and submissive.

"It was impossible to defeat Stalin in apparatus struggle—he played chess while the others played checkers" (historian O. Khlevniuk).

Industrialization was one of the main achievements and simultaneously crimes of the Stalin era. In 12 years, the USSR transformed from an agrarian country into an industrial power—but at what cost?

REASONS FOR RAPID INDUSTRIALIZATION

In 1928, the USSR remained a peasant country: 80% of the population lived in villages. Industry had barely reached the 1913 level.

Stalin formulated the task in his speech of February 4, 1931:

"We are 50–100 years behind the advanced countries. We must make up this distance in ten years. Either we do this, or we will be crushed."

Ten years later, war with Germany began.

FIVE-YEAR PLANS

First Five-Year Plan (1928–1932): "The Five-Year Plan in four years!" — Built: Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine, Stalingrad Tractor Plant, Dneproges, Uralmash — Industrial production volume doubled

Second Five-Year Plan (1933–1937): — Moscow Metro — Aviation and tank factories — USSR reached 2nd place in world industrial production

Third Five-Year Plan (1938–1942): interrupted by war — Focus on military industry

THE COST OF INDUSTRIALIZATION

Resources for industrialization were extracted from the countryside (through collectivization) and obtained through GULAG prisoner labor.

— Forced labor: many construction projects were built by prisoners (White Sea Canal—12,000 dead) — Low standard of living: rationing system, hunger — Accidents: thousands died on construction sites — Repression of specialists: "sabotage" as explanation for failures

RESULTS

Achievements: — USSR became an industrial power — Created industrial base for victory in war — Unemployment eliminated

Losses: — Millions of victims of collectivization and forced labor — Destruction of the peasantry as a class — Creation of a forced labor system (GULAG)

Was industrialization possible without terror? Historians debate to this day.

Collectivization—the forced unification of peasant farms into collective farms—became one of the greatest tragedies of Soviet history. Its consequence was the 1932–1933 famine, which claimed millions of lives.

GOALS OF COLLECTIVIZATION

Official: — Creation of large-scale socialist agriculture — Liquidation of the "kulaks as a class"

Real: — Grain seizure for export (to pay for industrialization) — Establishment of control over the peasantry — Destruction of private property

"LIQUIDATION OF KULAKS"

From 1930, mass "dekulakization" began. Not only prosperous peasants but all dissenters were declared kulaks.

— About 1.8 million people were dekulakized — Property confiscated — Exiled to Siberia, Kazakhstan, the North — Hundreds of thousands died (from hunger, cold, disease)

"Kulak" became a universal accusation. People were dekulakized for criticizing collective farms, for not showing up for work, simply on a neighbor's denunciation.

THE 1932–1933 FAMINE

Forced grain seizures led to catastrophe. Famine engulfed: — Ukraine (Holodomor) — Volga region — Kazakhstan (about 40% of Kazakhs died) — North Caucasus

Famine victims (modern estimates): — Ukraine: 3.5–4 million — Kazakhstan: 1.5 million — Volga region and other regions: 1–2 million — Total: about 7 million people

WAS IT GENOCIDE?

The question remains debated:

Position of Ukraine and several countries: The Holodomor was intentional genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Position of Russia and some historians: The famine was the result of criminal policy but was not directed against a specific people—all regions suffered.

Academic consensus: The famine was man-made; authorities knew its scale but continued seizing grain. The question of "intent" remains open.

RESULTS

— Traditional peasantry destroyed — Agriculture did not reach pre-revolutionary levels until the 1950s — Millions dead — A trauma remembered to this day

1937–1938 entered history as the "Yezhovshchina" or "Great Terror"—a period of mass repressions when about 680,000–700,000 people were executed and millions sent to camps.

THE BEGINNING OF TERROR

On December 1, 1934, Sergei Kirov—a popular party leader—was killed in Leningrad. Stalin used this murder as a pretext for repressions (although some historians believe Stalin himself organized the murder).

1935–1936: "Kirov flood"—arrests of "Zinovievites" and "Trotskyites"

MOSCOW TRIALS

Three show trials of former party leaders:

August 1936: Trial of the "Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Center" — Zinoviev, Kamenev and others confessed to "conspiracy" and were executed

January 1937: Trial of the "Anti-Soviet Trotskyite Center" — Pyatakov, Radek and others

March 1938: Trial of the "Right-Trotskyite Bloc" — Bukharin, Rykov and others — "Favorite of the Party" Bukharin confessed to espionage and was executed

All confessions were obtained through torture or threats to families.

THE "GREAT TERROR" OF 1937–1938

In July 1937, the Politburo approved Order No. 00447—a plan for mass repressions by "limits" (quotas) for each region.

Two categories: — First: execution — Second: 8–10 years in camps

Victims: — About 1.5 million arrested — 680,000–700,000 executed — Red Army commanders repressed (3 of 5 marshals) — Party "old guard" destroyed

WHO WAS REPRESSED?

— Party leaders at all levels — Military commanders (army decapitated on eve of war) — Intelligentsia (writers, scientists, engineers) — "Former people" (nobles, priests, NEPmen) — National minorities (Poles, Germans, Koreans) — Family members of "enemies of the people" — Random people (by denunciation, to fulfill plan)

MECHANISM OF TERROR

— Torture during investigation (conveyor, beatings, threats to family) — "Troikas"—extrajudicial bodies issuing sentences in minutes — Executions in NKVD basements — Mass burials (Butovo, Kommunarka, Kurapaty)

END OF TERROR

In November 1938, Stalin stopped the terror. NKVD Commissar Nikolai Yezhov was arrested and executed (1940) as an "enemy who infiltrated the organs."

The new commissar—Lavrentiy Beria—conducted a "thaw": some cases were reviewed, some released. But the GULAG system continued to operate.

The "logic" of the terror is still discussed by historians. Was it a way to consolidate power? Stalin's paranoia? An instrument of social mobilization?

On August 23, 1939, the USSR and Germany signed the Non-Aggression Treaty (Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)—one of Stalin's most controversial decisions. Two years later, Germany attacked the USSR.

MOLOTOV-RIBBENTROP PACT

Official part: non-aggression treaty between USSR and Germany.

Secret protocol: division of spheres of influence in Eastern Europe. — USSR: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, eastern Poland, Bessarabia — Germany: western and central Poland, Lithuania (later transferred to USSR)

Soviet version (until 1989): USSR was buying time to prepare for war.

Critical version: Stalin became an accomplice in unleashing World War II.

EXPANSION OF USSR (1939–1940)

After the pact, Stalin annexed to the USSR: — Western Ukraine and Western Belarus (September 1939) — Baltics: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia (June 1940) — Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina (June 1940)

Soviet-Finnish War (1939–1940): — Began November 30, 1939 — Heavy Red Army losses — USSR expelled from League of Nations — Finland ceded territory but preserved independence

KATYN

In spring 1940, the NKVD executed about 22,000 Polish officers and elite representatives in Katyn and other locations.

The USSR denied responsibility until 1990, blaming the Nazis. In 1990, the USSR acknowledged responsibility.

PREPARATION FOR WAR?

Historians debate: Was the USSR preparing for war?

Stalin received numerous reports of an impending German attack but ignored them, considering them provocations.

On June 22, 1941—4 million Wehrmacht soldiers invaded the USSR. The first months were catastrophic: encirclements, millions of prisoners, loss of vast territories.

Stalin, by accounts, was in shock. For several days he did not appear in public. His first address—"Brothers and sisters!"—came only on July 3.

The Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) was the central event of Soviet history and the main argument of Stalin's defenders. The USSR under his leadership defeated Nazi Germany, but at enormous cost.

THE CATASTROPHE OF 1941

On June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the USSR. The first months were catastrophic:

— Air force destroyed (1,200 aircraft on the first day) — Armies encircled and captured near Minsk, Kiev, Vyazma — By December, 3–4 million prisoners lost — Enemy reached Moscow and Leningrad

Causes of the catastrophe: — Repressions of command staff (3 of 5 marshals executed) — Erroneous troop deployment — Ban on responding to "provocations" before the war — Underestimation of the enemy

STALIN'S ROLE

The first days, Stalin was in shock. But by July he took control: — Chairman of the GKO (State Defense Committee) — Supreme Commander — Defense Commissar

Address of July 3, 1941: "Brothers and sisters! I am addressing you, my friends!"

TURNING POINT

1941–1942: Defense of Moscow (December 1941), first major Wehrmacht defeat 1942–1943: Battle of Stalingrad—fundamental turning point 1943: Battle of Kursk—largest tank battle 1944: Operation Bagration, liberation of Belarus 1945: Capture of Berlin

THE COST OF VICTORY

Soviet human losses—about 27 million (military and civilian): — Military losses: about 8.7 million — Civilian: about 18 million (occupation, blockade, forced labor)

Material losses: — 1,700 cities destroyed, 70,000 villages — 32,000 enterprises destroyed

ASSESSMENT OF STALIN'S ROLE

Defenders: — Organized evacuation of industry to the east — United the people — Made key strategic decisions — Without firm leadership, the war would have been lost

Critics: — Guilty of the 1941 catastrophe — Senseless orders (ban on retreat) cost millions of lives — Victory was won by the people despite Stalin — Blocking detachments, penal battalions, repression of POWs

Academic consensus: Stalin made serious mistakes at the start of the war but played an important role in organizing victory. Separating "credit" and "blame" is difficult.

Stalin's final years (1945–1953) were a time of national reconstruction, the beginning of the Cold War, and a new wave of repressions.

USSR—SUPERPOWER

After victory in World War II, the USSR became one of two superpowers: — Control over Eastern Europe ("socialist camp") — Permanent member of the UN Security Council — Nuclear weapons (1949)

The Potsdam Conference (July–August 1945) consolidated the division of Europe.

COLD WAR

1946: Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech 1947: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan 1948–1949: Berlin Blockade 1949: Creation of NATO; USSR tested atomic bomb 1950–1953: Korean War

RECONSTRUCTION

Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946–1950): — Reconstruction of destroyed economy — By 1950, industry reached prewar levels — Rationing abolished (1947) — Currency reform (1947)—confiscatory for the population

NEW REPRESSIONS

Postwar years marked by a new wave of repressions:

"Leningrad Affair" (1949–1950): — Leningrad leaders executed (Voznesensky, Kuznetsov) — Accusation: "anti-party group"

Campaign against "cosmopolitanism" (1948–1953): — Anti-Semitic campaign — Destruction of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee — Murder of Mikhoels (1948)

"Doctors' Plot" (1953): — Arrest of Kremlin doctors (predominantly Jewish) — Accusation of conspiracy to murder Soviet leaders — Terminated after Stalin's death

CULT OF PERSONALITY

In postwar years, the cult of Stalin reached its peak: — "Stalin is Lenin today" — "Father of Peoples," "Great Leader" — Stalin's 70th birthday (1949)—grand celebrations

FINAL DAYS

On March 5, 1953, Stalin died at his dacha in Kuntsevo after a stroke. Circumstances of his death still raise questions: there is a theory that associates deliberately did not call doctors.

Stalin's death ended an era. A power struggle began between Beria, Malenkov, and Khrushchev.

Stalin's death on March 5, 1953, ended an era. But debates about his legacy continue to this day.

DE-STALINIZATION

20th CPSU Congress (February 1956): — Khrushchev delivered report "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" — Repressions condemned, violations of "socialist legality" — Partial rehabilitation of victims

22nd CPSU Congress (October 1961): — Stalin's body removed from the Mausoleum — Stalingrad renamed Volgograd — Monuments dismantled

The "Thaw" of the 1950s–1960s: publication of Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (1962).

REHABILITATION?

Under Brezhnev (1964–1982), criticism of Stalin was curtailed. His name began to be mentioned in positive context (role in the war).

Perestroika (1985–1991): new wave of exposés. Publication of documents on repressions. Creation of the Memorial society.

MODERN RUSSIA

Attitudes toward Stalin in Russia are ambiguous and changing:

Levada Center polls: — 2019: 70% assess Stalin's historical role positively — Simultaneously, the majority condemns repressions

Official position: — Recognition of repressions as a crime — Simultaneously—emphasis on victory in the war — Avoidance of unequivocal assessments

MEMORY OF VICTIMS

— Butovo Polygon, Kommunarka—execution sites in Moscow — Levashovo—near St. Petersburg — Kurapaty—near Minsk — "Wall of Grief" in Moscow (opened 2017) — "Last Address"—memorial plaques on houses of repressed

HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT

Stalin remains one of the most controversial figures of the 20th century:

— For some: a tyrant guilty of millions of deaths — For others: creator of a superpower and victor over fascism — For historians: a complex figure defying unequivocal assessment

As historian Stephen Kotkin said: "Stalin is not a riddle to be solved. It is a tragedy to be understood."

Debates about Stalin are debates about the Soviet past, about the price of modernization, about the limits of permissible state violence. These debates are far from over.