Joseph Stalin

In 1901 Joseph Stalin joined the Social Democratic Labour Party where he helped to organize the resistance against tsarism. On April 18, 1902 he was arrested for organizing a strike in a large factory. After 18 months in jail he was deported to Siberia. In 1904 Stalin escaped from Siberia and was soon back to organizing strikes.

Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committe from 1922 to 1953. After the party's leader, Lenin, died in 1924 Stalin promoted himseld as the political heir and swiftly made it up becoming the dictator of the Soviet Union.

As the dictato he forced collectivisation of agriculture and rapid industrialisation which increased the USSR's productivity and economic growth but cost many lives. During the 1930s stalin purged his party of the "enemies of the people" which resulted in the exile of milions to slave labour camps and the execution of thousands.

These purged caused many lost from the Red Army. Stalin was warned repeatedly but was still not prepared for Hilter's attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941.After the attack it looked like his future as the dictator hung in the balance until he recovered by leading his country to victory. The cost was many human lives but it seemed to matter very little to him.

After the war, the Soviet Union entered the time of nuclear weapons and ruled over an empired which included most of eastern Europe. Stalin became more paranoid and died of a stroke in March of 1953

I think Stalin was a ruthless dictator who didn't care much for his country. He just wanted himsef to seem like a god. He power took over his desire to help the people of his country and ended up costing many lives.