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[[File: Stalin in exile 1915.jpg |thumbnail|left|200px|Stalin in Siberia]]
====Stalin’s Early Life====Joseph Stalin, the future leader of the Soviet Union, often referred to as the ‘Red Tsar,' was born on 18 December 1878 to a Georgian cobbler in Gori, Georgia and his wife in a small, impoverished village. His real name was Josef Besarionis de Jughashvili. <ref> Boobyear, p. 111</ref> He was ethnically Georgian, but Georgia was part of the Tsarist Russian Empire. After leaving school, Stalin went to a seminary. Instead of studying theology and the Bible, he embraced Marxism and became a follower of Vladimir Lenin, leader of the revolutionary Bolshevik Party.<ref> Conquest, Robert. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140169539/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140169539&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=78415985f069f734b98307b00183a2dd Stalin: Breaker of Nations]''. (Viking-Penguin, Hammondsworth, 1999), p. 112</ref> Stalin soon joined the Bolshevik movement and was very active in violent attacks on the Tsarist government. He was a notorious bank robber, and he committed these robberies to subvert the Tsarist government and fund the revolution. After being placed under surveillance by Russian secret police, the Ohrakan, for his activities, he went underground.<ref>Conquest, p. 78</ref> He became one of the Bolsheviks' leaders in the Caucasus, organizing paramilitaries, and taking part in a terrorist campaign in the region. He was involved in the notorious Tiflis bank robbery where 40 people were killed. This robbery raised his standing among the Bolshevik leadership.<ref>Conquest, p. 87 </ref> Stalin was captured and exiled to Siberia numerous times, but usually, he escaped. He eventually became one of Vladimir Lenin's closest associates, or so he was later to vigorously claim which helped him rise to the heights of power after the Russian Revolution. In 1910 he changed his name to Stalin, meaning in Russian ‘Man of Steel’ supposedly adopted to protect his real identity from the police and perhaps also to create a public image as a true revolutionary. <ref>Boobyear, p. 134</ref> ====October Revolution and the Russian Civil War====
[[File:Russian_Revolution_of_1917.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Bolshevik troops in Red Square]]
By 1917, Stalin was in St. Petersburg, which was soon to be renamed Petrograd. This city was the capital of the revolutionary government that had seized power from [[Why did the Russian Romanov Dynasty collapse in 1917?|the Tsar]] and his government in February 1917. The Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky was becoming unpopular despite ending the rule of the Romanov’s. They had failed to end the war and to redistributed land to the Russian peasants. <ref> Montefiore, Simon Sebag. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400076781/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400076781&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8d302940930c5b356ba181d00bc19d29 Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar]''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003), p. 117</ref> The Bolsheviks skillfully adopted a policy of promising peace and land to the war -weary and starving population. Their message made them very popular , and in October 1917, they stormed the Winter Place and declared that the Russian Empire was now the Soviet Union.<ref>Montefiore, p. 111</ref>The exact Stalin's role of Stalin in the Bolshevik Revolution is not known in any great detailunknown. In later propaganda, Stalin was presented in posters and other images as being by Lenin’s side during the Revolution. In fact, it seemed that but Stalin appears to have played only played a minor role in the Revolution. <ref>Montefiore, p. 113</ref>
However, Stalin was to make made his reputation in during the Russian Civil War. He was appointed as a Political Commissar to several Generals and ensured that they were loyal to the Bolsheviks. Eventually, he was given a military command and brutally suppressed White Counter-Revolutionaries and bandits. He was also instrumental in conquering his native Georgia, which had declared itself to be independent. Stalin was later appointed to the army in the Ukraine , and he helped to push back a Polish invasion, however. However, he was criticized for not defeating routing the Poles completely and exporting the revolution to that country and elsewhere in Europe.<ref>Montefiore, p. 118</ref>
====Stalin as General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party====Historians have often argued that the Russian Civil War was won for the Bolsheviks by the revolutionary Leo Trotsky. This interpretation is now believed to be an exaggeration of Trotsky's role. However, Trotsky, did play a significant role in the Soviet's victory over the White's in the Civil War and was a very important significant figure in the Communist PARTY and rivaled Lenin in prestige. Lenin was worried about the influence of Trotsky , and he employed Stalin to build up a base of support for him. Stalin did this but also at the same time, built up a body of supporters that were loyal to him in the Party. In 1921, Stalin was appointed to the position of General Secretary. This position gave him great power in the Party. Stalin created a network of supporters in the Party. Lenin became suspicious of Stalin and was beginning to mistrust his former protégée. In particular, Lenin disliked the brutal methods of Stalin in his native Georgia, where he brutally repressed those who opposed Bolshevism. Despite Lenin’s doubts, Stalin began to grow popular with the rank and file Party members. Unlike Lenin and Trotsky, he was not an intellectual and had the common touch , and he was well-liked by many.<ref> Conquest, p. 114</ref>
====Lenin and Stalin====[[File: 650px-JStalin Secretary general CCCP 1942 flippedLenin_and_stalin_crop.jpg |left|thumbnail| left250px|Lenin and Stalin as General Secretaryin Gorki, 1922]]After the Revolution, Lenin held the power in the new country. However, in 1922, after surgery, he had a stroke , and he was never the same. The stroke weakened Lenin was physically weakened , and many feared that he would not have long to live. Lenin was largely confined to a country retreat and cut off from politics. The ruling council of the Bolshevik Party, the Politburo, ordered Lenin to avoid and concentrate on his recovery. Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, was one of the few people who still had access to him. Stalin used his position to cut Lenin off from the party and effectively to isolate him. He knew that Lenin’s disliked him, because Lenin perceived him as cruel and authoritarian. Stalin even berated Lenin's wife for breaching Politburo orders by helping Lenin communicate with others on public matters. Stalin's attack on his wife angered Lenin.<ref>Read, Christopher. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415206499/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415206499&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=d05be7a646c17cc922f1ffe49958037b Lenin: A Revolutionary Life]</i> (London: Routledge, 2005), p. 112</ref>
===Consolidating His Rule=Socialism in One Country====By 1927, [[File:Stalin-Bukharin.jpg|left|thumbnail|250px|Stalin and Bukharin in 1928]]The rivalry between Trotsky and Stalin was not only a personal because both men had radically different views on the unquestioned ruler nature of the Soviet UnionCommunism. His had filled More importantly, they held antithetical ideas on the administration future of the Party with people who were loyal to himworldwide Communist revolt. IncreasinglyInfluenced by Marx, Stalin appointed his loyalists to the Politburo. Many of Lenin’s former lieutenants realized Bolsheviks, believed that Stalin there was making himself going to be a deworld-facto dictatorwide Communist Revolution. Bukharin was something of a darling Stalin began advocating "Socialism in the Party. He was handsomeOne Country, charismatic and a favorite of Lenin. He led " which says that the opposition to Stalin Bolsheviks should focus building communism in the Politburocountries they already controlled rather than spreading the revolution.<ref> Felshtinsky This view drew many like-minded Party members to Stalin, p. 204</ref> He opposed Stalin’s policy of especially the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union rank and called for the gradual introduction of industrializationfile. Stalin prevailed and later he had Bukharin expelled. All those who had crossed Stalin placed himself in some way were ideological opposition to be murdered on his orders. Some years later, Stalin sent an assassin to murder Trotsky. He was later killed by a Soviet Agent with an ice pick. Kamenev, Bukharin, and Zinoviev were all later put on trial, in a show trial and executed, on the trumped charges of plotting against the state. Lenin’s widow also died in suspicious circumstance and many believed that she was poisoned on Stalin’s orders.<ref>ReadFelshtinsky, p. 235202</ref>
====Consolidating His Rule====<div class="portal" style="'float:right; width:8535%;"'>====Related DailyHistory.org Articles====*[[What were the goals of the Axis powers and the Soviet Union during World War Two?]]*[[How Did What is the German Military Develop BlitzkriegHistory of US Presidential Scandals?]]*[[How did Winston Churchill become Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in World War Two?]]*[[How did Vladimir Lenin Rise To Power?]]{{#dpl:category=Russian History|ordermethod=firstedit|order=descending|count=4}}
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By 1927, Stalin was the unquestioned ruler of the Soviet Union. His had filled the administration of the Party with people who were loyal to him. Increasingly, Stalin appointed his loyalists to the Politburo. Many of Lenin’s former lieutenants realized that Stalin was making himself a de-facto dictator. Bukharin was something of a darling in the Party. He was handsome, charismatic and a favorite of Lenin. He led the opposition to Stalin in the Politburo.<ref> Felshtinsky, p. 204</ref> He opposed Stalin’s policy of the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Union and called for the gradual introduction of industrialization.
Stalin prevailed, and later he had Bukharin expelled. All those who had crossed Stalin in some way were to be murdered on his orders. Some years later, Stalin sent an assassin to murder Trotsky. He was later killed by a Soviet Agent with an ice pick. Kamenev, Bukharin, and Zinoviev were all later put on trial, in a show trial and executed, on the trumped charges of plotting against the state. Lenin’s widow also died in suspicious circumstance, and many believed that she was poisoned on Stalin’s orders.<ref>Read, p. 235</ref> ====Conclusion====By 1928, Stalin was the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union. In 1920, he managed to achieve this despite the opposition of Lenin and many of the senior leaders in the Party. He was widely seen as an uneducated peasant. However, he managed to turn this to his advantage and in his role as General Secretary, he built a power base in the country. Stalin was also generally popular among the ordinary Party Members, and this was crucial to his success. Stalin effectively built a powerful and influential following which allowed him gradually take total control of the Soviet Union. ====Suggested Readings====* Boobbyer, Phillip. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415182980/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415182980&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=10976fbde66cefcc9a2808e5d094f993 The Stalin Era]'' (Routledge, London, 2000)* Conquest, Robert. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140169539/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140169539&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=78415985f069f734b98307b00183a2dd Stalin: Breaker of Nations]''. (Viking-Penguin, Hammondsworth, 1999)* Felshtinsky, Yuri. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1929631952/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1929631952&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8e5c4b8740fbfc8f691fb6ae90aae02b Lenin and His Comrades: The Bolsheviks Take Over Russia 1917–1924]</i>. Enigma Books, 2000) * Montefiore, Simon Sebag. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400076781/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400076781&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8d302940930c5b356ba181d00bc19d29 Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar]''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003)* Read, Christopher. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415206499/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415206499&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=d05be7a646c17cc922f1ffe49958037b Lenin: A Revolutionary Life]</i> (London: Routledge, 2005)====References====
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