Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin grew up in a poor part of Georgia. Nobody could have predicted the impact he would have on Russia, Europe, and the 20th Century. His mother supported him after they left his abusive father. Stalin was a good singer, and his mother encouraged him to join a seminary. She arranged for his scholarship, and for a while, all was well. He behaved and got good grades. As he began maturing, he started reading beyond the school syllabus. Like many in Czarist Russia, he blamed the aristocracy for the meanness of peasant life. He started reading revolutionary texts, and he started attending revolutionary meetings. The seminary expelled him for Marxist activities, and he became more militant. He became known as a thug who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Some say bank robbery and murder were his specialties.

Most revolutionary leaders underestimated his intelligence and determination. He played mouse & cat with the authorities, and he rose up the “Most Wanted Criminals” list. He used prison time to spread his influence and organize the inmates. As his role in prison grew, he earned solitary confinement, and exile to Siberia. He escaped prison many times, and always returned to St. Petersburg. Lenin chose him to publish the Daily Newspaper Pravda. When WW I broke out, Stalin and other convicts became conscripts. Stalin escaped military service due to a bad arm.

Stalin participated in the 1917 Russian Revolution. He gained prominence after the October Revolution. To recognize his growing influence, the new government named him Commissar for Nationalities. He competed for Lenin’s approval, but Lenin understood him too well. In 1920, Stalin fell from grace. Lenin, Trotsky, and others tried to reduce Stalin’s power and influence. Stalin never forgave Trotsky, and searched for opportunities to oppose him. Lenin made Stalin the General Secretary of the Communist Party. Lenin intended to keep Stalin in check, but Lenin’s health was failing. Stalin waited until Lenin died in 1924 and then pounced. He slandered his rivals - including the favored Trotsky. Stalin seized control of the Communist Party and the government.

By the late 1920s, Stalin had consolidated his power as the undisputed leader. His first Five-Year Plan for industrialization and collectivization of agriculture was a disaster. The Famine of 1930-1933 starved 5-9 million people to death. Another 50-70 million starved but barely survived. Many Ukrainians and Kazakhs still claim Stalin targeted them. As soon as the famine abated, Stalin continued his work to purge any potential opposition. As Mao would do later in China, Stalin purged and destroyed anyone who might challenge him. By 1937, over 1.6 million were arrested including much of the army’s high command. He had at least half of the arrestees executed. The purges haunted Stalin later. When WW II began, Stalin knew he wasn’t ready for a fight. He tried to align with France and Great Britain. They rebuffed him, so Stalin approached Germany. Hitler was only too happy to sign a non-aggression pact with Russia. Russia and Germany split Poland, and Russia moved on the Baltics. Germany transferred forces west to knock France out of WW II. Germany then threatened England. The Battle of Britain punished Hitler’s Luftwaffe. In 1941, Germany decided to poke the sleeping Russian bear. Hitler made his fatal mistake. Copying Napoleon, he rolled through unprepared, poorly armed and led Russian forces. Operation Barbarossa was successful until the weather turned. Germans advance to the outskirts of Moscow and Stalingrad, but then resistance stiffened. General Winter stopped German logistics, and knocked out German divisions.

Stalin stayed in Moscow to encourage the Russian people. He threatened a separate peace with Germany to force Britain and the USA into providing support. Weather, US aid, and Russian courage pushed back the Wehrmacht. The tide of WW II turned as the Allies opened the Western Front. Stalin saw there would be opportunities in the post-war world. His leadership position remained unchallenged, and his forces raced toward Berlin. Russia recaptured Belorussia, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and most of Eastern Europe. Both Churchill’s and Roosevelt’s worst fears were realized. Hitler was gone, but the Iron Curtain fell over Europe. Anyone that opposed Stalin earned a home in the Gulags or a quick execution. He ran roughshod over Eastern Europe and controlled the Soviet Union until his death in 1953.

Like Mao, Stalin spans history books as a national hero and a mass murderer. He transformed the Soviet Union into an industrial and military superpower. He also killed millions. Stalin's career is a study in power and the impact of totalitarian rule.

Was Stalin a great leader, a skilled negotiator, or a crazed murderer? Most would say he was all three. He rallied the Russian people during WW II. He had a strategic vision for the Soviet Union, and he crushed any and all opposition. He was cunning, and he encouraged people to underestimate his intelligence. He played Uncle Joe the Georgian peasant when it suited him.

What can we learn from Stalin? A peasant with unparalleled ambition, Stalin educated himself. He pondered deeply. He sought out followers on the streets and in the prisons. He became a rough man to lead other rough men. He ruthlessly pursued his goals. He hitched his star to Lenin, and he capitalized on Lenin’s death. Many of Stalin’s actions were not honorable. Modern leaders can respect his ambition and drive, but not emulate his methods.