Sunday 11 March 2012

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the dictator of the former U.S.S.R (Union of Soviet Socialist Republic) from 19 July 1941 – 25 February 1946. He was still in office until his death in March of 19 1953. He led the Soviet war against the Nazis in 1941-1945. He was one of the many Bolchevic revolutionaries that brought the end of the ruling of the Russian royal family in 1917.

Starlin was born on 18 December 1978 in Gori in the Russian Empire in what is now Georgia. He contracted smallpox at the age of 7 which left his face permanently scared. He attended Church school where he and the other Georgian children were forced to speak Russian. At the age of 12, two horsing accidents left his left arm damaged. When he was sixteen he got a scholarship into a Georgian Orthodox seminary; but was kicked out after rebelling against the imperial and religious orders.

When Stalin became the  dictator in 1941. He succeeded Vyacheslav Molotov, the man in which the Finish named their Molotov cocktail. After all, he was the one to blame or the Russo-Finish war of 1940.
Stalin formed a military alliance with Adolf Hitler. He and Stalin (was the premier, not quite leader of the U.S.S.R. yet) together invade Poland. But in the summer of 1941, Hitler breaks their alliance and invades the Soviet Union, on failing to invade Britain. After a bitter struggle, the Soviets push the Nazis back to Germany.

During his regime, Stalin has been suggested to have killed more people than Hitler. The exact figure is unknown. But it lies any ware between 10-60 million. The main cause of all these deaths is that Stalin had anybody who opposed or didn't support the communist party sent to the Siberian salt mines in the far east. Or if you were lucky, you'd be stood against a brick wall and shot by the K.G.B.(Soviet Secret Service).

The salt mines meant the same thing to the Soviets that Auschwitz meant to the Jews of the time. They were truly horrible places. It was cold. Temperatures rarely exceeding 10C. There were no toilets. If you had to use the "little opposer to the communist party's room", the only option is to dig a hole and dump. The food was much less than adequate. Sickness was common. The workers were over-worked. Added to that, the trip to the salt mines wasn't any better. They would be crumbed into boxcars for days at a time. There wars no food or water.

If the salt mines weren't bad enough, Stalin heavily persecuted the Soviets living in the South U.S.S.R. The countries of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kirghistan, were all looked down upon because they looked more Asian than European. Their protesting along with other Soviet states led Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin wall and let the Soviet Union fragment, in 1989.

Stalin's regime finally came to an end when he succumb to  atherosclerosis due to his heavy smoking. He suffered at least 10 heart attacks before finally having a stroke on March 5th 1953.

 

Bibliography: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin
                      Numerous documentaries over the years.



1 comment:

  1. You spelt Stalin's name wrong in the heading :)
    Lots of info! Put a bibliography in at the bottom to show where you sourced your info from.

    ReplyDelete