Joseph Stalin
Leader of the Soviet Union
Rising to power
He was born on December 18, 1878 in of Gori, Georgia which was part of the Russian empire. His real name was Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili, he later took the name Joseph Stalin. Stalin means “man of steel” in the Russian language. When Stalin was a teen he earned a scholarship for the study of priesthood in the Georgian Orthodox Church. There he started reading books by the German social philosopher Karl Marx. Soon after Stalin was expelled from the school for missing exams and Marxist propaganda. After leaving the school Joseph Stalin took part in labor strikes and joined the Bolsheviks, a Marxist social democratic movement led by Vladimir Lenin.
Hitler and Stalin sign a nonaggression pact
In 1939 Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler signed a nonaggression pact which means they would not fight each other but in 1941 Hitler broke the pact by invading the USSR. As German troops approached the Soviet capital of Moscow, Stalin stayed there and directed a scorched earth defensive policy, destroying any supplies or building that would help the enemy.
Mr. Stalin
Joseph Stalin's father
A sad story
He was born into a poor family, his father was a shoemaker and his mother was a laundress. Joseph Stalin’s father was an alcoholic and often beat his son.
Joseph Stalin
Leader of the Soviet Union from 1929 to 1953. He was born on December 18, 1878 in of Gori, Georgia which was part of the Russian empire. His real name was Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili, he later took the name Joseph Stalin. Stalin means “man of steel” in the Russian language.