Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin short biography for children

• Brief Introduction
• Rise to power
• Cult of personality
  
• Stalin's purges in the party
• Deportations
• Collectivization
• Industrialization
• Death of Stalin
• Personal life
• Even briefly about Stalin

Addition to the article:

Brief Introduction

Joseph Vissarionovich to the military events of the state

. Stage of the First World War, for Joseph began the entry of the empire into hostilities. The future leader of the people was drafted into the Russian army. However, his left hand was injured and Joseph was removed from service. He had to go to Achinsk, just 100 km from the Trans-Siberian Railway, for a medical examination, and was allowed to remain there after being expelled from the army.

. 1917, as the beginning of the era of Soviet power. In anticipation of the political upheaval, Stalin became an important figure in the removal of imperial rule. He then took a position in favor of supporting Alexander Kerensky and the provisional government. Stalin was elected to the Bolshevik Central Committee. In the fall of 1917, the Bolshevik Central Committee voted for the uprising. On November 7, an uprising called the Great October Revolution was organized. On November 8, the Bolshevik movement organized storming of the Winter Palace.
. Civil War 1917-1919. After political changes, society began a civil war. Stalin challenged Trotsky. There is an opinion that the future head of state was the initiator of the liquidation of some of the counter-revolutionaries and officers of the Soviet troops who transferred from the service of imperial Russia. In May 1919, in order to stop mass desertions on the Western Front, the offenders were publicly executed by Stalin.
. 1919-1921, in the context of a military dispute with Poland. Victory in the revolution caused the Russian Empire to cease to exist. The Soviet Union (USSR) appeared. At this time, the conflict began, which was called the Soviet-Polish war. Stalin was unperturbed in his determination to take control of the city in Poland - Lvov (now Lvov in Ukraine). This is contrary to the general strategy established by Lenin and Trotsky, which focused on capturing Warsaw and further north. The Poles defeated the USSR army. Stalin was accused and returned to the capital. At the Ninth Party Conference in 1920, Trotsky openly criticized Stalin's behavior.

Stalin's rise to power

Stalin's personality cult

Stalin's purges in the party

Deportations

• They deeply influenced the ethnic map of the USSR.
• It is estimated that between 1941 and 1949, almost 3.3 million people were deported to Siberia and the Central Asian republics.
• According to some estimates, up to 43% of the population who were “expelled” died from disease and malnutrition.

Collectivization

Industrialization

Stalin's policy in World War II

In August 1939, an unsuccessful attempt was made to negotiate anti-Hitler pacts with other major European powers. After which Joseph Vissarionovich decided to conclude a non-aggression pact with the German leadership.

On September 1, 1939, the German invasion of Poland marked the beginning Second World War. Stalin took measures to strengthen the Soviet military and modified and increased the effectiveness of propaganda in the Soviet army. On June 22, 1941, Adolf Hitler violated the non-attack agreement.
While the Germans pressed on, Stalin was confident in the possibility of an Allied victory over Germany. The Soviets repulsed the important German strategic southern campaign and, although there were 2.5 million Soviet casualties in the effort, it allowed the Soviets to go on the offensive on large parts of the remaining Eastern Front.
On April 30, the leader of Nazi Germany and his new wife took their own lives, after which Soviet troops found their remains, which were burned as per Hitler's directive. The German troops surrendered after a few weeks. Stalin was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 and 1948.

Death of Stalin

Personal life

• Marriages and families. The first wife of I.V. Stalin was Ekaterina Svanidze in 1906. From this union a son was born, Jacob. Yakov served in the Red Army during the war. The Germans took him prisoner. They demanded to exchange him for Field Marshal Paulus, who surrendered after Stalingrad, but Stalin refused this offer, saying that they had in their hands not only his son, but millions of sons of the Soviet Union.
• And he said that either the Germans would let everyone go, or his son would remain with them.
• Subsequently, Yakov is said to have wanted to commit suicide, but survived. Yakov had a son, Evgeniy, who recently defended his grandfather's legacy in Russian courts. Evgeniy is married to a Georgian woman, has two sons and seven grandchildren.
• With his second wife, whose name was Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Stalin had children Vasily and Svetlana. Nadezhda died in 1932, officially from illness.
• But there were rumors that she committed suicide after a quarrel with her husband. They also said that Stalin himself killed Nadezhda. Vasily rose into the ranks of the USSR Air Force. Officially dies of alcoholism in 1962.
• No matter what, this is still in question.
• He distinguished himself during World War II as a capable pilot. Svetlana fled to the United States in 1967, where she later married William Wesley Peters. Her daughter Olga lives in Portland, Oregon.

Even briefly about Stalin

Stalin's personality briefly

Stalin, in short, is a personality whose scale and assessment of his activities is comparable only to another ruler of Russia - Peter I. They are very similar in their harsh methods of action to achieve goals, in the complex tasks that they had to solve, and in their participation in the most difficult wars . And the assessment of these political figures has always been extremely contradictory: from worship to hatred.

Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, who later chose the pseudonym “Stalin” during the years of his participation in revolutionary activities, was born in 1879 in the small Georgian village of Gori.

Speaking about Stalin, it is necessary to briefly mention his father. A shoemaker by profession, he drank a lot and often beat his wife and son. These beatings led to the fact that little Joseph disliked his father and became bitter. Having suffered severely from smallpox in childhood (he almost died from it), Stalin forever had marks from it on his face. For them he received the nickname “Pockmarked”. Another injury is associated with my childhood - my left arm was damaged, which did not recover over time. Stalin, being a vain man, could hardly tolerate his physical imperfection, never undressed in public and therefore did not tolerate doctors.

The main character traits were also formed in childhood in Georgia: secrecy and vindictiveness. Himself short and physically weak, Stalin, in short, could not stand tall, stately and strong people. They aroused his hostility and suspicion.

He began his studies at a theological school, but his studies were difficult due to Stalin’s poor knowledge of the Russian language. Subsequent studies at the seminary had an even worse effect on Joseph. Here he learned to be intolerant of other people's opinions, became cunning, very rude and resourceful. Another distinctive feature of Stalin is his absolute lack of humor. As he got older, he could joke with someone, but in relation to himself, he did not tolerate any fun since the time of his studies.
The revolutionary activity of the future father of the nation began at the seminary. For her, he was expelled from the graduating class. After this, Stalin devoted himself entirely to Marxism. Since 1902, he was repeatedly arrested and escaped from exile several times.

In 1903 he joined the Bolshevik Party. Stalin becomes Lenin's most zealous follower, thanks to whom he is noticed in the party leadership. Beginning in 1912, he became a prominent figure among the Bolsheviks.

During the revolution, he was one of the members of the leadership center of the uprising. During the years of intervention and the Civil War, Stalin, as a skillful organizer, was sent to the most troubled points. He is engaged in repelling Kolchak's offensive in Siberia, defending St. Petersburg from Yudenich's troops. His activism, charisma, and ability to lead make Stalin one of Lenin's close assistants.
With Lenin's illness in 1922, the struggle for power in the top leadership of the Bolsheviks intensified. Vladimir Ilyich himself was categorically against the possibility that Stalin could be his successor. Over the last years of joint work, Lenin began to understand his character well - intolerance, rudeness, vindictiveness.

After Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin took over the leadership of the country and immediately launched an attack on his former allies. He was not going to tolerate any opposition around him.
Stalin began collectivization and industrialization in the country. During his reign, a total totalitarian regime was established. Massive repressions were carried out. The year 1937 was especially terrible. While pursuing a course of rapprochement with Germany in foreign policy, Stalin, in short, did not believe that its leadership would decide in the near future to go to war with the USSR. Having been repeatedly informed of the exact date of the invasion of the German army, he considered this information to be misinformation.

At the same time, having led the gigantic country for almost 30 years, he was able to turn it into one of the strongest world powers.

He died on March 5, 1953 at the government dacha. According to the official version - from a cerebral hemorrhage. There are still versions that Stalin’s death is the result of a conspiracy in his inner circle.

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich is a historical figure, complex and very ambiguous. His reign resulted in terrible terror, losses, concentration camps, and unprecedented growth in the economic, social, spiritual, scientific and other spheres for the country. It is very difficult to assess this personality and his activities in modern Russia.

Despite the fact that the centenary of Stalin’s rise to power is just around the corner, a discussion on this topic is completely impossible in society today. If you admire the results that the country has achieved under this ruler, they will call you a jingoist, a Muscovite, a Stalinist, or some other label. If you begin to sprinkle ashes on your head and be horrified by the terror in which people died, you will be known as a liberal or some other incomprehensible person.

I think this kind of assessment is the result of the immaturity of our society, the inability to discuss truly complex topics. After all, if you, for example, admire Napoleon in France (whose ashes, by the way, are still kept in the Louvre), or scold him for essentially starting a world war - well, they will debate with you, no one will will go to extremes. Maybe this will happen with us in 2127? What do you think - write in the comments! And in this article we will briefly and clearly try to trace the life path of one of the most extraordinary rulers in the history of Russia.

And one more thing. This article does not intend to offend or offend anyone. We are not calling for anything. If you are particularly sensitive to this topic, then DO NOT read any further in this article. The article is purely educational in nature.

Biography and the beginning of the journey

The future politician was born in 1878 (according to the official version, December 21, 1879) in the city of Gori, Tiflis province, Russian Empire. Once he said: “I am Russian, of Georgian origin.” So his real name is Dzhugashvili. Translated, it means “son of the herd” - his great-grandfather lived in the mountains.

There is an opinion that “juga” among the Ossetian people means “iron”. Perhaps in connection with this, Stalin took such a pseudonym. The surviving photos show how tall he was. Joseph was short, but his eyes were serious. Accordingly, Joseph (Soso) grew up in a Georgian family. His parents are Beso and Keke in 1874. Father Vissarion (Beso) was a shoemaker by occupation. He had his own workshop. In character he was a cruel man who raised his hand against his wife and son.

The family did not have a permanent place of residence: the father began to drink, abandoned the family, and eventually died drunk in a fight.

The house where Dzhugashvili was born

Mother Ekaterina (Keke) was a charwoman (a person without education who did menial work, sorting through crops and garbage). The mother was a workaholic, ready to do anything for her child, the only survivor (Ekaterina lost her first two sons when they were still babies).When the son grew up a little, his mother and father began to argue about his future fate. Beso argued that Soso should continue his work and become a shoemaker, moreover, he was sure of it.

Keke was more inclined towards a spiritual profession; the mother realized that her son was not capable of physical labor (Joseph fell and seriously injured his left hand for the rest of his life). In 1886, there were attempts to enter the Gori Orthodox Theological School, but since there was not enough knowledge, or rather, fluency in the Russian language, the attempts were in vain.

Joseph studied with a priest for two years. And in 1888, as his mother wished, he became a ward of the school, which he graduated from in 1894. Joseph was a seriously capable student, had success in almost all subjects, and it was there that he became acquainted with Marxism (“Capital”). Due to the fact that in 1892 his father finally abandoned the family, Soso was awarded a scholarship, but he still needed to pay for his studies.

My mother found additional income by starting to sew to order. Joseph began to read a lot, became interested in poetry, and even began to write poems himself in his native language (one entitled “Morning” was published in the newspaper). The following is noteworthy: he was so impressed by the thoughts of Engels and Marx that Joseph became a member of underground circles. And a little later he was engaged in promoting this doctrine, for which he was expelled, given a certificate of completion of only four classes (six was considered a complete education).

It indicated that Joseph could be a teacher, so Dzhugashvili was engaged in tutoring for some time. Since 1899, Dzhugashvili continued his studies at the Tiflis Physical Observatory. His first speech was in 1900 at an illegal meeting of revolutionary-minded workers (May Day), which attracted about five hundred people. In 1901, he already became an underground revolutionary (all, of course, illegally).

Burn. Stalin Museum

In the same year, the newspaper “Nina”, under the leadership of Lado Ketskhoveli, published “Brdzola” (“Struggle”) in Baku. The article is the first known work of Dzhugashvili, who was 22 years old at that time. In general, Joseph had many pseudonyms and nicknames. One of them (party) is Koba. Young Stalin really liked the hero of Alexander Kazbegi’s patriotic story “The Patricide” Koba for his reliability and perseverance. This is one of his favorite works.

In 1903, the RSDLP party was divided into Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. Joseph joins the latter. They tend to take more radical and illegal measures. In 1905, I was able to meet the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin for the first time. In 1906 he married Ekaterina Svanidze. In 1907, a son, Yakov, was born, but his wife died of typhus at the end of that year. Then he leads an active political life, travels abroad, and even ends up in exile for six months in the city of Solvychegodsk.

In 1912, Dzhugashvili took the pseudonym “Stalin”. He again ends up in exile in Narym, but a month later he manages to escape to Switzerland, where he meets Lenin. From 1912 to 1913 he was editor-in-chief of the Bolshevik newspaper Pravda. From 1913 to 1917 he was arrested (Turukhansky region, then the city of Achinsk).

In young age

By 1922, due to illness, Lenin could no longer govern the country. Such revolutionaries as Grigory Evseevich Zinoviev and Lev Borisovich Kamenev acted against Trotsky, together with Joseph Vissarionovich. Stalin came to power in a “pure” society, one might say, “from scratch.” There was no established system, no classes, people did not know what awaited them. During these years, Koba continued his activities simply as People's Commissar for Nationalities.

The troika began to fall apart, Koba put forward the idea of ​​“personnel decide” and took it seriously. Dzhugashvili used his influence and appointed “his” people to posts. Meanwhile, in 1926, his daughter Svetlana was born. Then he begins to write a series of political works and doctrines, in other words, he consolidated his knowledge theoretically. Thus, he was in power for 30 years (1924-1953).

Events that took place during his reign

• 1922 . Obviously, Lenin was the founder and first leader, but Stalin was the successor. After the illness and death of Vladimir Ilyich, there was no longer any talk of democracy. All power was concentrated in one hand. Brutal dictatorship and totalitarianism are the main modes of government.
• 1924 Approval of the Constitution of the USSR. In the same year, due to the fact that money was depreciating in the country, there was inflation. A “chervonets” appeared. As for international relations, diplomatic relations are being built with countries such as Great Britain and Italy.
• 1924 - 1925 Military reform was carried out. At its end, the Law “On Compulsory Military Service” was adopted. Which stated that all workers between the ages of 19 and 40 should be drafted into the army for two years.
• 1927 Mass collectivization. The transition from private farms to collective farms. The goal is to create efficient agriculture by reducing the amount of labor, that is, intermediaries. During this course, people starved, but the Government tried to do everything to ensure that there was a harvest. At that time there was such a class as “kulaks,” that is, wealthy peasants. During the process of collectivization, they were destroyed as an estate - this stage was called “dekulakization.” Collectivization was completed in the 1950s. Its consequences were in fact disastrous: more than six million people died of hunger, thousands of peasants were in exile. Someone even called this program direct genocide of the Soviet people. Formed.

• 1930s. Industrialization. Introduction of powerful industry and technology into the state economy. One of the goals was also independence from Western countries. A feature of industrialization is a rapid course in a short time. The program was interrupted by the outbreak of war.
• 1930 In order for people to become more literate and there are no uneducated citizens left at all, the Government Resolution “On Free Compulsory Primary Education” is approved.
• 1932 Conclusion of a non-aggression treaty with Finland.
• 1935 A law that established punishment - the death penalty - for escaping outside the USSR.
• 1939 A non-aggression pact was signed with Germany. And in the same year - the beginning of the Second World War. The Soviet-Finnish war, more about which.
• 1941 Beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

• 1945 Victory Day. About who actually won this war.

The role of the leader of peoples in the Great Patriotic War

Despite the signing, Nazi Germany entered the territory of the Soviet Union along with its allies. They were counting on a lightning war according to the Blitzkrieg plan. And the terrible event dragged on for four long years... The USSR was not prepared either industrially or morally. Stalin at that time was the leader and supreme commander in chief. He took full responsibility for the people, the country, for the future... They believed in him, they hoped for him, it was not for nothing that there was a so-called “cult of personality.”

Personal life and children of the leader

We said above that Joseph was married twice. He was 29 years old, Catherine, his first wife, was 21 years old. They did not stay together for long - Dzhugashvili became a widower. But the son Yakov was born. Throughout his life, his father treated him with great cruelty and exactingness, although his second wife, Nadezhda, loved Yakov with all her heart. During the war, the boy went to the front. And then he was captured by the Germans for two years. The Nazis offered to exchange their son, but Stalin did not agree.

As a result, in 1943, Yakov was shot. His second wife, Nadezhda, was twenty-two years younger than him. Once they had a fight and Nadezhda committed suicide. At the same time, they left two children - Vasily and Svetlana. The son was also at the front - a pilot, but after the death of his father, a dark streak began in life. Spent eight years in prison.

Svetlana was married many times. The daughter of the leader of the peoples died in 2011, at the age of 85. In addition, Stalin had an adopted son, Artem, his real father, a friend of Joseph Vissarionovich, died, and he was only three months old. Interestingly, there are rumors about the illegitimate children of the “father of nations.” Sons - Konstantin and Alexander. Thus, the leader was rich in grandchildren.

• Despite the fact that Dzhugashvili studied with priests, he was later an atheist.
• Koba read a lot - 400 pages daily.
• Dzhugashvili led a healthy lifestyle and was never drunk.
• He always had a loaded pistol with him. Tula craftsmen, by the way, made a personalized one for the leader of the peoples.
• Joseph made discoveries in philosophy and later became a Doctor of Philosophy.
• I really loved listening to music.
• Obviously he was partial to the weaker sex.
• He spoke several languages ​​perfectly.
• There are no such people and it is unlikely that there will be any soon.
• Everyone knows that Koba smoked a lot.

A curtain

The causes of death of the leader of the peoples are very prosaic - stroke. But the circumstances of death are very interesting. We will definitely look at them in one of the following articles. Stalin died on March 5, 1953. The official cause is a diagnosis of cerebral hemorrhage. The dates of birth and death known to us (1878 - 1953) indicate that he was 74 years old. He was buried on Red Square in Moscow (necropolis near the wall).

In order to consolidate your knowledge, you can watch any documentary film dedicated to Joseph Stalin. Feature films were also made.

Jokes about the leader of nations

Here I will retell the jokes that I know myself.

So, the 30s. Creative evening of filmmakers and actors. The leader of the peoples approaches the then legendary actress Lyubov Orlova and asks: “Lyuba, doesn’t your husband offend you sometimes?” And her husband, Grigory Alexandrov, was also at this evening and inadvertently overheard the conversation. To Stalin’s question, Orlova flirtatiously replied: “It offends me a little...”. “Lyuba,” the leader answered her, “tell him that if he continues to offend you, we will hang him!” "For what?" - asked Lyubov Orlova. “What for, for your head, of course!”

The Great Patriotic War is going on. Zhukov comes out of the door of the room where the Headquarters of the High Command meets and angrily says to himself: “Wow...! Mustachioed bastard! Molotov heard this and asked Zhukov: “Georgy Valentinovich, who do you mean?” “Like who, Hitler, of course!” - Zhukov was found. Next Stalin comes out of the door and now you ask Molotov: “And you, Comrade Molotov, who did you have in mind?”

Great Patriotic War, November 1941. The enemy is already on the approaches to Moscow. There is an alarming sound in the Kremlin. phone call. The leader of the peoples picks up the phone: “Hello.” “Comrade Stalin, this is a colonel... I hasten to inform you that the enemy is breaking through the defenses, you need to urgently evacuate from Moscow to Kuibyshev...” “Comrade... tell me, do you still have any living comrades there?” - Stalin asked calmly? “Yes, Comrade Stalin!” “So tell your comrades, let them take shovels and dig their own graves: I am staying in Moscow and Headquarters is also staying in Moscow!”

Somehow, during the Great Patriotic War, the USSR decided to test a project for a new ready-made weapon - an analogue of the German Faust cartridge (simply a grenade launcher). And now the entire political elite of the country is present at the final test, along with the leader of the people. The shot was fired, and the cartridge flew straight towards the observers, straight towards Stalin. The engineers closed their eyes and prepared for the fact that they would all be shot on the spot. Everyone present, except the leader, lay down on the ground, covering their heads with their hands. The cartridge flew past. And the leader of the peoples said: “Let's try again.”

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin is one of the most famous world figures. His real name is Dzhugashvili. Joseph Stalin was born on December 21, 1879 in Georgia, in the city of Gori. Stalin's family was small and not very rich.

He received his first education at the theological school of his hometown. He continued his education at the Orthodox seminary in Tbilisi. After this, he joined the revolutionary movement under the influence of the Marxists of Transcarpathia. The circle in which Stalin lived was illegal. In it they studied the works of Marx and Engels, Plekhanov and Lenin.

In 1898 he joined the CPSU party, after which he actively campaigned for Tbilisi workers on the railway tracks. Because of this activity, in 1899 he was expelled from the theological seminary. He carried out his further revolutionary activities in secret, illegally promoting the works he had studied.

His activities did not go unnoticed, and he began to publish in such newspapers as “Struggle”, “Struggle of the Proletariat”, “Gudok”, “Baku Worker”. During his entire short revolutionary period before this time, he was repeatedly arrested and even exiled.

After autocracy and the revolutionary overthrow, he went to Petrograd and began his activities in the newspaper Pravda and in the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP (b). The Civil War revealed Stalin's potential, and he received a number of assignments, including participation in the defense of Petrograd, a member of the Southern and Western fronts, and was a member of the council of the peasant workers' party.

Joseph Stalin's many achievements helped him become General Secretary. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, who was then in power, spoke with caution about what the future would hold with such powerful power from Stalin. In one of his letters, information was found that Lenin considered Stalin to be a very outstanding person in the party, one of its best representatives, but he also doubted Stalin’s ability not to succumb to the pressure of power, the taste of which he felt.

After Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin took on the mission of developing the foreign and domestic policies of the USSR. In addition, he actively fought against those who opposed Leninism and its spread, and also tried to strengthen the party and defeated the ideological core of Trotskyism and opportunism.

During the Great Patriotic War, Joseph Stalin was at the helm of the processes and led the defense of the USSR and the further activities of the KPS party. But in addition to all his other advantages, Stalin also had a number of mistakes that destroyed his regime from within. First of all, it is worth noting such a phenomenon as the cult of Stalin, total control of all spheres, including personal life, of citizens of the USSR, brutal censorship in the media, the power of only one party.

Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953 at his official residence. Two days before, Stalin was found lying in the dining room, and the next day, March 2, arriving doctors diagnosed paralysis on the right side of the body, which in the following days led to the death of a famous figure and such an odious, uncertain historical figure. Joseph Stalin was buried in the Lenin Mausoleum, which later became known as the Lenin-Stalin Mausoleum.

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On December 6, 1878, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori. Stalin's real name is Dzhugashvili. In 1888, he entered the Gori Theological School, and later, in 1894, the Tiflis Orthodox Theological Seminary. This time became the period of the spread of Marxist ideas in Russia.

During his studies, Stalin organized and headed “Marxist circles” at the seminary, and in 1898 he joined the Tiflis organization of the RSDLP. In 1899, he was expelled from the seminary for promoting the ideas of Marxism, after which he was repeatedly under arrest and in exile.

Stalin first became acquainted with Lenin's ideas after the publication of the newspaper Iskra. Lenin and Stalin met personally in December 1905 at a conference in Finland. After I.V. Stalin briefly, before Lenin's return, served as one of the leaders of the Central Committee. After the October coup, Joseph received the post of People's Commissar for Nationalities Affairs.

He showed himself to be an excellent military organizer, but at the same time demonstrated his commitment to terrorism. In 1922, he was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee, as well as to the Politburo and Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP. At that time, Lenin had already retired from active work; real power belonged to the Politburo.

Even then, Stalin’s disagreements with Trotsky were obvious. During the 13th Congress of the RCP(b), held in May 1924, Stalin announced his resignation, but the majority of votes received during the voting allowed him to retain his post. The consolidation of his power led to the beginning of the personality cult of Stalin. Simultaneously with industrialization and the development of heavy industry, dispossession and collectivization were carried out in the villages. The result was the death of millions of Russian citizens. Stalin's repressions, which began in 1921, claimed more than 5 million lives over 32 years.

Stalin's policies led to the creation and subsequent strengthening of a harsh authoritarian regime. The beginning of the career of Lavrenty Beria dates back to this period (20s). Stalin and Beria met regularly during the General Secretary's trips to the Caucasus. Later, thanks to his personal devotion to Stalin, Beria entered the leader’s closest circle of associates and during Stalin’s reign he held key positions and was awarded many state awards.

In a brief biography of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, it is necessary to mention the most difficult period for the country. It should be noted that Stalin already in the 30s. was convinced that a military conflict with Germany was inevitable, and sought to prepare the country as much as possible. But this, given the economic devastation and underdeveloped industry, required years, if not decades.

Confirmation of preparations for war is the construction of large-scale underground fortifications, called the “Stalin Line”. 13 fortified areas were built on the western borders, each of which, if necessary, was able to conduct military operations in complete isolation.

In 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was concluded, which was supposed to be in force until 1949. The fortifications, completed in 1938, were then almost completely destroyed - blown up or buried.

Stalin understood that the likelihood of Germany violating this pact was very high, but he believed that Germany would attack only after the defeat of England, and ignored persistent warnings about an attack being prepared in June 1941. This was largely the reason for the catastrophic situation that developed at the front already on the first day of the war.

On June 23, Stalin headed the Headquarters of the High Command. On the 30th he was appointed chairman of the State Defense Committee, and on August 8 he was declared the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. During this most difficult period, Stalin managed to prevent the complete defeat of the army and thwart Hitler’s plans for the lightning takeover of the USSR. Possessing a strong will, Stalin was able to organize millions of people. But the price of this victory was high. The Second World War became the bloodiest and most brutal war for Russia in history.

During 1941-1942. the situation at the front continued to remain critical. Although the attempt to capture Moscow was prevented, there was a threat of seizing the territory of the North Caucasus, which was an important energy center. Voronezh was partially captured by the Nazis. During the spring offensive, the Red Army suffered huge losses near Kharkov.

The USSR was actually on the verge of defeat. In order to tighten discipline in the army and prevent the possibility of troops retreating, Stalin’s order 227 “Not a step back!” was issued, which put barrier detachments into action. The same order introduced penal battalions and companies as part of fronts and armies, respectively. Stalin managed to unite (at least for the duration of the Second World War) outstanding Russian commanders, the brightest of whom was Zhukov. For his contribution to the victory, the Generalissimo of the USSR was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945.

The post-war years of Stalin's rule were marked by a renewal of terror. But at the same time, the restoration of the country’s economy and the destroyed economy proceeded at an unprecedented pace, despite the refusal of Western countries to provide loans. In the post-war years, Stalin carried out many party purges, the pretext for which was the fight against cosmopolitanism.

In the last years of his reign, Stalin was incredibly suspicious, which was partly provoked by attempts on his life. The first attempt on Stalin's life took place back in 1931 (November 16). It was committed by Ogarev, a “white” officer and employee of British intelligence.

1937 (May 1) - possible coup attempt; 1938 (March 11) - assassination attempt on the leader during a walk in the Kremlin, committed by Lieutenant Danilov; 1939 - two attempts to eliminate Stalin by Japanese secret services; 1942 (November 6) - assassination attempt at Lobnoye Mesto, committed by deserter S. Dmitriev. Operation Big Leap, prepared by the Nazis in 1947, was aimed at eliminating not only Stalin, but also Roosevelt and Churchill during the Tehran Conference. Some historians believe that Stalin's death on March 5, 1953 was not natural. But, according to the medical report, it occurred as a result of a cerebral hemorrhage. Thus ended the most difficult and contradictory era of Stalin for the country.

The leader's body was placed in the Lenin Mausoleum. Stalin's first funeral was marked by a bloody stampede on Trubnaya Square, resulting in the deaths of many people. During the 22nd Congress of the CPSU, many of Joseph Stalin's actions were condemned, in particular his deviation from the Leninist course and the cult of personality. His body was buried near the Kremlin wall in 1961.

For six months after Stalin, Malenkov ruled, and in September 1953 power passed to Khrushchev.

Speaking about Stalin's biography, it is necessary to mention his personal life. Joseph Stalin was married twice. His first wife, who bore him a son, Yakov (the only one who bore his father’s surname), died of typhoid fever in 1907. Yakov died in 1943 in a German concentration camp.

Nadezhda Alliluyeva became Stalin's second wife in 1918. She shot herself in 1932. Stalin's children from this marriage: Vasily and Svetlana. Stalin's son Vasily, a military pilot, died in 1962. Svetlana, Stalin's daughter, emigrated to the United States. She died in Wisconsin on November 22, 2011.

After graduating from the Gori Theological School in 1894, Joseph studied at the Tiflis Theological Seminary, from where he was expelled for revolutionary activities in 1899. A year before, he joined the Georgian social democratic organization Mesame Dasi, and in 1901 he became a revolutionary. At the same time, Dzhugashvili received the party nickname “Stalin” (for his inner circle he had another nickname - “Koba”).

From 1902 to 1913, Stalin was arrested and expelled six times, and escaped four times.

When in 1903 (at the Second Congress of the RSDLP) the party split into Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, Stalin supported the Bolshevik leader Lenin and, on his instructions, began creating a network of underground Marxist circles in the Caucasus.

In 1906-1907, Joseph Stalin participated in organizing a number of expropriations in Transcaucasia. In 1907, he was one of the leaders of the Baku Committee of the RSDLP.

In 1912 he became a member of the Russian Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP. From March 1917, he participated in the preparation and conduct of the October Revolution: he was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b), and was a member of the Military Revolutionary Center for the leadership of the armed uprising. In 1917-1922 he was People's Commissar for Nationalities.

During the Civil War, he carried out important assignments of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) and the Soviet government; was a member of the Council of Workers' and Peasants' Defense from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, was a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern, Western and Southwestern Fronts.

When on April 3, 1922, at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), a new position was established - General Secretary of the Central Committee. Stalin was elected as the first General Secretary.

In the party structure, this position was of a purely technical nature. But its hidden strength lay in the fact that it was the General Secretary who appointed the lower party leaders, thanks to which Stalin formed a personally loyal majority among the middle ranks of party members. Stalin remained in this position until the end of his life (from 1922 - General Secretary of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), from December 1925 - CPSU (b), from 1934 - Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), from 1952 - CPSU).

After Lenin's death, Stalin declared himself the sole successor of Lenin's work and his teachings. Stalin proclaimed a course towards “building socialism in one, separate country.” He carried out accelerated industrialization of the country and forced collectivization of peasant farms. In his foreign policy activities he adhered to the class line of fighting the “capitalist encirclement” and supporting the international communist and labor movement.

By the mid-1930s, Stalin concentrated all state power in his hands and actually became the sole leader of the Soviet people. Old party leaders - Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov and others, who were part of the anti-Stalin opposition, were gradually expelled from the party, and then physically destroyed as “enemies of the people.” In the second half of the 1930s, a regime of severe terror was established in the country, which reached its climax in 1937-1938. The search and destruction of “enemies of the people” affected not only the highest party bodies and the army, but also broad layers of Soviet society. Millions of Soviet citizens were illegally repressed on far-fetched, unsubstantiated charges of espionage, sabotage, and sabotage; exiled to camps or executed in the basements of the NKVD.

With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Stalin concentrated all political and military power in his hands as Chairman of the State Defense Committee (June 30, 1941 - September 4, 1945) and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Armed Forces. At the same time, he took the post of People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR (July 19, 1941 - March 15, 1946; from February 25, 1946 - People's Commissar of the Armed Forces of the USSR) and was directly involved in drawing up plans for military operations.

During the war, Joseph Stalin, together with US President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill, initiated the creation of an anti-Hitler coalition. He represented the USSR in negotiations with countries participating in the anti-Hitler coalition (Tehran, 1943; Yalta, 1945; Potsdam, 1945).

After the end of the war, during which the Soviet army liberated most of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, Stalin became an ideologist and practitioner of the creation of a “world socialist system,” which was one of the main factors in the emergence of the Cold War and the military-political confrontation between the USSR and the USA .

On March 19, 1946, during the restructuring of the Soviet government apparatus, Stalin was confirmed as Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR.

After the war, he was involved in the restoration of the country's national economy, destroyed by the war, paying attention to increasing the defense capability of the Soviet Union and the technical re-equipment of the army and navy. He was one of the main initiators of the Soviet “atomic project”, which contributed to the transformation of the USSR into one of the two “superpowers”.

(Military Encyclopedia. Chairman of the Main Editorial Commission S.B. Ivanov. Military Publishing House. Moscow. in 8 volumes, 2004. ISBN 5 203 01875 - 8)

Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953 (according to the official version, from a massive cerebral hemorrhage). The sarcophagus with his body was installed in the Mausoleum next to Lenin's sarcophagus.

The XX (1956) and XXII (1961) congresses of the CPSU sharply criticized the so-called cult of personality and the activities of Stalin. By decision of the XXII Congress of the CPSU (in fact, on the initiative of Nikita Khrushchev), on October 31, 1961, Stalin’s body was reburied behind the Mausoleum near the Kremlin wall.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources