Joseph Stalin was a Georgian-born student radical who became a member and eventually leader of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He served as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953.
What is Joseph Stalin best known for?
Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own citizens died during his brutal reign.
What kind of leader was Stalin?
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dzе Jughashvili; 18 December [O.S. 6 December] 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who governed the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953.
What was Stalin’s goal as leader of the Soviet Union?
– The rapid industrialization of Russia was Stalin’s main goal. – Apart from keeping Stalin in power, he wanted the Soviet Union to become a developed nation in order to protect itself from military action. – Stalin worked tirelessly to bring the Soviet Union’s industrialization to fruition.
What were some of Stalin’s goals as a leader?
Stalin’s goal was to have absolute personal power over the Soviet Union . He changed his name to Stalin, meaning man of steel, as a hint to his personality and the way he would achieve his goals. ... He wanted the Soviet Union to be the supreme world power and to spread communism across the globe.
What was life in the Soviet Union like?
People typically had to wait four to six years , and often as long as ten, to get one. There was 30x as much typhoid, 20x as much measles, and cancer detection rates were half as good as in the United States. ... By the US poverty measure, well over half of the Soviet population were poor.
What was Stalin’s 5 year plan?
In the Soviet Union, the first Five-Year Plan (1928–32), implemented by Joseph Stalin, concentrated on developing heavy industry and collectivizing agriculture , at the cost of a drastic fall in consumer goods. The second plan (1933–37) continued the objectives of the first.
How many people died in the Soviet Union?
The Soviet Union suffered upward of 8 million combatant deaths and many more due to famine and disease—perhaps about 20 million.
What does Stalin mean in Russian?
Derived from the Russian word for steel (stal) , this has been translated as “Man of Steel”; Stalin may have intended it to imitate Lenin’s pseudonym. Stalin retained the name for the rest of his life, possibly because it was used on the article that established his reputation among the Bolsheviks.
How was Joseph Stalin involved in ww2?
Role in World War II of Joseph Stalin. ... In August 1939, after first attempting to form an anti-Hitler alliance with the Western powers, he concluded a pact with Hitler , which encouraged the German dictator to attack Poland and begin World War II.
Did everyone get paid the same in the Soviet Union?
Money wage in Soviet parlance was not the same as in Capitalist countries. The money wage was set at the top of the administrative system, and it was the same administrative system which also set bonuses. Wages were 80 percent of the average Soviet workers income, with the remaining 20 coming in the form of bonuses.
What was Joseph Stalin’s ideology?
Stalin considered the political and economic system under his rule to be Marxism–Leninism, which he considered the only legitimate successor of Marxism and Leninism.
What did Stalin want achievement?
He wanted to build a great empire for himself and his nation . The Supreme Soviet Leader believed that the Soviet Union had all but won the war against the Germans, on its own. ... Stalin wanted to establish puppet regimes in Eastern Europe, and they would provide the Soviet Union with resources and markets for their goods.
Were Stalin’s 5 year plans successful?
Centralised decision-making under the Five Year Plans was not always the most efficient way to run an economy. However, particular successes were the improved supply of electricity and the greater number of machines built . Almost all heavy industries enjoyed substantial increases in production.
Why did Stalin introduce the Five Year Plans?
Why the Five Year Plans were introduced? Stalin believed that the Soviet Union had to build up its industry so it could defend itself from attack by countries in the west . Stalin wanted the Soviet Union to be a modern industrial country like the U.S.A., Germany and Britain.
Was Stalin an expansionist?
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union following Lenin’s death in 1924 up until his own death in 1953. Orthodox historians view Stalin as an aggressive expansionist who aspired to spread world communism.
