Joseph Stalin - The Man of Steel

Intro

He watched, paralysed with fear as his father struck him respectively, his face stinging as blow after blow hit him. He cried out in pain for just a moment as his father stopped, coming to grips with what he had done. He dashed away, battered and bruised while his father merely stood there staring into the distance. Together, with his mother he ran, further and further away from his home and all the bad experiences that had begun to happen over the years. He would finally be free of his abusive father and with his mother, he could finally make a new life for himself.

Little did he know, he would become a leading revolutionist, a criminal and eventually the leader of a powerful communist union. He would be exiled, arrested and estranged from his friends and family though he would eventually win out over his struggles to become a fearsome dictator and turn a peasant nation into an international superpower.

Birth & Early Life

Joseph Stalin was born under the name of Ioseb Jughashvili in the town of Gori, Georgia. His dad Besarion Jughashvili was a shoemaker and his mum, Keke Jughashvili was a house cleaner. Stalin and his mother fled his dad to live with a family friend in the city after he became drunk and had beaten them. They began living with a family friend in the city and Stalin attended the church school there. He did well in his classes, especially Greek and Russian. When he left the school to go to the Tiflis Spiritual Seminary, he was near the top of his class.

Education

Joseph Stalin applied for a scholarship to the Tiflis Seminary in 1893 and was accepted. He joined the seminary in 1894 and he was an academically successful student as he gained very high grades in many subjects. Although he had a scholarship, he still had to pay a small amount of money which his mother struggled to provide. As a result, he has to sing in a choir for money. During the holidays, he returned to Gori to spend more time with his mother. However, he eventually began to become a rebel. He declared himself an atheist, joined a forbidden book club, read many banned books and came under the influence of Karl Marx. His grades began to decline as a result. He believed in Marxism and held meetings with many other Russians encouraging revolutionary ideas and Marxism which was the opposite of the Tsarist authorities beliefs. He gained Vladimir Lenin’s attention before leaving the Seminary one day and not returning again.

Career

After he left the Seminary, he was marked a fugitive and outlaw by the police. Becoming a full time outlaw and criminal, he became a Bolshevik chief in Caucasus, organizing robberies and spreading propaganda everywhere. He was caught many times and exiled to Siberia but he always escaped. He became one of Lenin’s closest associates, helping his rise to power after the revolution. In 1913, he was caught and exiled one last time to Siberia and didn’t return until the revolution. He changed his name to Stalin as well, to signify his role as a Bolshevik Chief. After rising to power, he tried to get Eastern Europe under his thumb as a defense mechanism and expand socialism as far as possible.

Personal Life

He married Ekaterine Svanidze in 1906 and had two children, Yakov Dzhugashvili and Vasily Dzhugashvili. Sadly, she died in 1907, just 1 year after their marriage. He later remarried in 1919 to Nadezhda Alliluyeva and they had an additional two children, Svetlana Alliluyeva and Artyom Sergeyev, the latter was adopted. Although he only officially married two women, there are many rumors that he had many relationships with other women while attending the Tiflis Spiritual Seminary.

Death & Legacy

Joseph Stalin died in 1953 of natural causes. He was most well known for transforming the Soviet Union from a peasant nation into an almighty communist union. However, he was all so known as a ruthless dictator as many citizens died in his reign. He also believed in Marxism-Leninism and widely promoted his beliefs during his time as leader of the Soviet Union. He also started the Great Terror, arresting and killing his enemies by accusing them of being traitors to the Soviet Union. Although he did do some good things, the cons outweigh the pros of his brutal and cruel reign.

Conclusion

He lay on his bed, breathing heavily. He knew his time was running out fast. This could be his last night on Earth. At least, he had achieved a great amount of things. He hoped that one day, Marxism-Leninism would be spread throughout the planet and that the Soviet Union would be an almighty power to be reckoned with. He sighed again and closed his eyes, for the last time in his life.