Joseph Stalin - Biography.

Joseph Stalin - Biography. Leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Date December 21, 1879 Baptized Death March 5, 1953 Place of Gori, Georgia Birth Political Communist Party Party Official Title General Secretary Term 1922-1953 Known For Overseeing a reign of terror that resulted in the deaths of millions of real and perceived opponents of his policies Establishing the USSR as a modern economic and military power that repelled Hitler's armies in World War II and rivaled the United States during the Cold War period Milestones 1899 Quit religious studies to join the revolutionary movement against the Russian monarchy 1903 Joined Vladimir Lenin's militant Bolshevik faction after the split of the Social Democratic Labor Party (the Bolsheviks were later called Communists) 1913 Exiled to Siberia for revolutionary activities, including the publication of Marxism and the National Question 1922 Chosen general secretary of the Communist Party, a modest post that Stalin had developed into the USSR's most powerful office by 1930 1924 Consolidated the power base within the Communist Party after Lenin's death 1928-1929 Initiated a policy of violently taking the lands of farmers, liquidating agricultural wealth to support industrialization 1934-1939 Purged political opponents, initially within Communist Party leadership, and later throughout the USSR, leading to arrests and executions estimated in the millions June, 1941 Assumed control of the military after Germany invaded the USSR during World War II 1945 Participated in the Potsdam Conference after Germany surrendered Did You As a rebellious youth, Joseph Dzhugashvili was nicknamed Koba, the name of a notorious Georgian bandit and rebel, before he took the Know name Stalin. The Russian word stalin means 'man of steel.' The Russian city of Volgograd, renamed Stalingrad during Stalin's reign, was changed back to the former in 1961. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.