Early life; he was born in 1879 and he came from an extremely poor background. His mother was a peasant and his father a cobbler. As you all probably don't know his real name is Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili he was Jewish and his name was a typical Jew name. It was in prison were he adopted the name Stalin which it's translated as "man of steel" (he must of being a big bully)
STALIN DURING WW2
Although Russia was brought into the war on 22 June 1941 Stalin knew Hitler’s greed would eventually send him knocking on Russia door because Hitler absolutely despised communism. So Stalin bought himself time by signing an agreement with Hitler. It was called the “German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact”. Joseph Stalin believed that Hitler wouldn’t invade the Soviet Union until France and Brittan had been taken. He knew that if Hitler didn’t try to attack him in the summer of 1941 they would have no choice but to wait until next year because everyone new it was unethical to invade Russia during its infamous winters.
Eventually the German armies attacked the Soviet Union and brought them into the war in the 22 June 1941 known as 'Operation Barbarossa' Stalin, had suffered a brief nervous collapse but he came through it and personally took command of the Soviet armed forces. With the help of a small defense committee, he made all major military, political, and diplomatic decisions throughout the war. He pursued victory with increasing skill, determination, and courage, by standing his ground when Hitler's armies stood at the foot of Moscow, ordering a fantastic shifting of industrial plants from European Russia to the east, arranging for lend-lease from the Western powers, selecting more and more first-rate military commanders.
Stalin ordered those who fought in the battle at Stalingrad not to giv an inch to the Germans and he was very much the leader of his nation throughout ww2. The heroics of the people of Leningrad besieged by the Germans between September 1941 and January 1944 was recognised by many people as a feat of huge heroism. For the duration of the siege the city's leaders had to make their own decisions as they were frequently cut off from Moscow and could not follow orders from Moscow. Such an independent spirit was not tolerated by Stalin and after the war, those city leaders of Leningrad during the war were dealt with by Stalin in what was effectively a second purge of those he did not trust. Like there was nothing that the leaders in Leningrad could do it was a no win situation. On one hand if they surrendered Stalin would of probably killed them and on the other hand they fought bravely and made there own decision and he still killed them. This says a lot about Stalin as both a leader and a person.
Take into account that some of Stalin success over the Germans was through some miscalculations of Hitler . This brings me to one of my biggest arguments. I previously argued with one individual that if Hitler left his attack on Russia another year he would of being more successful. The more research I done and with the help of Dr. Laffan My opinion changed. Although Hitler wanted to attack Russia in early march of 1941 'operation ‘Barbarossa' went ahead on the 22 of June 1941 my point is that if Hitler attacked 3-4 months earlier say late February early march it would have gave him that extra margin of time to take control of Russia because by the time the winter kicked in it would have been little too late for Stalin and this could of changed the result of the Second World War (o k Addy) ha ha
After America was brought into the war there were meetings held with the leaders of Russia, Britain and America the leaders was Stalin, Winston Churchill and F.D Roosevelt. They were referred to as the ‘Big Three’. it has now been said that it was at these conferences that the origins of the Cold War were sown. Especially as Stalin had not been invited to the meeting at Casablanca. This made Stalin suspicions as to what the others were planning and there relationship fell apart.
Also worth mentioning about Stalin is even tough he industrialized the ‘Union of Soviet Socialist Republics’ and forcibly collectivised Russia’s agriculture he also brought terror to the Russians. By his mass executions, mock trials, purges, the jailing and secret torture that ravaged the Soviet Union during the three decades of Stalin’s era and the most sickening of all the ‘gulag’ for those who don’t know what the gulag is
Anne Applebaum, a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society Eastern Europe and the USSR Russia explains the Gulag as
“It was the branch of the State Security that operated the penal system of forced labour camps and associated detention and transit camps and prisons. While these camps housed criminals of all types, the Gulag system has become primarily known as a place for political prisoners and as a mechanism for repressing political opposition to the Soviet state. Though it imprisoned millions”
18 million people passed through the Gulag further millions being deported and exiled to remote areas of the Soviet Union. This Stalin fella was a monster cruel and black hearted like Hitler. at least Hitler treated his own people with respect. At the end of Stalins life he became very paranoid and start killing everyone he taught was out to get him. it was probably his conscience attacking him .
HE WAS A DEVIL
3 comments:
I enjoyed reading the blog and think the analysis of Stalin during the war is very good. But what I want to know is whether a different Russian leader would have been better during WW2? Was it necessary to have someone as ruthless as Stalin? maybe someone nicer(and weaker) would have been easily defeated. Does that make Stalin a better leader?
Lenin what if he hadn’t of died? The only way that there could of being a different leader of Russia is if Lenin did not die. As we know Stalin cheated his way to become the leader of Russia because before Lenin’s death he wrote a political testament and publicly asked for Stalin’s removal from the post of Secretary General. Lenin referred to Stalin as being dangerous. Stalin covered this up very well
So if Lenin had been alive he would have probably given all his power to Trotsky. Trotsky was much smarter man then Stalin and equally rough, so I guess that Russia would perform much better since Trotsky wouldn’t have implemented purges like the one’s that Stalin did of the military and the Soviet Union. Then they might have been able to defeat Germany, without Germany going so far into the Soviet Union and the Russian population would be bigger since I don’t think Trotsky would have made the same mistakes that led to Volga and Ukraine starvation. So in my opinion I don’t think Stalin was as good a leader as he was made out to because I don’t think Lenin or Trotsky would have signed any pact with Hitler in the first place. People taught Stalin was such a ruthless leader he wasn’t, he start taking panic attacks as soon as Hitler attacked him. Being ruthless doest make you a great leader and the credit Stalin got after the war was undeserved he should of thanked Hitler for his miscalculation of operation Barbarossa.
Trotsky was a smart man and he saw the rise of fascism in advance but because he was powerless he couldn’t do anything about it. Trotsky’s foresight could have prevented the rise of Hitler and even started a socialist revolution in Germany if he had been in a position of authority and was able to act on his plans. Trotsky wasn’t nicer or weaker than Stalin he was smarter and more aware than him so my answer to Patricks question is most certainly yes a different leader in Russia would have been largely beneficial to them. It would have save the lives of millions and it could have helped quieten down the cold war
i think stalin is the same as hitler and mussolini: he got the power and it drove him mad. Absolute power Courrupts absolutley!
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