G11: The Cold War Begins: Leaders: Stalin

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union for more than two decades, instituting a reign of death and terror while modernizing Russia and helping to defeat Nazism.

Joseph Stalin is one of the most famous dictators from the 20th century.

On 1 October 1928 Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Russia launched the first Five Year Plan, a series of revolutionary economic reforms which transformed Russia from a peasant society into a power capable of resisting the might of Hitler’s Germany.

a brutal political campaign led by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone else he considered a threat

The show trials that took place in Stalin’s USSR had a very specific purpose for Stalin.

Living standards generally rose in the 1930’s despite the problems with food production and shortages elsewhere.

Soon after assuming control of the party, Stalin oversaw a radicalization of Soviet foreign policy that complemented his strenuous domestic policies.

The 1950s brought a desire for reform in Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union reacted differently to events in Poland, Hungary and Berlin, due to domestic pressures and military and ideological factors.

After Hiroshima, Stalin summoned the Russian scientists. “A single demand of you, comrades, ”Stalin intoned, “provide us with atomic weapons in the shortest possible time."