Joseph Stalin

Early Life, and Rise to Power

Joseph Stalin is known as one of

the greatest tyrants of the 20th
century; yet is still highly
respected by many Russians today.

Childhood

Stalin's birth name in Georgian was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili

Born December 18th, 1878
Raised by an abusive, alcoholic father
Joseph's mother enrolled him into a Greek Orthodox priesthood school against
her husband's wishes
He went on to earn a scholarship for Tiflis Spiritual Seminary, but was expelled in
his 5th year

Rise to Power

While still a student in seminary school, Joseph was approached by secret

organization that supported Georgian independence from Russia.
The years following Josephs expulsion from seminary school, he briefly worked
part-time in an office, but soon became a full-time revolutionary and was exiled
after coordinating a labour strike
After escaping exile, Stalin joined a political party called the Bolsheviks.
Stalins rise to power started after the Russian Revolution of 1917 when the
Bolsheviks took power over Russia which later became the Soviet Union.
Appointed by the party leader, Stalin served on the first Central Committee of the
Bolshevik Party
Following Lenins Death in 1924, Stalin became the leader of the Bolshevik Party,
and The Soviet Union.

Family Life
Joseph married his first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze, in 1906
and the couple had one son.
Ekaterina then died a year following the marriage, in 1907
He met his future second wife, Nadezhda Alliluyeva, during
one of his many exiles in Siberia, in 1911.

Leader of the Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin ran a communist society with forced
industrialization which caused much of the nation to live in
poverty.
During WWII, there were an estimated twenty million deaths
in The Soviet Union.