Josef Stalin


Like Hitler, Stalin is credited with the death and suffering of tens of millions of people – most of them innocent Russian citizens.


Born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, he adopted the name ‘Stalin’, meaning ‘man of steel’. As a member of the Bolshevik Party, Stalin played an active role in Russia's October Revolution of 1917.


In 1922, he was made General Secretary of the Communist Party and manoeuvred his way up the Communist Party hierarchy. By the end of the 1920s, Stalin had become dictator of the Soviet Union.


Stalin started industrial and agricultural collectivisation programs, implementing them with huge human cost. Millions starved to death while Russian produce was sold overseas.


The Soviet population suffered further during Stalin’s ‘Great Purge’ – where ‘enemies of the people’ were sent in their millions to the Gulag system of slave labour camps.


Stalin also executed enemies in the military. Consequently, it was a depleted and unprepared Red Army that faced a German invasion in June 1941. Again, Stalin’s suicidal tactics claimed gigantic swathes of humanity, but the Nazis were eventually overwhelmed.


Following World War II, Stalin presided over a Communist empire that covered most of Eastern Europe. Becoming increasingly paranoid, he continued his rule with fear and persecution, dying from a stroke on 5th March 1953.