Stalin, Joseph

A Soviet political leader of the twentieth century. Stalin ruled the Soviet Union , often with extreme brutality, from the death of Lenin in the early 1920s until his own death in the early 1950s. His policies of collectivization, which abolished private ownership, were followed by political purges in which thousands of Communist party officials were killed, usually on trumped-up charges of treason. ( See Stalin's purge trials .) Stalin led the Soviet Union in its costly victory in World War II ; the country again lost huge numbers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain met with Stalin in 1945 to produce the Yalta agreement . Stalin's expansion of Soviet influence after World War II contributed to the cold war .

Discover More

Few sore losers could wield sharp words quite like Leon Trotsky, especially when talking about Joseph Stalin.

Hotel Viru quickly became the pride of Intourist, a Soviet travel agency that was founded in the 1920s by Joseph Stalin.

For 20 years, Lukashenko has ruled Belarus in the fashion of his hero Joseph Stalin.

American president Barack Obama won in 2008 and 2012, and Franklin D. Roosevelt won the title three times, as did Joseph Stalin.

In the 1930s, many in the old left excused Joseph Stalin because he opposed capitalism.

And there will be an expression of deep sorrow from Premier Joseph Stalin, too.

During the time of readjustment after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, Bulgaria's police state period gradually came to a close.

Browse