-
Bolsheviks Seize Control of the Russian Government
After months of unrest and revolution in the air due to the first World War and the waning power of the Tsar, the Bolsheviks along with the mutinous Russian army seize power across Russia, removing them from the war, ceding territory to Germany, and transforming the country into the USSR. At this time Stalin was involved in leadership for the Soviets and raised money for them through illegal activity. -
Stalin Becomes Leader of Soviet Union
Although the title changed over time, Stalin became a totalitarian ruler in the party and throughout the nation, using fear, brute force, and other horrible tactics to maintain power and his authority. His various economic plans and rampant industrialization made the country a world power, at the cost of mass famines. -
Stalin's First Five-Year Plan Begins
Due to the threat of external or internal forces possibly bringing an end to the young Soviet Union, Stalin introduced the first Five-Year Plan to introduce heavy industrialization and also began the collectivization of agriculture. This would make the USSR a formidable opponent but also lead to the largest man-made famine against citizens who opposed Stalin’s plans in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, leading to a death toll of almost 12 million. -
Stalin Utilizes Gulags
Stalin decided to use forced labor to speed up the Soviet Union’s industrialization, as well as excavate the natural resources in the Soviet Union’s barely habitable far north. Gulag camps were present throughout the Soviet Union, but the largest camps were in the most extreme climatic regions of the country. The extreme climate, hard labor, inadequate food rations and unsanitary conditions led to extremely high death rates in the gulags. -
Period: to
The Great Purge
A political tool used by Stalin to purge dissenters and those who opposed his own policies in favor of consolidating his own power, Joseph Stalin used his secret police to kill hundreds of thousands, be it peasants, officials in the Red Army, or random people killed to instill fear in the public. -
Period: to
World War II
After the Nazi Reich broke the non-aggression pact between them and the USSR, Stalin's Soviets lost massive amounts of territory to the Germans. At the Battle of Stalingrad, the Russians began to push the Germans back. Committing atrocities and mass rapes along the way, the Soviets liberated various concentration camps and exterminated Germans in their way all the way back to Berlin, where they forced Germany’s surrender as they were being invaded in the West by the US. -
Joseph Stalin Dies
After suffering from declining health over the last three years, Joseph Stalin died due to a cerebral hemorrhage on March 5th, 1953. He left no heir but left behind a terrible legacy, which the new premier broke apart through his “De-Stalinization”. Stalin left behind a trail of death and a deep scar in Russian history.
