Born December 21, 1879Gori, RussiaDied March 5, 1953Union of Soviet Socialist RepublicsSoviet revolutionary and political leaderJoseph Stalin took control of the Soviet Union after the death of Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924), the force behind the October revolutions of 1917 that established the Soviet regime. During Stalin's thirty-year dictatorial rule, the Soviet Union greatly enlarged its territory and transformed itself from a relatively backward country into the second most important industrial nation in the world. These achievements came at a heavy price, which included the loss of millions of lives, political repression, an untold waste of resources, and the establishment of an inflexible and dictatorial system of rule.ChildhoodJoseph Stalin was born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili on December 21, 1879, in Gori, Georgia, a part of czarist Russia's empire in western Asia. (A czar is a ruler who exercises unlimited power over the people.) His father, a former serf (member of a serva...
