Joseph Stalin was born on December 6, 1878 in Gori, Georgia.

His given name is Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugasvili, (Haugen, 15), but took the name of Stalin or man of steel, (Grolier, NP). He had a tough childhood because he was in poverty and was abused by his alcoholic father Vissarion; this lead to him not having much of a social life. One source states, little is known [about Stalin] beyond the fact that he seemed to have always been a lonely man, (Gale, Para.13). He began to feel inferior because of the mal treatment by his father which then led to him having a thirst for power and to be in control, he had Soviet histories re written to make his role in past events feel greater than it really was, (World Book, Para.16). The way Stalin grew up influenced how he took his role as dictator in the future.

Stalin came into power after the Revolution of Russia. There were several political parties that were opposed to the original government which was a monarchy, In 1900, Russia was a huge empire of many different peoples; it was held together by one man, Nicholas II, known as the Tsar (emperor), (Ingram, P., 4). Later he was overthrown and a new government came into power known as the Provisional government, yet that system did not get much affection form the revolutionary Bolsheviks and was overthrown by them. This lead up to the civil war, The Bolsheviks had overthrown the Provisional Government but other political parties in the soviets, The Mensheviks and the social revolutionaries, were angry with the Bolsheviks; they thought the overthrow of the Provisional government was a brutal un democratic act, (Ingram, P., 22). Russia was split in a war between the Reds (Bolsheviks) and the Whites (the remaining original Russian government and those that opposed the reds), which ended with the reds in a victory over the Whites. This compromised governmental structure lead to the rise of Stalin and communism.

Stalin was very significant in the 1930s due to his transformation of Russia and the new government he crafted. In Stalins life there were two different types of significance/improvement; there were the improvements of Stalin himself and improvements of Russia. In terms of improving himself he became the supreme ruler of Soviet Russia, this opposition, too, was defeated quickly and by the early 1930s Stalin had gained total dictatorial control over the party, the state, and the entire communist international, (Gale, Para. 11). This improvement meant that he was no longer under someone elses control he was in control of someone else he had improved his rank in the government of Russia. Another Improvement of Himself was also related to his power; he was now able to do whatever he wanted to secure his spot a dictator. He didnt care about if you were his friend form the beginning if you were a threat he would kill you, in the 1930s he began a series of purges that led to the arrest and execution of his former opponents and even his own lieutenants, (Grolier Para. 4). He now improved from dictator to the ruler that couldnt be touched or removed from power because before you were able to complain he would have you arrested. Not only did he improve himself but he improved the country of Russia. He led a series of programs and plans that eventually turned Russia to a polar opposite of their previous main industry, But he changed the Soviet Union from an undeveloped country to one of the worlds great industrial and military powers, (World Book Para.4). He changed Russia to a small economy based off agriculture to being a large economy with the ability to produce goods to be sold at great rates. Overall, Stalin was a self-centered man that didnt do too much for the country except transform the economys main industry from agriculture to production of manufactured goods.

The decisions he made for mostly for himself a he was a ruthless dictator yet there were a few that did help the Soviet Union. Most of the decisions that he made were for the better of him. The

major decisions he made for Russia were his plans, in successive 5-year plans, The Soviet Unions under Stalin industrialized and urbanized with great speed, (Gale Para.14). He decided to use these plans to urbanize Russia into the country it is and provide jobs for people. He did provide jobs for people but sadly he did provide also a lot of death for others when he was on the path for urbanization. A source demonstrates his disrespect for the loss of life, Stalin used his citizens as renewable resources; If one dies there would always be another to replace him or her, (Haugen, 11). He didnt care if you died he only cared if you got the job done whether you worked to death or not, as long as the job got done. This little respect for human life is one of his most prominent decisions because he decided that he wouldnt care about how many people died. One of his famous quotes is, if one person dies that is a traded, he said; If a million people die that is a statistic,(Ingram, S., 64). He decided that once he got to a death toll he wasnt going to worry about it, He treated it like it was just another number. Overall, Stalin made many decisions over his period of dictator some of which were beneficial to Russia others were not which ended up crafting the superpower it is.