“Joseph Stalin.” History.com, 2009. Web. 15 Dec. 2014
“Joseph Stalin.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014
“Joseph Stalin.” jewishvirtuallibrary.org, 1991. Web. 15 Dec. 2014
“Joseph Stalin.” Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online. 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014
“Joseph Stalin.” World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book, 1996. Print
Time Life Books. WWII. New York: Prentice Hall, 1989. Print
Stalin was taken seriously. His leadership might not have been popular but his achievements were not overlooked. His accomplishments made his country stronger but his people suffered and never benefited from his actions. After he died the next leader, Nikita Krushchev, led a de-Stalinization process throughout the country. They moved his body from where it was buried, changed the history books back to how they had been, and changed the names of the cities that had been named after him. Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953. 
Stalin created a cult of personality around himself to make himself look like a strong leader. He built a small group of people around him to support him who made him look stronger. He changed his name to Stalin, which means Man of Iron. He named cities after himself. He rewrote the Soviet history to make himself look better and to maintain control. He wasn’t a weak leader, he was a smart but evil leader, who knew how to influence people to support him. He knew how to use intimidation to keep his strong hold on the people. 
I think it’s obvious by now that Joseph Stalin was more like Jack – he led by fear and intimidation. There was nothing democratic about his leadership. The people in the Soviet Union had no vote, no say in the government, no freedom. If they spoke out, they died. The secret police grew under Stalin’s rule and people were encouraged to report their neighbors if they did anything that was not approved by the government. Fear and intimidation were Stalin’s greatest tools.
“The only real power comes out of a long rifle.”
― Joseph Stalin
Stalin knew that the only way to keep his power was by keeping his people powerless. He did this through terrorizing them with the fear of death. They knew that if they tried to oppose him they would either be sent out of the country or killed. Joseph Stalin was responsible for the deaths of more than 20 million people during his dictatorship. He had more people killed than Hitler. For Stalin to succeed he needed to keep the people in fear for their lives. And he did.
Stalin planned to turn the Soviet Union into a wealthy industrialized nation. His way of doing this was to make sure that the government had complete control over everything, and especially the economy. Part of doing this was by the government taking control of all of the private farms in the nation. When some of the farmers tried to protest against this he either sent them into exile or had them killed. The Soviet Union did become a world power and wealthy. But the people didn’t get to have a part of this power or wealth – only the high up authorities in the government did.
“Death is the solution to all problems. No man – no problem.”
― Joseph Stalin
Stalin considered himself to be an effective leader because he got what he wanted. He had complete control of the Soviet Union and was unfair and cruel. He didn’t care what the people thought, what the people wanted or how his decisions affected them. He was not trustworthy. He signed a non-invasion pact with Hitler and soon after invaded countries he said he wouldn’t touch. He ruled as a complete dictator so the people had no choice but to accept him, leave or die.
“Those who vote decide nothing. Those who count the vote decide everything.” -Joseph Stalin
Stalin was very much like Jack. They both ruled by fear and intimidation. Stalin and brutal and used terror to keep people in line and following him. Neither of them cared about the people they were leading and just wanted to be the ruler. They both cared only for themselves and having control.
“Ideas are far more powerful than guns. We don’t let our people have guns. Why should we let them have ideas?”
― Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin, was born Joseph Jugashvili and had a very rough childhood. He changed his name to Stalin as an adult. This led him to becoming an underground political agitator and then he became involved in criminal activities. He robbed banks and the money he stole was used to help the Bolshevik party that was led by Lenin. Stalin was married two times. His first wife was an Orthodox Christian and for her Stalin put aside his feelings of atheism. She died of typhus when their son was a baby. This seemed to affect him very much and afterward he was more cruel than ever. Their son later died in Germany as a war prisoner during World War II. He remarried and had two children with his second wife who committed suicide. There wasn’t a lot of happiness in Joseph’s life, ever.
“This creature softened my heart of stone. She died and with her died my last warm feelings for humanity.”
― Joseph Stalin
Was Joseph Stalin a product of his environment or was he born like that? I believe it was nurture, not nature that influenced the kind of leader he became. Joseph Stalin was born on December 18, 1878 and had a horrible childhood. His father was an alcoholic and beat him. Stalin also had smallpox as a child and it left him with bad scarring on his face. His environment definitely influenced his environment. 
“I believe in only one thing,the power of human will.”
― Joseph Stalin
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