Stalin (Joseph Stalin)

Joseph Stalin was a Soviet political leader who ruled the Soviet Union from the 1920s until his death in 1953. As General Secretary, he consolidated power, transforming the USSR into a centralized, industrialized state through aggressive policies, including widespread purges, forced collectivization, and censorship. His leadership was marked by brutal repression, political persecution, and significant human suffering, but also by rapid economic development. Stalin played a major role in World War II and shaped global geopolitics during the early Cold War era. His legacy is complex, combining achievements in modernization with profound human rights abuses.