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Description
8 December 1878 - 5 March 1953
The second leader of the Soviet Union, following the death of Lenin in 1924. He pursued the policy of "Socialism in One Country", transforming the Soviet Union into a de facto Russian empire, wielding more power than the tsars could ever have imagined. Through terror he ruled, dragging the Soviet Union kicking and screaming into the Twentieth Century, transforming a land of peasant farmers into an industrial and military superpower. To maintain power he purged the government of all who would oppose him, executing or exiling tens of thousands, while his command of food production led to millions dying in preventable famine.

His force of will brought the Soviet Union together through the Second World War, leading the largest army in history to victory over Nazi Germany. After the war the alliance between the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom was shattered, leading to the start of the Cold War. Through the help of spies, the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons in 1949, and would test its first hydrogen bomb just months after his death in 1953. While he was alive his power was unequaled in world history.

An untold number of people died under Stalin's reign, estimated in the tens of millions. Stalin died from complications from a stroke following a night of revelry. There are suggestions that he was murdered, or at the very least, the guards stationed at his bedside could have saved his life and chose to do nothing. One and a half million people turned out to his funeral. Despite all the deaths and the crackdowns by secret police, the people still loved their dear leader. His successors began a policy of "De-Stalinization", reversing a number of changes Stalin had made, to make sure no one man could ever accumulate that much power again.
Depicted here in his white dress uniform and Hero of the Soviet Union award.

Description
8 December 1878 - 5 March 1953
The second leader of the Soviet Union, following the death of Lenin in 1924. He pursued the policy of "Socialism in One Country", transforming the Soviet Union into a de facto Russian empire, wielding more power than the tsars could ever have imagined. Through terror he ruled, dragging the Soviet Union kicking and screaming into the Twentieth Century, transforming a land of peasant farmers into an industrial and military superpower. To maintain power he purged the government of all who would oppose him, executing or exiling tens of thousands, while his command of food production led to millions dying in preventable famine.

His force of will brought the Soviet Union together through the Second World War, leading the largest army in history to victory over Nazi Germany. After the war the alliance between the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom was shattered, leading to the start of the Cold War. Through the help of spies, the Soviet Union developed nuclear weapons in 1949, and would test its first hydrogen bomb just months after his death in 1953. While he was alive his power was unequaled in world history.

An untold number of people died under Stalin's reign, estimated in the tens of millions. Stalin died from complications from a stroke following a night of revelry. There are suggestions that he was murdered, or at the very least, the guards stationed at his bedside could have saved his life and chose to do nothing. One and a half million people turned out to his funeral. Despite all the deaths and the crackdowns by secret police, the people still loved their dear leader. His successors began a policy of "De-Stalinization", reversing a number of changes Stalin had made, to make sure no one man could ever accumulate that much power again.
Depicted here in his white dress uniform and Hero of the Soviet Union award.