Joseph Stalin
Dana Zahra
Joseph Vissarionovich Djugashvili (Stalin) rose to power as General Secretary of the Communist Party, becoming dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1929 to 1953. Under his reign, the Soviet Union developed from a peasant state into an industrial and military superpower. However, his regime of terror caused the death and suffering of millions of his own citizens during his brutal rule. During World War II (1939-1945), Stalin joined forces with the United States and Britain. However, these relations deteriorated in a tense period known as the Cold War (1946-1991).