Joseph Stalin has had a great effect on Russia. From his early life in the Georgian
seminary we will see why he entered the seminary, and how this contributed to his
activities and how his life progresses through the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, to when
he was dictator. When he was a full revolutionary, we see his activities with the Kulaks,
Bolsheviks and the Red armies. We will also see how his Five Year Plans effected the
country, and his times dealing with World War 2 and the Cold War.
The man who would be known as Joseph Stalin was born on December 21, 1879
in Gori, Georgia, a province of the Russian Empire located in the Caucus Mountains. His
birth name was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, and he was the third son of Vissarion
and Ekaterina Dzhugashvili, -the only son that survived passed infancy. The
Dzhugashvili family was poor, Stalin's father, Vissarion, was a shoemaker and usually
had to travel far away from Gori to find work. Poverty and frustration made Vissarion a
violent, drunken husband and father. Stalin's mother, Ekaterina, was a hard working
seamstress, laundry woman and cook who usually worked for the wealthier families in
When Stalin was eleven years old, his father died in a bar fight. Stalin bore his
death well and it had little effect on him. Stalin's father had wanted him to be a
shoemaker like himself, to the point where he took Stalin out of school. Stalin's mother
however, was "determined that he should rise above his origins and, ideally, become a
As a student Stalin was a bright and quick learner. He was always prepared for
class and had a desire to excel at everything. Even though Stalin was a bright student, he
refused to believe he was wrong about anything. This led to many arguments and verbal
fights with teachers. The Gregorian language, which Stalin was born and raised on, was
being phased out in schools and was now only being taught a...