New Delhi: Born on 18 December 1878 Josef Stalin was the dictator of the USSR from 1924 to 1953. He was responsible for the death of millions.
Yet, he reigned victorious against Nazi invaders and set the stage for the Soviet Union to become one of the most powerful nations in the world.
In what Khrushchev called “a time of the cult of personality,” Stalin was feared, loathed, and loved in life as well as in death.
His purge of Russian generals was so proficient and total that it left few experienced commanders to take their places in the field.
Stalin's death was officially announced on March 6, 1953. However, he suffered a stroke on March 1, 1953.
Here are ten interesting facts about this dictator:
His actual name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, he gave up to his real name and adopted “Stalin” (from the Russian word for “steel”) when he started his political career. Some commentators suggest the son of a modest cobbler chose the name in order to distance himself from his Georgian roots.
