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/* Post-War Period and Death */
After World War II, Stalin's [[cult of personality]] emerged as the dominant force of Soviet life. He was credited as the savior of the Soviet Union and the architect of victory, though it was really General Zhukov who was responsible for most of this. The communist youth group, the [[Komsomol]], devoted songs to "the Father of All Nations" or "the Driver of the Locomotive of History." Party membership increased by one million people between 1945 and 1953. Books quoted Stalin as an expert in communism, while he was often photographed surrounded by children to make him seem friendlier. This all served to form a deep, personal connection with Stalin for many Soviets. Indeed, he was loved by the Soviets. Between 1949 and 1952 Stalin increasingly took vacations and met with the [[Politburo]] less and less.
The atheistic Stalin became increasingly paranoid as he grew older.<ref name="BBC Stalin"/> He eventually suffered from Beginning with the [[Doctor's Plot]], other members of the [[Politburo]] feared another round of murderous purges in which they themselves could be caught up in. They conspired to remove him by poisoning that induced a stroke on March 1, 1953. Ironically, his own megalomaniacal nature beforehand ensured no one dared try to check up on him, as his own guards feared checking up on him lest they be executed due to his leaving explicit orders to not disturb him in his room. Following a the stroke on March 1, 1953, Stalin died on March 5 after a period of declining performance. On his deathbed, he also glared at the attendees with disgust and wordlessly pointed at each of them before eventually pointing at a wall, with Svetlina, his daughter, recalling this event, indicating this was the most haunting event she ever experienced. When he died in 1953 an anxious mob at his viewing crushed and trampled some mourners to death. Dissidents like Sakharov, the man forced in a prison to build the Soviet atom bomb, cried upon hearing that Stalin had died, despite their intense hatred of him. Despite his terror, he had convinced millions that he was their father. When he died a short power struggle ensued, one which led to the execution of KGB head [[Beria]] as a spy. Eventually [[Khrushchev]] became the General Secretary of the CPSU and denounced Stalin's repressive tactics, his purges, gulags, and his cult of personality in the [[Secret Speech]] at the 20th Party Congress of 1956. Gulags were dismantled and the political climate was slightly less tense, but Soviet oppression still continued. The period following Stalin's rule is called the "thaw," the start of life again after a long winter.
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