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'''Joseph (or Josef) Stalin''' (born '''Ioseb Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili '''; (Russian: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Джугашви́ли) (1878 - 1953) was the dictator of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] ([[CPSU]]) from 1922 until his deathfrom a stroke. <ref name="BBC Stalin">http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml</ref> Joseph Stalin, who was a brutal proponent of [[atheism|atheistic]] [[communism]], was greatly influenced by the work of the [[evolution|neo-Lamarckian]] [[Trofim Lysenko]] as were other communist leaders.<ref>http://creation.com/the-darwinian-foundation-of-communism</ref><ref>http://creation.com/stalins-ape-man-superwarriors</ref><ref>http://creation.com/a-tale-of-four-countries</ref><ref>http://creation.com/darwin-trotsky-connection</ref> During 1942 - 1943 Stalin reinstated the Russian Orthodox Church in order to boost morale while Russia was at war with Nazi Germany.<ref>http://faroutliers.blogspot.com/2008/08/stalin-reinstates-church-1942-43.html</ref><ref>http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/frroman1.aspx</ref>
The son of a poor Georgian cobbler, Stalin was a former seminary student who joined the Communist Party when Georgia was still under the rule of the Russian Tsar. He became one of [[Lenin|Lenin's]] closest allies when the Kerensky regime was overthrown by Lenin's faction in 1917. During the [[Russian Civil War]] Stalin, who chose his name from the Russian word for steel, held the city of Tsaritsen on the Volga from counter-revolutionary forces. Stalin later re-named Tsaritsen [[Stalingrad]] in honor of his victory; Stalingrad would be the site of [[Germany]]'s massive defeat in [[World War II]].
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. 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.
The atheistic Stalin became increasingly paranoid as he grew older.<ref name="BBC Stalin"/> Following a stroke on March 1, 1953, Stalin died on March 5 after a period of declining performance. Between 1949 and 1952 Stalin increasingly took vacations and met with the [[Politburo]] less and less. 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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