Changes

| deathnumber =8,000,000 according to soviet records 20,000,000 is the average estimate while 66,000,000 is the high estimate

| deathnumber =8,000,000 according to soviet records 20,000,000 is the average estimate while 66,000,000 is the high estimate

}}

}}

'''Joseph (or Josef) Stalin''' (born '''Iosif 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 death from a stroke.<ref name="BBC Stalin">https://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 Denisovich Lysenko]] as were other Communist leaders.<ref>https://creation.com/the-darwinian-foundation-of-communism</ref><ref>https://creation.com/stalins-ape-man-superwarriors</ref><ref>https://creation.com/a-tale-of-four-countries</ref><ref>https://creation.com/darwin-trotsky-connection</ref>  During 1942 - 1943, knowing that few people were inspired by Communism, 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>  When the war ended, many Red Army soldiers and Christians who defeated [[fascism]] were shipped off to Soviet [[concentration camp]]s - the [[gulag]].

'''Joseph (or Josef) Stalin''' (born '''Iosif 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 death from a stroke in 1953. <ref name="BBC Stalin">https://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 Denisovich Lysenko]] as were other Communist leaders.<ref>https://creation.com/the-darwinian-foundation-of-communism</ref><ref>https://creation.com/stalins-ape-man-superwarriors</ref><ref>https://creation.com/a-tale-of-four-countries</ref><ref>https://creation.com/darwin-trotsky-connection</ref>  During 1942 - 1943, knowing that few people were inspired by Communism, 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>  When the war ended, many Red Army soldiers and Christians who defeated [[fascism]] were shipped off to Soviet [[concentration camp]]s - the [[gulag]].

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 renamed Tsaritsen [[Stalingrad]] in honor of his victory; Stalingrad would be the site of [[Germany]]'s massive defeat in [[World War II]].

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 renamed Tsaritsen [[Stalingrad]] in honor of his victory; Stalingrad would be the site of [[Germany]]'s massive defeat in [[World War II]].