| − | '''Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili ''' (Russian ''Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Джугашви́ли'', better known as '''Joseph Stalin''' (December 6, 1878 - March 5, 1953) was the General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] ([[CPSU]]) from 1922 until his death. The son of a poor Georgian cobbler, Stalin was a former seminary student who joined the Bolshevik Party. He became one of [[Lenin|Lenin's]] closest allies when the Kerensky regime was overthrown by Lenin's faction. 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]]. | + | '''Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili ''' (Russian ''Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Джугашви́ли'', better known as '''Joseph Stalin''' (December 6, 1878 - March 5, 1953) was the General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] ([[CPSU]]) from 1922 until his death. The son of a poor Georgian cobbler, Stalin was a former seminary student who joined the Bolshevik Party. He became one of [[Lenin|Vladimir Ilyich Lenin's]] closest allies when the Kerensky regime was overthrown by Lenin's faction. 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]]. |