Joseph Stalin lived from Dec. 21, 1879 to March 5, 1953. He was secretary general of the Communist Party in Russia. [[Leon Trotsky]] had a power struggle with Stalin. Trotsky took the view that socialism in the Soviet Union must await a revolution in Western Europe and even worldwide. Stalin wanted power immediately and expelled Trotsky from the political pary in 1927 and exiled him from Russia two years later.