| − | '''Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin''' (born Dzhugashvili) (December 6th, 1878 (Julian: December 18th)-March 5, 1953) was the General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] (CPSU) from 1922 until his death. He was the son of a poor Georgian cobbler and a former seminary student who became a Bolshevik and one of [[Lenin|Lenin's]] closest allies during the their take-over of the Russian Empire. During the [[Russian Civil War]] Stalin, who chose his name from the Russian word for steel, successfully defended the city of Tsaritsen on the Volga from counter-revolutionary forces. The city was later re-named Stalingrad in honor of his victory, and was the same city of [[Germany's]] massive defeat in [[World War II]]. | + | '''Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin''' (born Dzhugashvili) (December 6th, 1878 (Julian: December 18th)-March 5, 1953) was the [[communist] [[atheist]] General Secretary of the [[Communist Party]] of the [[Soviet Union]] (CPSU) from 1922 until his death. He was the son of a poor Georgian cobbler and a former seminary student who became a Bolshevik and one of [[Lenin|Lenin's]] closest allies during the their take-over of the Russian Empire. During the [[Russian Civil War]] Stalin, who chose his name from the Russian word for steel, successfully defended the city of Tsaritsen on the Volga from counter-revolutionary forces. The city was later re-named [[Stalingrad]] in honor of his victory, and was the same city of [[Germany's]] massive defeat in [[World War II]]. |