Born: December 21, 1879, Gori, Georgia

Died: March 5, 1953

Married: to Ekaterina Svanidze in 1904, and after she died of fever to Nadezhda Alliluyeva in 1919

Profession: revolutionary, leader of the Soviet Union

Nickname: Soso, a short version of Ioseb; Koba, after a Russian Robin Hood story; Uncle Joe by the Western press

Man of steel

Find words that mean: divide up, put to death, stick together

Joseph Stalin was born as Ioseb Dzhugashvili. His family wanted him to be a priest but Stalin was interested in politics.

Stalin believed in communism ? a system where all property is shared among the people.

The communists fought against the tsar, the king who ruled Russia. Stalin organised strikes and riots. He was arrested six times but nothing stopped him. He changed his name to Stalin, meaning ?steel?, and continued making trouble.

When the tsar was killed during the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Communist party took over. Stalin became as powerful as the tsar had been.

When Stalin became leader of the communist party, he began by killing his political enemies. Between 4 and 9 million people were executed or imprisoned. He then set up a secret police force to spy on everyone.

The secret police were everywhere. Anyone who complained about Stalin was killed or sent to prison. Anyone who tried to leave the country was also punished.

Stalin modernised his country and made it into a superpower. But his policies killed between 10 and 20 million people. Then Stalin modernised the country. He built lots of factories. He also joined up all the small farms into big ?collectives?. When this didn?t work, famine killed 6 to 9 million people.

True or false?

To test your memory, try answering without referring to the text. If you can?t remember the details, read the piece again

1 Stalin was born in Moscow, Russia.

2 Stalin went to prison six times.

3 Stalin wanted to keep Russia?s traditional ways.

4 Stalin modernised Russia?s industry and farming practices.

5 Stalin killed between 10 and 20 million people.

The Soviet Union as a Superpower

Find words that mean the opposite to:

special, ashamed of, nothing

After the Russian Revolution, Russia was renamed the Soviet Union. The communist party ruled everything. Nothing could be done unless a communist party official approved. As they were slow and inefficient, ordinary people suffered and were very poor.

Stalin created a huge army. He did this to stay in power. When the Germans invaded the country during the second world war, Stalin?s army kicked out the invaders. Stalin then conquered eastern European countries like Estonia and Georgia.

Stalin made the Soviet Union the world?s biggest country. Ordinary people were still very poor but they were proud their country was a superpower. Because of this, many people still see Stalin as a hero.

Was Stalin murdered?

Choose the correct alternative

Stalin killed friends as well as enemies. His champions/victims included many supporters, including the Russian hero Leon Trotsky. Many think Stalin murdered his second wife Nadya Alliluyeva as well.

When Stalin died on March 5, 1953, officials said he had survived/died of a stroke. But Stalin?s friend and deputy premier Lavrentiy Beria confessed he put poison in Stalin?s mineral water.

We will probably never know what really happened. We do know that Stalin?s colleagues hated him so much they tried to make/destroy his name.

After Stalin died, they took away his statues, publicised how many people he had killed, and renamed Stalingrad city Volgograd.

Answers:

September 9:

Non-violent revolutionary: unfair, protest, assassinated

Fasting for peace: to make up, to listen to, to make

Caste system: most, bottom, worse