Who Was Joseph Stalin? What Did He Do?

He is the man credited for catapulting the former Soviet Union from a dirt poor rural country to a Super Power capable of challenging the United States hegemony. He is also responsible for one of the terrible purges in the history of the USSR that claimed millions of innocent lives. He is called Joseph Stalin, also known as the man of steel. 4. Early Life of Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin was born Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvilli on December 18, 1878 in Gori, Georgia. The region was part of the Russian Empire and later on the USSR before it became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Later on in life, the man who was born Josef Djugashvilli would adopt the name Stalin, meaning "Man of Steel" in Russia. Stalin's father was an alcoholic shoemaker who subjected the young Stalin to abuse and often beat him when drunk. As a child, Stalin was afflicted by small pox but eventually recovered. His parents took him to a seminary in Tblisi hoping he would become an Orthodox priest. H...