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[[File: Stalin in exile 1915.jpg |thumbnail|left|200px|Stalin in Siberia]]
How and when did Joseph Stalin come to power? Stalin is remembered as was one of the bloodiest tyrants in the world history of the world. He was the absolute ruler of the Soviet Union and later of the Communist bloc in Eastern Europe. He rose to this unprecedented level of power as a result of his capabilities and his understanding of the workings of the Communist Party. Stalin translated these strengths into total control of the Soviet Union after the Russian Civil War (1917-1920). Stalin was not the natural successor of [[How did Vladimir Lenin Rise To Power?|Vladimir Lenin]], but he was able to use his position within the Soviet Communist Party to become the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union.<ref>Boobbyer, Phillip. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415182980/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415182980&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=10976fbde66cefcc9a2808e5d094f993 The Stalin Era]'' (Routledge, London, 2000), p. 78</ref>
Joseph Stalin, the future leader of the Soviet Union, often referred to as the ‘Red Tsar,' was born on 18 December 1878 to a Georgian cobbler in Gori, Georgia and his wife in a small, impoverished village. His real name was Josef Besarionis de Jughashvili. <ref> Boobyear, p. 111</ref> He was ethnically Georgian, but Georgia was part of the Tsarist Russian Empire. After leaving school, Stalin went to a seminary. Instead of studying theology and the Bible, he embraced Marxism and became a follower of Vladimir Lenin, leader of the revolutionary Bolshevik Party.<ref> Conquest, Robert. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140169539/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140169539&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=78415985f069f734b98307b00183a2dd Stalin: Breaker of Nations]''. (Viking-Penguin, Hammondsworth, 1999), p. 112</ref>
Stalin soon joined the Bolshevik movement and was very active in violent attacks on the Tsarist government. He was noted a notorious bank robber, and he committed these were undertaken in order robberies to subvert the system Tsarist government and gain funds for fund the revolution. After being placed under surveillance by Russian secret police, the Ohrakan, for his activities, he went underground.<ref>Conquest, p. 78</ref> He became one of the Bolsheviks' leaders in the Caucasus, organizing paramilitaries, and taking part in a terrorist campaign in the region. He was involved in the notorious Tiflis bank robbery, during which where 40 people were killed. This robbery raised his standing among the Bolshevik leadership.<ref>Conquest, p. 87 </ref>
Stalin was captured and exiled to Siberia numerous times, but usually, he escaped. He eventually became one of Vladimir Lenin's closest associates, or so he was later to vigorously claim which helped him rise to the heights of power after the Russian Revolution. In 1910 he changed his name to Stalin, meaning in Russian ‘Man of Steel’ supposedly adopted to protect his real identity from the police and perhaps also to create a public image as a true revolutionary. <ref>Boobyear, p. 134</ref>
====October Revolution and the Russian Civil War====
[[File:Russian_Revolution_of_1917.jpg|thumbnail|left|300px|Bolshevik troops in Red Square]]
By 1917, Stalin was in St. Petersburg, which was soon to be renamed Petrograd. This city was the capital of the revolutionary government that had seized power from [[Why did the Russian Romanov Dynasty collapse in 1917?|the Tsar]] and his government in February 1917. The Provisional Government under Alexander Kerensky was becoming unpopular despite ending the rule of the Romanov’s. They had failed to end the war and to redistributed land to the Russian peasants. <ref> Montefiore, Simon Sebag. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1400076781/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1400076781&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8d302940930c5b356ba181d00bc19d29 Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar]''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003), p. 117</ref>
The Bolsheviks skillfully adopted a policy of promising peace and land to the war-weary and starving population. Their message made them very popular, and in October 1917, they stormed the Winter Place and declared that the Russian Empire was now the Soviet Union.<ref>Montefiore, p. 111</ref>Stalin's role in the Bolshevik Revolution is unknown. In later propaganda, Stalin was presented in posters and other images as being by Lenin’s side during the Revolution, but Stalin appears to have played only a minor role in the Revolution. <ref>Montefiore, p. 113</ref>
However, Stalin made his reputation during the Russian Civil War. He was appointed as a Political Commissar to several Generals and ensured that they were loyal to the Bolsheviks. Eventually, he was given a military command and brutally suppressed White Counter-Revolutionaries and bandits. He was also instrumental in conquering his native Georgia, which had declared itself to be independent. Stalin was later appointed to the army in the Ukraine, and he helped to push back a Polish invasion. However, he was criticized for not routing the Poles and exporting the revolution to that country and elsewhere in Europe.<ref>Montefiore, p. 118</ref>
====Stalin as General Secretary of the Bolshevik Party====
====Lenin and Stalin====
[[File:Lenin_and_stalin_crop.jpg|left|thumbnail|250px|Lenin and Stalin in Gorki, 1922]]
After the Revolution, Lenin held power in the new country. However, in 1922, after surgery, he had a stroke, and he was never the same. The stroke weakended weakened Lenin, and many feared that he would not have long to live. Lenin was largely confined to a country retreat and cut off from politics. The ruling council of the Bolshevik Party, the Politburo, ordered Lenin to avoid and concentrate on his recovery.
Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, was one of the few people who still had access to him. Stalin used his position to cut Lenin off from the party and effectively to isolate him. He knew that Lenin’s disliked him because Lenin perceived him as cruel and authoritarian. Stalin even berated Lenin's wife for breaching Politburo orders by helping Lenin communicate with others on public matters. Stalin's attack on his wife angered Lenin.<ref>Read, Christopher. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415206499/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0415206499&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=d05be7a646c17cc922f1ffe49958037b Lenin: A Revolutionary Life]</i> (London: Routledge, 2005), p. 112</ref>
Allies of Stalin colluded to repress all mention of the document. Lenin died of a suspected stroke on January 21st, 1924. Stalin was given the honor of organizing the official funeral. He arranged the funeral and ignored Lenin’s final wishes. Stalin also gave an oration at the funeral, despite the opposition of Lenin’s window. Stalin under the rules of the Party was now the de-facto successor of Lenin. However, the party was not under his control, he had to share power with a collection of other Soviet leaders, including Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev.<ref>Read, p. 236</ref>
====Stalin’s Rise to Power====
Stalin was officially the leader of the Communist party, but to many in the Party, he was only a figurehead. Many dismissed him as a nonentity and a political figure of no real substance. Many prominent Bolsheviks had always underestimated Stalin because he was not well educated. Trotsky, Kamenev, and Zinoviev all saw themselves as the logical choice as the successor of Lenin. However, they were not as popular as they believed and that Stalin was very popular with the ordinary Party member. Stalin was shrewd enough not to appear to be seeking the leadership of the Party. Furthermore, Stalin publically denounced Kamenev and Zinoviev, when they tried to involve him in a conspiracy against Trotsky in 1925. Only Stalin and Trotsky as the sole contenders for the leadership role.<ref> Felshtinsky, Yuri. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1929631952/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1929631952&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=8e5c4b8740fbfc8f691fb6ae90aae02b Lenin and His Comrades: The Bolsheviks Take Over Russia 1917–1924]</i>. Enigma Books, 2000), p. 201</ref>
====Conclusion====
By 1928, Stalin was the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union. In 1920, he managed to achieve this despite the opposition of Lenin and many of the senior leaders in the Party. He was widely seen as an uneducated peasant. However, he managed to turn this to his advantage and in his role as General Secretary, he built up his a power base in the country. Stalin was also generally popular among the ordinary Party Members , and this was crucialto his success. Stalin had effectively built a powerful and influential following which allowed him gradually take total control of the Soviet Union.
Updated October 14November 15, 2018
====Suggested Readings====
