World War II And The Cold War - 916 Words

On a cold March morning on the 5th of 1953 Stalin lay in his bed surrounded by his personal doctors the great uncle Joe Stalin had been laid to rest euthanized by his doctors. He had grown up a member of the communist party more so a member as a means to power then a true believer in the doctrine. He would soon see this position put him in charge of the entirety of the newly named USSR (United Soviet Socialts Republic). He would steer the country through the horrors of World War II and he would consolidate all of Russia with fierce and deadly determination. Then see his country go face to face with the U.S. in the Cold War. Growing up Joseph Stalin was known as Losif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. He was born in Gori, Georgia on December†¦show more content†¦During his time he began to but heads with Trotsky, Lenin s second in command and his rival for power. With Lenin s death in 1924 Stalin began to centralize his power. He had Trotsky tried in a kangaroo court and exiled, l eaving him with no rival to power. By 1928 he was in complete control and began phase one of five year plan. His five year plan was a series of nationalized plans for the economic modernization of the Soviet Union. He rapidly changed an agricultural society to an industrial power house. This lead to massive famine taking the lives of over 5million Russian citizens between 1932 and 1933(1). These changes were not without challenge. Anyone who spoke up against his changes would be exiled to Siberian work camps and worked to death. By 1934 Stalin had purged the rest of the Soviet party using mock courts, assassination, and â€Å"unfortunate† accidents. This left him as absolute ruler of the U.S.S.R. In the fall of 1939 Stalin would see his country enter WWII. He started with a neutrality agreement with Germany. Hitler would soon violate this treaty and push him into the arms of the Allied Powers. He was very resistant to put his armies on the defense, because he was wanting to make sure Hitler made the first move (3). The war had not been going well for Stalin. This culminate in the battle of Stalingrad. This bloody battle turned the tide of war for Stalin but cost him almost 1million troops (3). With the close of the war in 1945