Joseph Stalin

Stalin was the only Georgian born leader of the Soviet Union.

Encouraged to be a priest by his mother, Stalin was paranoid about power after defeating Trotsky who wanted to be Lenin's successor even though Lenin wanted him removed from power in his 1923 testament. This would later be repeated with his show trials which saw many of his comrades put on trial, depicted as betrayers of the Soviet Union before being killed. During his regime, Stalin decided to greatly improve the system within the Soviet Union with the establishment of many factories and schools as part of his 3 Five Year Plans. He reverted the Soviet Union into a fully communist state which saw the bourgeoisie being sent to Gulags which were labour camps. Stalin signed the Nazi- Soviet non-Aggression pact with Hitler before they invaded Poland.

With the Nazis invading Europe, Stalin implemented Scorched Earth Policy which saw factories being moved out of reach of the Nazis as well as roads and railways being dismantled so the Nazis had little to no choice Operation Barbarossa (their invasion of the Soviet Union). As a result, he was seen as a hero by the west until the start of the Cold War.

His Cult of Personality portrayed him as a father figure who was the only one that could lead the Soviet Union into the future.
On 5 March 1953, Joseph Stalin succumbed to a stroke after collapsing on 1 March. As he lay in state, thousands of Soviets who wished to see him came in surges which resulted in many people being crushed to death. Even in death, Stalin killed innocent people.