| Joseph Stalin | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili |
|
Born |
December 18, 1878 |
|
Died |
March 5, 1953 |
Historical Background[]
1936 Portrait of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (1878-1953) was a Georgian and Soviet communist and leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1922 to 1953. He was the longest-serving leader of the Soviet Union. He held power as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1922 to 1952, and Premier from 1941 until his death.
Born into a poor ethnic Georgian family in Gori in what was then the Russian Empire, Stalin attended the Tiflis Theological Seminary before joining the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He raised funds for Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction via robberies, ransom kidnappings and protection rackets, and edited the party's newspaper, Pravda. He was repeatedly arrested and internally exiled to Siberia. He served in the Russian Civil War before becoming General Secretary and overseeing the Soviet Union's establishment in 1922. To eradicate his remaining opposition and those he declared "enemies of the people", between 1936 and 1938 Stalin orchestrated the Great Purge. In 1939, his regime signed a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany. Germany ended the pact by invading the Soviet Union in 1941, after which Stalin joined the Allies as one of the "Big Three".
The Soviet Red Army repelled the German invasion and captured Berlin in 1945, ending World War II in Europe. The Soviet Union, which had annexed the Baltic states and territories from Finland and Romania amid the war, established Soviet-aligned governments in Central and Eastern Europe.
The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as global superpowers and entered a period of tension known as the Cold War. After Stalin's death in 1953, he was eventually succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev.
Public Domain Comic Book Appearances[]
- Treasure Chest V. 17 #2, 6, 10, 12, 14
- True Comics #27, 57, 61
- A Picture Story of the United States #1
- Ibis the Invincible #1
- Danger #8
- Fightin' Air Force #12
- Captain Marvel Adventures #35
- Green Hornet Comics #16
- Contact Comics #3
- 48 Famous Americans (nn)
- Amazing Mystery Funnies 13 (v2 #9)
- Adventures into the Unknown #128
- Judo Joe #2
- Watch Out For Big Talk