Description

Joseph StalinDecember 181878 March 5 1953 was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet politician who ruled theSoviet Unionfrom the mid1920s until his death in 1953 He served as thegeneral secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unionfrom 1922 to 1952 andpremier of the Soviet Unionfrom 1941 to 1953 Despite initially governing the Soviet Union as part of acollective leadership he eventually consolidated power to become the countrysde factodictatorby the 1930s and hispolicies became known asStalinism The following recording in Russian is from a speech Stalin made on November 7 1941 in the midst of World War II