Josef Stalin: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''An ungainly dwarf of a man passed through gilded and marbled imperial halls, and a path opened before him; radiant, admiring glances followed him, while the ears of courtiers strained to catch his every word. And he, sure of himself and his works, obviously paid no attention to all this. His country was in ruins, hungry, exhausted. But his armies and marshals, heavy with fat and medals and drunk with vodka and victory, had already trampled half of Europe under foot, and he was convinced they would trample over the other half in the next round. He knew that he was one of the cruelest, most despotic figures in human history. But this did not worry him a bit, for he was convinced that he was carrying out the will of history.''|Milovan Djilas <ref>Yugoslav communist theorist who later got exiled from his country</ref>, Conversations With Stalin (1962) }}

 

 

Before [[Red October]], he had an interesting and colorful early life. After dropping out of an Orthodox seminary, he helped the Bolsheviks by robbing banks (for which he did time in jail) [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|and writing poetry]]. His role in [[Red October]] wasn't large at all - at least, according to [[Leon Trotsky|Trotsky.]] He was put in charge of the Bolshevik Party's newspaper and organizational matters, which were background but fairly important jobs. He may have been late for the Revolution, but it didn't end in one night.