Notes

Leadership
Joseph Stalin was an effective leader of the Soviet Union. This was because:

He made decisions mostly based on the thought of his council and the people.
He made speeches, such as the one on Red Square in Moscow, in which he used powerful and moving statements, motivating his army with confident statements in his country, such as this: "Utter destruction to the German invaders! Death to the German armies of occupation! Long live our glorious motherland, her freedom and her independence! Under the banner of Lenin-onward to victory!" (JOSEPH STALIN'S SPEECH ON RED SQUARE ON ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION).
He used extremely strict policies, such as "'Order No. 270,' which proclaimed that any troops who surrendered or allowed themselves to be captured were traitors in the eyes of the law and would be executed if they ever returned to Russia" (8 Things You Should Know About WWII's Eastern Front).
He used Lenin, the previous ruler of Russia, as a stepping stone to gain power for himself. He secretly killed Lenin because he did not want any political opponents, however the public did not know of this, and he seized this opportunity to gain power by saying things such as, "The spirit of the great Lenin inspires us for our patriotic war today as it did 23 years ago" JOSEPH STALIN'S SPEECH ON RED SQUARE ON ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION OF THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION).

Legacy - Western SidE Of the world
Stalin was seen as a decent leader, because America and Russia were allied during WWII.
Not many Americans realized how ruthless and cold-blooded he really was.
Because of this, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1948 for contributing to ending WWII.
Today, he is seen as a vicious being who would do anything to gain power, and now has a negative connotation to his name, due to the fact of how many he killed and tortured, with his ruthless edicts and strict policies during his ruling era.









Legacy - Eastern side of the world
Stalin transformed the Soviet Union from an agricultural society, launching an industrial era.
He led Russia through WWII, making allies and enemies that would have longstanding effects and establishing the USSR as a national superpower.
Stalin evolved Russia's nuclear technology with the Atomic Bomb project, originally started by him, which greatly expanded after the war, creating high tech nuclear weapons and making them usable, which would eventually carry on during the Cold War.
He is known in some parts of Russia as a strong and wise leader who brought about modernization.






Background















HOW he rose to Power