ABSTRACT
Joseph Stalin, born Joseph Dzhugashvili, 1878–1953, was dictator and supreme commander of the USSR for more than a quarter century. He was ultimately responsible for the death of approximately twenty million people, including combatants and civilians. In 1939, he signed a nonaggression pact with Hitler, but was betrayed in 1941 when Germany invaded the USSR. Stalin then allied with Great Britain and the United States against Germany. Stalin’s parents, Vissarion and Ekaterina, had two children prior to Joseph. Both died in infancy. A significant feature of Stalin’s childhood and youth was the fact that his father was an alcoholic who frequently beat his son.
