Modern Russia and The Soviet Union: Stalin :: Russian Russia History

Modern Russia and The Soviet Union StalinModern Russia and The Soviet Union Stalins character was the main reason for his rise to power Stalin was born as Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili on December 21, 1879 in Gori, Georgia. He grew up in a mountain town of about 5,000 people. He was the third and only surviving child of Vissarion Dzhugashvili and Catherine Geladze. His bugger off used to drink and beat him and his mother this made Stalin very cold hearted. A friend commented on his behaviour, Those undeserved and fearful beatings made the boy as hard and heartless as his father. His father died in a brawl when Stalin was only 11. Stalin was enrolled in the vill season at school at the age of eight. He was an intelligent student and was top of his class. He read many books, which glorified Georgians past. Georgia was an independent country until the Russian Tsars conquered it. One book that had a deep affect on Stalin was a book similar to that of Robin Hood. His name was Koba an d he hated the Russians and avenged their crimes against the Georgians. His acts were very ruthless and bloody. Stalin began to call himself Koba and this caught on with his friends. He was later to take on this pseudonym when he was in hiding from the tsars police. By 1894, Stalin had finished all of his schooling and had received a apprehension to the theological seminary in Tiflis, the capital of Georgia. The theological seminary building was dark and depressing. The students could have no privacy and were spied on by the Russian Orthodox monks. The monks also check into their rooms to see what they were reading and carefully scheduled each day, with prayer and study. Students had only one short break in the afternoon where they would go into the metropolis nether strict supervision. At first Stalin seemed to fit in with the strict schedule. He did well in his schoolwork and received the highest marks for conduct. He free-base time to write poetry of which were romantic and na tionalistic, these poems were published in a Georgian magazine devoted to the preservation of Georgian culture. Gradually Stalin became frustrated under the harsh regime. Years later, Stalin told an interviewer In protest against the outrageous....methods prevalent in the seminary, I was ready to become, and actually did become, a extremist. In 1898 Stalin took his first step towards a revolutionary lifestyle when he joined a Marxist group in Tiflis.