Soviet dictator who ruthlessly enforced Communism in the USSR from 1929 to 1953. He executed many of his former party members including Leon Trotsky in a Great Purge during the 1930's and he sent millions of his people to labour camps known as Gulags.
He was expelled from a Georgian Orthodox seminary for missing his final exams and forming a Social Democratic study circle that read illegal literature.
Under his leadership, the USSR became the second world power with nuclear weapons, and engaged in the Cold War against the United States.
He married twice, his second marriage to Nadezhda Alliluyeva lasted from 1919 to 1932. His children were Yakov Dzhugashvili, Vasily Dzhugashvili, and Svetlana Alliluyeva.
The more power he gained, the easier it was to put down opposition groups like those headed by Leon Trotsky.
