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The name Stalin has become synonymous with the definition of a despot: one who exercises power abusively, oppressively, or tyrannously. His despotic rule brought about a dark period in Russian history shrouded in secrecy, uncertainty and fear. Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union successfully transformed Russia into a great world power and industrial giant, but did so at the expense of its people. It was under this leadership that Stalin directed the commission of one of the greatest mass murders of all time now known as the Great Purge or the Great Terror. The use of this type of terrorization became an integral part of the Soviet system and continued throughout his reign until his death. Stalin’s megalomania and insatiable need for total control fueled by insecurity and inferiority, culminated in the purging of both the communist party and the Russian public at large. Undoubtedly his practices during his rule shaped, perhaps irrevocably, the manner in which both the people of Russia and those outside of it regard Soviet communism. Joseph Stalin’s given name was Iosif Vissarionovich Djugashvili and was born in Gori, Georgia on 21 December 1879 to Vissarion Ivanovich and Ekaterina Georgievna Djugashvili. It shou