Stalin’s death

Joseph V. Stalin, the Soviet chief of state and party boss, dies of a stroke on 5 March 1953 in Moscow. The Georgian, born in 1879 under the name Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, rapidly climbed to leading positions in the government of Vladimir I. Lenin. However, Lenin soon recognised the former’s ruthless appetite for power and tried, shortly before his death in 1924, to prevent Stalin’s appointment as his successor – to no avail. With utmost brutality „the Steely One“ consolidated his position of power in the Soviet Union and in the Communist Party. „Stalinism“ became the synonym for rule by terror; millions of people lost their lives in forced labour camps. After the victory over Hitler’s Germany, Stalin was able to expand his domain over the Eastern European nations and the GDR. The red dictator’s death allowed many people to breathe a sign of relief. His successor, Nikita S. Khrushchev, will initiate a process of „de-Stalinisation“.

Source: celebritymorgue.com Stalin's corpse laid out in Moscow