# Joseph Stalin - General Secretary of the Communist Party

URL: https://history-russia.com/rulers/joseph-stalin
Reign: 1924 - 1953
Born-Died: 1878 - 1953
Dynasty: Soviet Leadership
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin

Stalin outmanoeuvred his rivals after Lenin's death and ruled the USSR as dictator. His rule combined forced industrialisation and collectivisation, mass repression and victory in the Second World War.

## Succession
- Preceded by: [Vladimir Lenin](https://history-russia.com/rulers/vladimir-lenin)
- Succeeded by: [Georgy Malenkov](https://history-russia.com/rulers/georgy-malenkov)

## Timeline events during this reign
- 1924 - [Death of Lenin](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1924-death-of-lenin)
- 1925 - [Battleship Potemkin and Soviet avant-garde](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1925-battleship-potemkin-and-soviet-avant-garde)
- 1927 - [Trotsky expelled](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1927-trotsky-expelled)
- 1928 - [First Five-Year Plan](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1928-first-five-year-plan)
- 1929 - [Collectivisation and dekulakisation](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1929-collectivisation-and-dekulakisation)
- 1930 - [The Gulag](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1930-the-gulag)
- 1931 - [Demolition of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1931-demolition-of-the-cathedral-of-christ-the-saviour)
- 1932 - [Soviet famine of 1932-1933](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1932-soviet-famine-of-1932-1933)
- 1934 - [Assassination of Sergei Kirov](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1934-assassination-of-sergei-kirov)
- 1935 - [Moscow Metro opens](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1935-moscow-metro-opens)
- 1936 - [Show trials and the Stalin Constitution](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1936-show-trials-and-the-stalin-constitution)
- 1937 - [The Great Purge](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1937-the-great-purge)
- 1937 - [Chkalov's transpolar flight](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1937-chkalov-s-transpolar-flight)
- 1939 - [Battles of Khalkhin Gol](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1939-battles-of-khalkhin-gol)
- 1939 - [Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1939-molotov-ribbentrop-pact)
- 1939 - [Winter War](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1939-winter-war)
- 1940 - [Katyn massacre](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1940-katyn-massacre)
- 1940 - [Occupation of the Baltic states](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1940-occupation-of-the-baltic-states)
- 1941 - [Operation Barbarossa](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1941-operation-barbarossa)
- 1941 - [Deportation of the Volga Germans](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1941-deportation-of-the-volga-germans)
- 1941 - [Siege of Leningrad begins](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1941-siege-of-leningrad-begins)
- 1941 - [Battle of Moscow](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1941-battle-of-moscow)
- 1942 - [Battle of Stalingrad begins](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1942-battle-of-stalingrad-begins)
- 1943 - [Victory at Stalingrad](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1943-victory-at-stalingrad)
- 1943 - [Battle of Kursk](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1943-battle-of-kursk)
- 1943 - [Tehran Conference](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1943-tehran-conference)
- 1944 - [Siege of Leningrad lifted](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1944-siege-of-leningrad-lifted)
- 1944 - [Deportations of the Chechens, Ingush and Crimean Tatars](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1944-deportations-of-the-chechens-ingush-and-crimean-tatars)
- 1944 - [Operation Bagration](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1944-operation-bagration)
- 1945 - [Yalta Conference](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1945-yalta-conference)
- 1945 - [Fall of Berlin and Victory Day](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1945-fall-of-berlin-and-victory-day)
- 1945 - [Soviet-Japanese War](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1945-soviet-japanese-war)
- 1946 - [Zhdanov Doctrine](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1946-zhdanov-doctrine)
- 1948 - [Berlin Blockade](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1948-berlin-blockade)
- 1949 - [First Soviet atomic bomb](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1949-first-soviet-atomic-bomb)
- 1953 - [Death of Stalin](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1953-death-of-stalin)
- 1953 - [Arrest of Beria](https://history-russia.com/timeline/1953-arrest-of-beria)