Joseph Stalin

=== 1899–1904: Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party ===
[[File:Stalin 1902.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Police photograph of Stalin, taken in 1902]]
In October 1899, Stalin began work as a meteorologist at the Tiflis observatory.{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=54|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=27|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3pp=43–44|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4p=76|5a1=Kotkin|5y=2014|5pp=47–48}} He had a light workload and therefore had plenty of time for revolutionary activity. He attracted a group of supporters through his classes in socialist theory{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=79}} and co-organised a secret workers' mass meeting for [[International Workers' Day|May Day]] 1900,{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=54|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=27|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=78}} at which he successfully encouraged many of the men to take strike action.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=78}} By this point, the empire's secret police, the [[Okhrana]], were aware of Stalin's activities in Tiflis' revolutionary milieu.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=78}} They attempted to arrest him in March 1901, but he escaped and went into hiding,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=27|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=45|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=81–82|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=49}} living off the donations of friends and sympathisers.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=82}} Remaining underground, he helped plan a demonstration for May Day 1901, in which 3,000 marchers clashed with the authorities.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=28|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=82|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=50}} He continued to evade arrest by using aliases and sleeping in different apartments.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=87}} In November 1901, he was elected to the Tiflis Committee of the [[Russian Social Democratic Labour Party]] (RSDLP), a Marxist party founded in 1898.{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=63|2a1=Rieber|2y=2005|2pp=37–38|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=87–88}}

That month, Stalin travelled to the port city of [[Batumi]].{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=29|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=52|3a1=Rieber|3y=2005|3p=39|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4p=101|5a1=Kotkin|5y=2014|5p=51}} His militant rhetoric proved divisive among the city's Marxists, some of whom suspected that he might be an ''[[agent provocateur]]'' working for the government.{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2007|1pp=91, 95|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=53}} He found employment at the [[Rothschild family|Rothschild]] refinery storehouse, where he co-organised two workers' strikes.{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2007|1pp=90–93|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=51|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3pp=22–23}} After several strike leaders were arrested, he co-organised a mass public demonstration which led to the storming of the prison; troops fired upon the demonstrators, 13 of whom were killed.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=29|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=49|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=94–95|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=52|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=23}} Stalin organised another mass demonstration on the day of their funeral,{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|pp=97–98}} before being arrested in April 1902.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=29|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=49|3a1=Rieber|3y=2005|3p=42|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4p=98|5a1=Kotkin|5y=2014|5p=52}} Held first in Batumi Prison{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=67|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=52|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=101}} and then Kutaisi Prison,{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=67|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=29|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=52|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4p=105}} in mid-1903 he was sentenced to three years of exile in eastern Siberia.{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=68|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=29|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=107|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=53|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=23}}

Stalin left Batumi in October, arriving at the small Siberian town of [[Novaya Uda, Irkutsk Oblast|Novaya Uda]] in late November 1903.{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=75|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=29|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=52|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4pp=108–110}} There, he lived in a two-room peasant's house, sleeping in the building's larder.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=111}} He made two escape attempts: On the first, he made it to [[Balagansk]] before returning due to [[frostbite]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=52|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=114–115}} His second attempt, in January 1904, was successful and he made it to Tiflis.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=52|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=115–116|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=53}} There, he co-edited a Georgian Marxist newspaper, ''[[Proletariatis Brdzola]]'' ("Proletarian Struggle"), with [[Filipp Makharadze]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=57|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=123}} He called for the Georgian Marxist movement to split from its Russian counterpart, resulting in several RSDLP members accusing him of holding views contrary to the ethos of [[Proletarian internationalism|Marxist internationalism]] and calling for his expulsion from the party; he soon recanted his opinions.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=54|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=117–118|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=77}} During his exile, the RSDLP had split between [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s "[[Bolsheviks]]" and [[Julius Martov]]'s "[[Mensheviks]]".{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=33–34|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=53|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=113|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=78–79|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=24}} Stalin detested many of the Mensheviks in Georgia and aligned himself with the Bolsheviks.{{sfnm|1a1=Deutscher|1y=1966|1p=76|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=59|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=80|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=24}} Although he established a Bolshevik stronghold in the mining town of [[Chiatura]],{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=131}} Bolshevism remained a minority force in the Menshevik-dominated Georgian revolutionary scene.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=38|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=59}}