Joseph Stalin

===Personality===
[[File:Stalin birthday2.jpg|thumb|Chinese Marxists celebrate Stalin's seventieth birthday in 1949.]]

Trotsky and several other Soviet figures promoted the idea that Stalin was a mediocrity.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=xvi|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=xxiii|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=4|4a1=Montefiore|4y=2007|4p=xxiv}} This gained widespread acceptance outside the Soviet Union during his lifetime but was misleading.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=xxiv}} According to Montefiore, "it is clear from hostile and friendly witnesses alike that Stalin was always exceptional, even from childhood".{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=xxiv}} Stalin had a complex mind,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=343}} great self-control,{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=8|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=337}} and an excellent memory.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1pp=193, 274|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=63|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=115|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=425|5a1=Khlevniuk|5y=2015|5p=148}} He was a hard worker,{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=42|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=353|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=424, 465, 597}} and displayed a keen desire to learn;{{sfn|Service|2004|p=115}} when in power, he scrutinised many details of Soviet life, from film scripts to architectural plans and military hardware.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=4–5}} According to Volkogonov, "Stalin's private life and working life were one and the same"; he did not take days off from political activities.{{sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=145}} Although, Bazhanov described Stalin as having little education and making limited contributions to various matters of state which were discussed at Politburo sessions.{{sfn|Bazhanov|Doyle|1990|p=181}} Similarly, historian [[Robert William Davies]] viewed Stalin as being liable to fall under the sway of persuasive charlatans such as the [[pseudo-scientific]], agronomist [[Trofim Lysenko]] due in part to his lack of education.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davies |first1=Robert William |title=Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution |date=1989 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-31604-2 |page=70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QbFT9HzhY2EC&dq=Stalin+lysenko+lack+of+understanding&pg=PA70 |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820113450/https://books.google.com/books?id=QbFT9HzhY2EC&dq=Stalin+lysenko+lack+of+understanding&pg=PA70 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Lenin's sister, [[Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova]], Lenin stated that "Stalin is not intelligent at all",{{sfn|Service|2004|p=191}} but "valued Stalin as a practical type".{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|pp=528-600}}

Stalin could play different roles to different audiences,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=317|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2p=xxvi|3a1=McDermott|3y=2006|3p=13}} and was adept at deception, often deceiving others as to his true motives and aims.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=xvi|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=18|3a1=McDermott|3y=2006|3p=13}} According to Bolshevik historian, [[Vladimir Nevsky]], Stalin was appointed the General Secretary because he used false rumours to convince Lenin that the party faced a split. Nevsky also claimed that Lenin would later deeply regret trusting Stalin and strove to correct this mistake with his "[[Lenin's Testament|Testament]]".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogovin |first1=Vadim Zakharovich |title=Was There an Alternative? Trotskyism: a Look Back Through the Years |date=2021 |publisher=Mehring Books |isbn=978-1-893638-97-6 |page=47 }}</ref> Several historians have seen it as appropriate to follow [[Lazar Kaganovich]]'s description of there being "several Stalins" as a means of understanding his multi-faceted personality.{{sfn|McDermott|2006|pp=12–13}} He was a good organiser,{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=42|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=424}} with a strategic mind,{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=424}} and judged others according to their inner strength, practicality, and cleverness.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=342}} He acknowledged that he could be rude and insulting,{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=120|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=648}} but he rarely raised his voice in anger;{{sfn|Service|2004|p=337}} as his health deteriorated in later life he became increasingly unpredictable and bad-tempered.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=145}} Despite his tough-talking attitude, he could be very charming;{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=2003|1p=92|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2pp=49–50|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3pp=117, 465|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2017|4p=5}} when relaxed, he cracked jokes and mimicked others.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=115}} Montefiore suggested that this charm was "the foundation of Stalin's power in the Party".{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=41}} According to Service he was "decisive, competent, confident, and ambitious".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=228}}

Stalin was also ruthless,{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=338|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=53}} temperamentally cruel,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=318|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=7}} and had a propensity for violence high even among the Bolsheviks.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=337}} He lacked compassion,{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=4|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=7}} something Volkogonov suggested might have been accentuated by his many years in prison and exile,{{sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=8}} although he was capable of acts of kindness to strangers, even amid the Great Terror.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=334}} He was capable of self-righteous indignation,{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=258|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=285}} and was resentful,{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=4, 344}} and vindictive,{{sfnm|1a1=Kotkin|1y=2014|1p=597|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2017|2p=6}} holding on to grudges for many years.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=10, 344|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2017|2p=5}} By the 1920s, he was also suspicious and conspiratorial, prone to believing that people were plotting against him and that there were vast international conspiracies behind acts of dissent.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=336|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=736}} He never attended torture sessions or executions,{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=175}} although Service thought Stalin "derived deep satisfaction" from degrading and humiliating people and enjoyed keeping even close associates in a state of "unrelieved fear".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=5}} Montefiore thought Stalin's brutality marked him out as a "natural extremist";{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=42}} Service suggested he had tendencies toward a paranoid and sociopathic personality disorder.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=343}} According to historian [[Geoffrey Roberts]], Stalin was not a psychopath.{{sfn|Roberts|2022|p=2}} He was instead an emotionally intelligent and feeling intellectual.{{sfn|Roberts|2022|p=2}} Other historians linked his brutality not to any personality trait, but to his unwavering commitment to the survival of the Soviet Union and the international Marxist–Leninist cause.{{sfn|McDermott|2006|p=12}} Conversely, historian E.A. Rees believed that there was a strong argument in the case of Stalin "that it was psychopathy that breed tyranny". Rees cited a diagnosis performed by neuropathologist [[Vladimir Bekhterev]] on Stalin in 1927 and who had described him as a "typical case of severe paranoia".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rees |first1=E. A. |title=Iron Lazar: A Political Biography of Lazar Kaganovich |date=15 October 2013 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-78308-057-1 |page=219 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DeWPAQAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+psychopath&pg=PA219 |access-date=23 June 2023 |archive-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630051151/https://books.google.com/books?id=DeWPAQAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+psychopath&pg=PA219 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Keenly interested in the arts,{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=620}} Stalin admired artistic talent.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=60}} He protected several Soviet writers from arrest and prosecution, such as [[Mikhail Bulgakov]], even when their work was labelled harmful to his regime.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=96}} He enjoyed listening to classical music,{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=73|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=6}} owning around 2,700 [[phonograph record|records]],{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=6}} and frequently attending the Bolshoi Theatre during the 1930s and 1940s.{{sfn|Volkogonov|1991|pp=127, 148}} His taste in music and theatre was conservative, favouring classical drama, opera, and ballet over what he dismissed as experimental "[[Formalism (art)|formalism]]".{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=97}} He also favoured classical forms in the visual arts, disliking avant-garde styles like [[cubism]] and [[futurism]].{{sfn|Volkogonov|1991|p=131}} He was a voracious reader and kept a personal library of over 20,000 books.{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=86|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=9|3a1=McDermott|3y=2006|3p=19|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2017|4pp=1–2, 5}} Little of this was fiction,{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=93}} although he could cite passages from [[Alexander Pushkin]], [[Nikolay Nekrasov]], and [[Walt Whitman]] by heart.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=60}} Stalin's favourite subject was history, closely followed by [[Marxist theory]] and then fiction.{{sfn|Roberts|2022|p=2}} Stalin knew Marxist theory well and according to Bullock was an "effective debater" who would quote Marx and Engels in his arguments.{{sfn|Bullock|1992|p=33}} He favoured historical studies, keeping up with debates in the study of Russian, Mesopotamian, ancient Roman, and Byzantine history.{{sfn|Service|2004|p=560}} He was very interested in the reigns of [[Ivan the Terrible]], [[Peter the Great]] and [[Catherine the Great]].{{sfn|Roberts|2022|p=2}} An [[autodidact]],{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=86|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=117, 676}} he claimed to read as many as 500 pages a day,{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=2003|1p=93|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=86|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=560|4a1=McDermott|4y=2006|4p=19}} with Montefiore regarding him as an intellectual.{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=86}} Lenin was his favourite author but he also read, and sometimes appreciated, a great deal of writing by [[Leon Trotsky]] and other archenemies.{{sfn|Roberts|2022|p=2}} Like all Bolshevik leaders, Stalin believed that reading could help transform not just people's ideas and consciousness, but [[human nature]] itself.{{sfn|Roberts|2022|p=2}} Stalin also enjoyed watching films late at night at cinemas installed in the Kremlin and his dachas.{{sfnm|1a1=Volkogonov|1y=1991|1p=127|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=2–3}} He liked the [[Western (genre)|Western]] genre,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=282|2a1=McCauley|2y=2003|2p=90}} although his favourite films were ''[[Volga Volga]]'' and ''[[Circus (1936 film)|Circus]]'' (both directed by [[Grigori Alexandrov]] and starring [[Lyubov Orlova]]).{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=145}}

Stalin was a keen and accomplished [[billiards]] player,{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1pp=58, 507|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2017|2p=1}} and collected watches.{{sfn|Kotkin|2017|p=1}} He also enjoyed practical jokes; for instance, he would place a tomato on the chairs of Politburo members and wait for them to sit on it.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=283|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=437}} When at social events, he encouraged singing,{{sfn|Service|2004|p=522}} as well as alcohol consumption; he hoped that others would drunkenly reveal their secrets to him.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=2003|1p=90|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=437, 522–523|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=5}} As an infant, Stalin displayed a love of flowers,{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=24}} and later in life he became a keen gardener.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=24}} His Volynskoe suburb had a {{convert|50|acre|ha|order=flip|adj=on}} park, with Stalin devoting much attention to its agricultural activities.{{sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=3–4}}

Stalin publicly condemned anti-Semitism,{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|pp=319, 637}} although [[Stalin and antisemitism|he was repeatedly accused of it]].{{sfn|Service|2004|p=55}} People who knew him, such as Khrushchev, suggested he long harboured negative sentiments toward Jews,{{sfnm|1a1=Etinger|1y=1995|1p=103|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=165}} and it has been argued that anti-Semitic trends in his policies were further fuelled by Stalin's struggle against Trotsky.{{sfnm|1a1=Etinger|1y=1995|1p=103|2a1=Rappaport|2y=1999|2p=297}} After Stalin's death, Khrushchev claimed that Stalin encouraged him to incite anti-Semitism in Ukraine, allegedly telling him that "the good workers at the factory should be given clubs so they can beat the hell out of those Jews."{{sfnm|1a1=Pinkus|1y=1984|1pp=107–108|2a1=Brackman|2y=2001|2p=390}} In 1946, Stalin allegedly said privately that "every Jew is a potential spy".{{sfn|Brent|Naumov|2004|p=184}} Conquest stated that although Stalin had Jewish associates, he promoted anti-Semitism.{{sfn|Conquest|1991|p=8}} Service cautioned that there was "no irrefutable evidence" of anti-Semitism in Stalin's published work, although his private statements and public actions were "undeniably reminiscent of crude antagonism towards Jews";{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=567–568}} he added that throughout Stalin's lifetime, the Georgian "would be the friend, associate or leader of countless individual Jews".{{sfn|Service|2004|p=77}} Additionally, according to Beria, Stalin had affairs with several Jewish women.{{sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=237}}

His ability to assume absolute power has remained a subject of historical debate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pipes |first1=Richard |title=Three "whys" of the Russian Revolution |date=1998 |publisher=Pimlico |isbn=978-0-7126-7362-4 |pages=63–65 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJ25QAAACAAJ |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713032415/https://books.google.com/books?id=DJ25QAAACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Some historians have attributed his success to his personal qualities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Leslie |title=Communism: A Very Short Introduction |date=27 August 2009 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-955154-5 |pages=10–15 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OasVDAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+why+won+succession&pg=PA10 |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713032342/https://books.google.com/books?id=OasVDAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+why+won+succession&pg=PA10 |url-status=live }}</ref> Contrarily, certain political theorists such as Trotsky have emphasised the role of external conditions in facilitating the growth of a Soviet bureaucracy which served as a power base for Stalin.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trotsky |first1=Leon |title=The Revolution Betrayed: What is the Soviet Union and where is it Going? |date=1991 |publisher=Mehring Books |isbn=978-0-929087-48-1 |pages=85–98 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiCYS9Z3lDoC&q=trotsky+defeat+bureaucracy |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713031819/https://books.google.com/books?id=hiCYS9Z3lDoC&q=trotsky+defeat+bureaucracy |url-status=live }}</ref> Other historians have regarded the premature deaths of prominent Bolsheviks such as Vladimir Lenin and [[Yakov Sverdlov]] to have been key factors in his elevation to the position of leadership in the Soviet Union. In part, because Sverdlov served as the original [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#List of officeholders|chairman of the party secretariat]] and was considered a natural candidate for the position of General Secretary.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mccauley |first1=Martin |title=Stalin and Stalinism: Revised 3rd Edition |date=13 September 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-86369-4 |page=35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ7dAAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+general+secretary+Lenin+Yakov+Sverdlov&pg=PA35 |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713031818/https://books.google.com/books?id=oQ7dAAAAQBAJ&dq=Stalin+general+secretary+Lenin+Yakov+Sverdlov&pg=PA35 |url-status=live }}</ref> Historian [[Peter Kenez]] believed that Trotsky could probably have removed Stalin with the use of Lenin's testament, but he acquiesced to the collective decision not to publish the document.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kenez |first1=Peter |title=A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End |date=13 March 1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-31198-4 |page=77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIY9qb6iIEcC&dq=lenin+testament+collective+leadership+trotsky&pg=PA77 |access-date=15 August 2023 |archive-date=20 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230820113448/https://books.google.com/books?id=aIY9qb6iIEcC&dq=lenin+testament+collective+leadership+trotsky&pg=PA77 |url-status=live }}</ref>