Revolutionary Joseph Stalin rose to power upon Lenin’s death in 1924. The dictator ruled with a series of brutal policies which left millions of his own citizens dead. During his reign, which lasted until 1953, Stalin transformed the Soviet Union from an agrarian society to an industrial and military superpower. Stalin approved a series of five-year plans to spur economic growth and transform the Soviet Union. The first five-year plan focused on collectivizing agriculture and rapid industrialization. Subsequent 5-year plans focused on the production of armaments and military buildup. Between 1928 and 1940 Stalin forced collectivization of the agricultural sector. Some people were forced to join collective farms. Those that owned land or livestock were stripped of their holdings. Hundreds of thousands of higher income farmers called kulaks were round up, executed, and their property confiscated. The Communists believe that consolidating individually owned farms into a series of large state-run collective farms would increase agriculture productivity. The agricultural collectivism ultimately failed.

This is a portrait of Joseph Stalin during his reign as leader in the USSR.