Mom wanted him to enter the priesthood but
the Josef that entered the seminary had already
decided it was Karl Marx that showed him the
way of the world.
By the time of Lenin's death in 1923, it was apparent
Stalin had fundamental differences with the founder of
the Soviet Union. Lenin increasingly chose practical
solutions to his country's economic problems, setting
aside his communist teachings.
Stalin was a True Believer.
Lenin's measures led the Soviet state away from
the teachings of Marxism. Fortunately, death stepped in.
Industrialization was Stalin's top priority once he
took power. His program rocketed the Soviet Union
from fifteenth most industrialized nation to being
second only to the United States.
Stalin directed his same brutal urgency towards
his country's farming. Families lost their farms
and they were sent to large government farms
called Collectives. Crop yields dropped drastically.
Millions lost their lives in the famine that spread
across the land.
Stalin got his way, though.
You don't disappoint Stalin.
Everyone must fear you.
First rule of Rule.
Trust no one.
Paranoia comes with being leader.
Stalin did not tolerate opposition.
Millions of everyday people of the Soviet Union were
sent off to the Gulag, labor camps in the Arctic zone.
An untold number of these people were executed.
Don't do anything that could be construed as disloyal.
Do what you're told no matter how stupid it seems.
Keep your head down.
Stalin ruled by terror.
Stalin and Hitler despised one another.
But hatred did not stand in the way of their
making a deal.
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939
assured Hitler he would be taking on France
and Britain only. There would be no two front war.
Russia promised to remain on the sidelines.
This arrangement with Hitler bought Stalin the time
he would need to prepare his army to fight the
Wehrmacht in a war both sides knew would come.
By 1947 Truman wasn't tolerating Stalin.
The Kremlin controlled all of Eastern Europe
and, still, the Soviets were probing about
for weakness in the West.
Iran, Turkey, Greece.
Truman was forced to respond.
First came the Truman Doctrine which laid out
a plan to contain Soviet Expansion.
Then the Marshall Plan was introduced
in order to revitalize the European economy.
Finally, the United States promised to defend
Western Europe from attack through NATO,
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Stalin's probing would continue with a war
in Korea and a blockade of Berlin.
Every global argument became us versus them.
The Cold War was underway.
* * * * *
OVER EASY
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