Fall of the Soviet Union & the Yeltsin years with Rich Caballero

We will examine the life of Josef V. Djugashvili, better known as Stalin, tracing his rise from the son of a violent, alcoholic cobbler to the leader of a nuclear superpower. Through ruthless ambition, he climbed the Bolshevik ranks and transformed the USSR through industrialization and collectivization, policies that caused millions of deaths. His purges and wartime leadership during the conflict with Nazi Germany contributed to even greater losses. Despite his brutal rule, Stalin died of natural causes in 1953.