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Events on Wednesday 18 December 1878 2
1878 – 1953Joseph StalinSoviet dictator — industrialisation and terrorJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin (December 18, 1878 – March 5, 1953) was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. He transformed the USSR into an industrial superpower through collectivisation and Five Year Plans, but at the cost of millions of lives in the Great Purge and gulag system.
1878 – 1953StalinSoviet dictatorJoseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death, overseeing rapid industrialisation and the brutal Great Purge.