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Born Into Poverty
In Gori, Georgia, Joseph is born
To a cobbler and laundress who both cannot read
Their three other children's deaths they do mourn
On the bright side, fewer mouths to feed -
Period: to
Stalin's Lifetime
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Troubled Childhood
Joseph gets smallpox at seven years old
Kids are bullies and nickname him "pocky"
Father beats him back at the household
Toughing it out makes Joseph cocky -
Rebel At Heart
To seminary school Joseph goes next
Though his true interest lies with Messame-Dassy*
Karl Marx intrigues him, not religious text
He's kicked out of school for behavior non-classy *Socialist group located in Tbilisi, Georgia, where Joseph goes to school -
Man of Steel
Joseph's commitment to the SDP* is real
Raising money through robberies and other crimes
He adopts the name Stalin meaning "man of steel"
Since he escapes jail and exile countless times *Social Democratic Party -
Bolshevik Revolution
After the Bolshevik Revolution, Stalin is adored
For rescuing Lenin in his darkest hour
Appointment to General Secretary is Joseph's reward
A position he manipulates so he can rise to power -
Purges and Politics
Stalin's "Socialism In One Country" really takes flight
On being dictator of Russia his sights are set
He purges through exile those he thinks are a blight
By the late 1920's his goal of ruling is met -
The Great Terror (1930's)
His Great Terror starts with the return of collective farms
And rapid industrialization, causing millions of deaths
But Stalin has no care for the people he harms
In the Gulag protestors take their last breaths
Stalin is ruthless to even those he holds close
He abuses his wife until she kills herself
Next on his agenda is a pact to propose
Which Hitler agrees to since it will benefit himself -
Stalin and WWII (The 1940's)
The Nazis strike Russia much to Stalin's surprise
He hides in his office for days on end
After much fighting the Soviets win the prize
Of defeating Hitler, Stalin's no longer friend
At Potsdam however Russia feels outcast
Stalin anticipates a Western attack
So he infects Eastern Europe with a communism blast
And blockades Berlin to hold the Allies back -
The End of an Era
Stalin catches wind of an assassination plot
And plans to purge his government before it's too late
Ironically he dies of a stroke and cannot
Some mourn his death but most celebrate
