Josef Stalin in a Nutshell

Josef Stalin was born on December 21, 1879 in Gori, Georgia. His father, Vissiarion, would often get drunk and beat him recklessly until he died in a fight when Josef was 11. His mother earned extra money to win him entry to Orthodox Seminary in Tiflis. Josef was expelled from the seminary at age 19, in 1899, for reading radical literature, such as that of German theorist Karl Marx.
He then became a Marxist revolutionary with the alias Koba, or "Indomitable". His goal was to overthrow the inept Czar Nicholas II, who had been ruling at the time. Soon afterwards, he was exiled to Siberia. He managed to escape in 1904 and traveled hundreds of miles by peasant cart back to Tiflis. Vladimir Lenin masterminded the first revolution in Geneva.
Between 1907 and 1917, Josef spent a total of seven years in jail. During periods of freedom, he...