The Soviet-German War is the most brutal episode of the most vicious war that mankind has ever seen (Clark 1). During the “Great Patriotic War”, as Joseph Stalin coins it, the Soviet Union emerges through pure tenacity as one of the world’s great superpowers. Although Stalin and the USSR emerge victorious, the sacrifices made are enormous (Clark 446). Estimates show between 20-25 million Soviets die from 1941-1945. Only 7-8 million Germans die during this same period (Encarta). Many of these deaths are a direct result of the brilliant (sometimes insane) chess match between two of the most tyrannical leaders in history: Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Even today, some people ponder which leader fits the anti-Christ description best. The finest way to analyze the minds of these two leaders is to examine each dictator’s rise to power, their use of propaganda as a means to support their “game” of war, and the initial offensive campaigns that each dictator launches. Born on December 21, 1877, Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili’s father is a drunkard and his mother is a washer struggling to support the family. Dzhugashvili will later be known to the world as Joseph Stalin (Encarta). Stalin’s mother, Ekaterina Georgievna, is a dedicated member of the Orthodox Church and enters him into the Seminary at Tifilis(Georgia) in 1894 for the study of priesthood in the Georgian Orthodox church. Soon after Stalin becomes part of the illegal Marxist movement (Encarta). The young Stalin quickly rises to the rank of leader of his own Marxist circle. In May of 1899, he is expelled from school just short of graduation in which later communist literature criedits to “political balance” (Encarta). By this time, Joseph Stalin has become more immersed in his role as a professional agitator of the system. While working as an accountant in Tbilisi, Stalin joins the Social-Democratic Worke...
