Stalin - Psychological Make up
The Yugoslav writer and revolutionary Milovan Djilas, who met Stalin at the end of the war, had been surprised by Stalin’s physical appearance, not only his “very small stature” (Stalin was five feet four inches) but his sparse hair, blackened teeth (he feared dentists), and unhealthy “Kremlin complexion,” the result of late hours. “Not even his moustache was thick or firm,” but still Djilas was struck by Stalin’s “yellow eyes,” which gleamed with a “mixture of sternness and roguishness.”
Someone who is constantly faced with anger, violence, poverty, viciousness, etc., is probably going to adopt qualities similar to those of Stalin. His growth was somewhat physically retarded in his early years due to infections, accidents, etc. There is a historical conflict over whether Stalin went to or finished school; most sources mention that Stalin did attend school and did very well until he entered a Georgian Seminary; nonetheless, school was not a pleasant experience for Stalin. Stalin really never knew any other life than the constant chaos and violence that surrounded him: "all facets of society were lies, especially the Church and school" (Antonov, p. 234; Carlson, p. 498).
"The root of Stalin's inexhaustible cynicism is sought to be here . . . in his formative years where all parts of society seemed to treat him cruelly" so he turned his back on society and became anti social (Antonov, p. 234; Carlson, pp. 496 7). "Stalin's extreme dependence on flattery suggests a need for constant affirmation of his self ideal, and his vindictiveness toward those who threatened or slighted him hints at the fragility of his entire psychic structure" (Antonov, p. 234; Carlson pp. 496, 498, 493).
Stalin, as a youth, was dominated by his mother's devotion; Freud said that "a man who has been the indisputable favourite of his mother keeps for life the feeling of a conqueror, that confidence of success that often induces real success" (Tucker, p. 76; Carlson, pp. 537 40). Stalin's relationship with his adoring mother meant that "he developed a confidence in his skills and that feeling of being a conqueror which is so often the product of intense maternal devotion" (Glad, p. 324; Davison, pp. 348, 352; Carlson pp. 533, 540).
Stalin created an idealized self image that required him to seek not only political power, but also recognition of himself as a great intellectual and social leader (Carlson, p. 493). " . . Stalin created an idealized image of himself as a defence against secret fears of being unworthy" (Glad, p. 323). " . . His claims for superiority were so extreme that he could never really believe them himself" (Antonov, p. 234; Carlson pp. 493, 498, 533 40). Stalin tried to identify with the poor, downtrodden, etc., and directed his hatred against legitimate authority. These characteristics were fused in Stalin's identification with Koba; he was supposed to be "strong, silent, cunning, vengeful, and seeking for justice for the people" (Antonov, p. 324).
In general, Stalin was always attempting to attain power, but in a way that did not benefit society; he was constantly fared with oppression and violence and thus he became a hardened person even to his own family; he had a warped sense of reality and made decisions on how to best maximize his power.
Stalin had a photographic memory. This made him a very effective spy prior to the Revolution, as it was unnecessary for him to keep written notes. At a party in Moscow during a bright spot in the war against Germany, he startled a British consular officer with his ability to recite many verses of Goethe's Faust in German, and from memory, after this same official had read a representative line of that work from a small book he was carrying in his pocket (Svandize). This memory gave Stalin a tremendous administrative throughput enabling him to create and manipulate an enormously powerful bureaucratic apparatus which his less able successors were unable to control hence one reason for the eventual but belated demise of the USSR in 1991.
Stalin had no need to win sympathies of the "electorate". Therefore, since he was not a professional chatterbox like Leo Trotsky and other fervent revolutionists, he spoke in public very seldom. For example, during the whole 1936 Stalin had only one public speech - on the draft of the new constitution, on 25 November. In 1937 Joseph Vissarionovich became more talkative, as he spoke in public three times - twice in February and March during the party plenary conference, and on 13 December at his Moscow constituency, before the elections to the Supreme Council. Yet, in 1938 he pleased his fans with only one speech: in May, during the conference of the academic staffs. In 1939 Stalin appeared at the 18th Party Congress with the report on the work of the Central Committee - and that was it. In 1940 Stalin held no public speeches at all.
Despite Joseph Stalin's leadership of the country for nearly 30 years, he, like any other person, had his habits. Many of these habits may seem strange. However, the leader's presence is confirmed not only by historians but also by eyewitnesses. In 1913, Joseph Stalin and his comrade Sverdlov were exiled to the Turukhansk region. In the village of Kureika, the exiles settled in Tarasevich's house, where they shared a common household. The revolutionaries cooked their own food, washed the dishes, and cleaned. However, Stalin wasn't particularly fond of such chores. After meals, Sverdlov always washed the spoon and plates. But Stalin trusted his dog, Yashka, to do this. "I'll put the plate on the floor, the dog will lick it, and everything will be clean," Stalin laughed. Khrushchev also recalled this in his memoirs: "Stalin said: 'We cooked our own lunch. Actually, there was nothing to do there, because we didn't work, but lived on the funds issued by the treasury: three rubles a month. The Party also helped us (it is documented that in the summer of 1913, Lenin sent them 120 francs - editor's note). We mainly made a living by catching nelma. This didn't require much specialization. We also went hunting. I had a dog, I named him Yashka.' Of course, this was unpleasant for Sverdlov: he was Yashka and the dog was Yashka. 'So,' Stalin said, 'Sverdlov would sometimes wash the spoons and plates after dinner, but I never did that. We'd eat, I'd put the plates on the dirt floor, the dog would lick everything, and everything would be clean. And he was a neat freak.'" On March 16, 1919, Yakov Sverdlov, one of the founding fathers of the Soviet Revolution, died under mysterious circumstances. In exile in 1906, he established the Central Bureau to direct party work among exiles in the Narym region. In September 1912, Klavdiya Novgorodtseva and her eighteen-month-old son, Andrei, arrived in Narym to join her common-law husband. "Yakov Mikhailovich took on almost all the household chores, and I had to fight for my right to participate in the housework. Yakov Mikhailovich always cooked himself, and usually did the laundry too, only occasionally allowing me to help. And it wasn't just that years of independent living, prison, and exile had taught him to take care of himself; it was a matter of principle. True Bolsheviks, not just in words but in deeds, fought for women's equality and their freedom from household chores in their families and personal lives. Dzhugashvili escaped from exile in the summer, and Sverdlov succeeded in doing so in December 1912. Incidentally, from early 1912, Sverdlov organized a highly clandestine organization that specialized in facilitating the escape of exiled Bolsheviks - the "Escape Bureau". After Sverdlov escaped, he did not settle in the provinces with his wife and children, but again participated in the revolution. However, an informer and provocateur named Malinovsky emerged among the Bolsheviks. Thanks to him, on February 10, 1913, the secret police arrested Yakov Sverdlov in Petrovsky's apartment. By decree of the Special Conference, he was exiled to the Turukhansk region (now the northern part of Krasnoyarsk Krai) for five years. Only physically strong people could endure Turukhanka with its icy climate, blizzards, constantly stoked stoves, damp and short summers, gnats, white, soul-destroying nights, its sense of the taiga wilderness and tragic isolation from the rest of the world. Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili and Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov were transferred to Kureika, a settlement of eight houses housing 67 people: 38 men and 29 women. The population primarily hunted and fished. Sverdlov moved in with Stalin. Apparently, the two revolutionary leaders shared a common goal: escape. Without vigorous activity, they began to build tension and lash out at each other. Stalin, in particular, was aggressive. He made life unbearable for the intellectual, feared even by the most hardened criminals. He avoided housework at all costs, didn't chop wood, didn't carry water, didn't sweep floors, didn't cook dinners, and sometimes even forcibly took a bowl of soup from Sverdlov. In the end, Sverdlov could not stand the pressure and fled Stalin. "...we know each other too well. The saddest thing is that in the conditions of exile and prison, a person is exposed to you, revealing all his little things... My comrade and I are now in different apartments, and we rarely see each other," the revolutionary wrote to his wife. Historian Volkov recounts that Stalin took a deep dislike to Sverdlov and even incited exiles to kill him. "They rushed at him (Sverdlov) with a knife. The exile Boris Ivanov saved them. Being a man of great strength, he grabbed a heavy bench during the criminals' attack on Ya. M. Sverdlov and brought it down on the attackers. They fled in panic," the historian wrote. Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov at that moment was chair of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the formal head of Soviet Russia. He was only 33 years old by official age Some versions said the young Bolshevik died from Spanish flu which he allegedly picked it up on his way back to Moscow. On March 8, he returned to Moscow from Kharkiv. It was announced that he was seriously ill on the 16th Marta Sverdlov died. Spanish flu really raged at that time and was very contagious However, the strangeness of Sverdlov's disease the fact that there is no one else in the Kremlin except him. The archive documents of the Russian state describes a completely different story of the death of Yakov Sverdlov. but more on that later, unlike Sverdlov did not pronounce Lenin and Trotsky fiery speeches did not go around their front I didn't give interviews in the former royal carriages foreign press While occupying the highest post in in the Soviet state he always remained in the shadows, preferring to lead from behind the scenes. His speech was always calm and reasonable, his intelligent appearance with an unchanging wedge-shaped beard. His almond-shaped eyes were always a little sad. The eyes were more reminiscent of a zemstvo official than about the leader of the Bolshevik Party. People's Commissar of Education Lunacharsky wrote we take the drill of internal fire in it Of course there were a lot, but outwardly it was the man was absolutely icy when he was when not on the podium he spoke invariably quietly He walked quietly with his voice and all his gestures were Slowly, however, Yakov Mikhailovich was not Sverdlov was not as simple as he seemed, as he was the ideologist and organizer of the most bloody massacres in July 18 he sanctioned the execution of the royal family. It was Sverdlov who was the organizer of the Red Terror, signing the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars on Red Terror on January 29, 19 Sverdlov signed the circular letter ck about the attitude towards the Cossacks that laid the foundation bloody dispossession of the Cossacks Sverdlov was generally famous for his pathological cruelty of his desire to always go even his comrades were surprised by the extreme measures he took in the party in the Urals on the eve of the revolution In 1905, Sverdlov created the organization under the name of the people's combat detachment There were weapons in Sverdlov's squad It's an honor, but not everyone passed the test. one of the future killers of the royal family Ermakov on the task of Yakov Mikhailovich and in In 1907 he killed a policeman agent and cut off his head becoming Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and having placed his own Sverdlovsk concentrated people in the executive committees evil tongues have enormous power in their hands They began to call him the red king, but still until Sverdlov's full accession to the throne he interfered the authority of Vladimir Ilyich who was much higher in this regard very the assassination attempt looks mysterious Lenin on August 30, 18, when The shooting was allegedly carried out by a half-blind Fanny Kaplan. Historian Valery Shambarov points this out directly on Sverdlov's attempt to kill Lenin the goal of a complete seizure of power is what he If you look at who he's writing to at that moment It was more profitable to eliminate Lenin Sverdlov won over everyone after the assassination attempt drill in the first arriving in cream then It seemed to many that Vladimir Ilyich was not Sverdlov's wife will survive, reports that That same evening he occupied Lenin's office having subjugated both the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Executive Committee and the All-Russian Central Executive Committee Yakov Mikhailovich became for several weeks the de facto head of the Soviet It was Sverdlov who carried out the state urgently and the investigation into Fanny's case Kaplan, it was on his orders that Kaplan hastily shot and burned in metal barrel on the Kremlin grounds although she was a friend of Jacob's sisters Sverdlova and through their relatives, the Yaks Mikhailovich was connected with foreign affairs The backstage historian Peter Multatuli so about His brother Benjamin wrote about this even before revolution traveled to the USA where some for a time he worked as a banker and joined there in contacts with the bank of Kun Liepa company and bankers Jacob the chief who as already established financed the Bolsheviks also the transfer of Trotsky and the United States to Russia his group of militants is the majority Historians believe that if Sverdlov If he hadn't died so early, the country would have been singing the songs didn't lag behind, not about him in any way case for the post of General Secretary in the twenty-second there was probably no alternative in the year if they were elected to Sverdlovsk, they would be Stalin and many party comrades understood this maybe that's why black people die the devil was not accidental Yakov was born on May 22 1885 in Nizhny Novgorod in the Jewish His family's real surname is not Sverdlov. Father of Jacob Mir and Moksha Izrailevich Gaukhman left with his wife, Italy Solomonovna from the Pale of Settlement in Belarusian Polotsk and settled in Nizhny Novgorod where signed up as a craftsman engraver under Having become the name of Moksha, Sverdlin then in Sverdlova not everything is clear and with his name according to the historian Ivan Plotnikov, according to some sources, Sverdlov From birth, his name was Yeshiva Solomon. Movshovich and secondly and Onkel Mironovich according to the Jewish register of births rabbi of Nizhny Novgorod for 1885 he is recorded as Jacob Aaron Jacob I completed 4 years of high school diligently, however, after the death of his mother in In 900, the family's financial situation his condition worsened and his father was forced to take him away three sons from the gymnasium and send Yakov began working as an apprentice pharmacist. After the death of his wife, Yakov's father Moksha Izrailevich Sverdlov, you were baptized, that is accepted Orthodoxy, new name Mikhail and He married Maria for the second time. Kormiltsev's fates were also amazing his relatives his older brother Zinovius became king in the second year of 900 Maxim Gorky's godson Zinovy ??took his godfather's surname and became pawn you learned about this Mikhail Izrailevich renounced his son after separating from Zinovy ??emigrated with bitter views to France with the beginning of the First World War he entered to the Foreign Legion in the battle of Verdun lost his right arm up to the shoulder rose to the rank of general and received an order Legion of Honor the career of Benjamin's younger brother proved less successful before the revolution He fled to the United States in 1918. after his shady adventures in America returned back to Russia and worked in the People's Commissariat of Railways was a member Presidium of the Supreme Economic Council and the Director of the Road the institute was in thirty-eighth year arrested as a Trotsky terrorist and shot in '39 Yasha Sverdlov became famous already in his youth underground fighters in Nizhny Novgorod and in the third year of 900 he became a Bolshevik and professional revolutionary He campaigned in Kostroma, Kazan. Yekaterinburg, unlike many leaders of the Bolshevik Party who were preparing revolution from abroad from far away London and cozy Zurich Sverdlovsk as an ordinary revolutionary wandered through prisons this made him related to trades and links Stalin, whom he met in Naryn exile in 1912 already in 1913 Sverdlov and Stalin found ourselves together again in Turukhansk links they lived in for several years in the village of Kureyka they had one house an opportunity to get to know each other well Later Sverdlov wrote that we were too good. we know each other that the saddest thing is in the conditions of exile and prison a person before what is revealed to you is manifested in all In our little things, my friend and I agree in many ways I'm at odds with my friend now, we're on different We rarely see each other in apartments Khrushchev wrote in his memoirs that Stalin told him about life in the village In the smoking room we cooked our own lunch Actually, there was nothing to do there. because we didn't work but lived on the funds that you gave us, the treasury 3 rubles a month, another batch helped us We mainly made our living by We caught nelma and I got myself a dog and I called her Yashka, of course it's Sverdlov's It was unpleasant, he was like Leshka, I have a dog. Yashka Sverdlov used to wash himself after lunch spoons and plates I've never done this before, but I'll tell them plates on the floor, the dog, everything, you're lying down and that's it clean and that one was a fastidious neat freak returning from exile in March 1917 Sverdlov was sent to Yekaterinburg to organize an uprising in the Urals April Yakov Mikhailovich becomes a delegate to the 7th conference This is his first time personally driving an RSD RP. met with Lenin and began to carry out for him, current affairs are different Instructions on Lenin's proposal to Sverdlovsk as the chief personnel officer was appointed Chairman of the Central Committee of Workers' Councils and he held the main meeting of the soldiers' deputies work on the creation of Soviet organs authorities at the center and locally Sverdlov opened the first meeting constituent assembly on January 5, 18 having announced the declaration of workers' rights and exploited people in which Russia it was proclaimed a republic Chairman of the Development Commission The Constitution of the Russian Federation declared a dictatorship proletariat Sverdlov's authority and popularity Trotsky began to grow rapidly about him very much responded favorably, noticing the main nuance despite the fact that it was a short, bespectacled Jew physically frail others, but with all this he possessed Vladimir Ilyich spoke in a strong and deep bass voice I spoke about this here on They reasoned in a way they themselves couldn't understand Yakov Mikhailovich, perform but do nothing who needs to explain this to their Sverdlovsk bass and the matter will be settled according to Trotsky, Sverdlov became trendsetter of Bolshevik fashion starting from 17 years yakov mikhailovich always wore a leather jacket which I never took pictures of her black hair in public He even got the nickname "Black" because of his color. the devil, however, he still had leather ones and breeches boots and even a cap from here in the first years of the revolution and civil war the enemies of the Soviet power called wars Bolsheviks and commissars leather died The black devil unexpectedly from the Spanish woman though despite his feeler, they said that he lost he had the health of a hero On March 18, 1919, Sverdlova buried with pomp near the Kremlin wall unofficial version in early March for organization of the work of Soviet bodies Sverdlov arrived in Kharkov was liberated by the Red Army the day before On the way back to Orel there was an incident a hitch in the background of severe hunger Yak railway workers went on strike Mikhailovich decided to resolve the situation and got off the train to perform in front of hungry workers by railroad workers perceived the leather boss in their own way Sverdlov's certain appearance or They were beaten badly or they were thrown with logs. This version was confirmed by a doctor of law sciences arkady waksberg referring to documents in the Russian state archive he wrote the exact cause of his death unknown then spread Apparently the rumor that in In the city of Orel he was fatally beaten workers, but this fact was allegedly hidden so as not to disgrace the revolution and not to incite it even more anti-Semitic passions, however there could have been another reason the unexpected death of Yakov Mikhailovich It's money, the thing is that Sverdlov was keeper of the so-called diamond the Politburo fund was collected from The bourgeois values ??were expropriated the fund was most likely prepared in case of defeat of the revolution, so that it would be on that hiding and living abroad is his only option part was kept in the second's apartment Sverdlov's wife Klavdia Novgorodtseva the other part is in the safe in the office Yakov Mikhailovich a few years after death Sverdlova and his wife, Klavdiya Novgorodtseva I gave away what I kept at home, but the safe from office yakov mikhailovich and somewhere disappeared and only in July 1935 the People's Commissar Henry of the Interior and the year sent Stalin received a letter in which he reported that discovered in the Kremlin commandant's warehouse Sverdlov's personal safe which is not was opened 16 years after his death the keys to the safe were lost therefore to open it from prison on purpose They delivered the burglar Shnyre according to the inventory signed by the same and the years All of these discovered gold coins. tsarist coinage worth 100 8525 rubles seven hundred and five gold items with precious stones Tsarist-era bonds worth 750 thousands of rubles, a lot of blank forms passports of the tsarist model and completed passports in the name of Sverdlov himself and unknown persons say that when a man dies on his face all his vices are imprinted or the dignity of the death mask was removed Yakov Mikhailovich's face and seeing her Psychiatrists Evgeny Chernosvitov exclaimed Sverdlov's mask is the embodiment of evil. unpleasant to watch Yakov Sverdlov (1885–1919) was a Russian revolutionary and Bolshevik politician who was one of Vladimir Lenin's closest associates. A highly skilled organizer, he served as the Soviet head of state before his early death. Political rise Early Bolshevik Sverdlov was a Marxist organizer from his youth, joining the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party after its 1903 split. For years, he was repeatedly arrested, imprisoned, and exiled to Siberia for his revolutionary activities. Key organizer After returning from Siberian exile following the February Revolution of 1917, Sverdlov became party secretary and chief organizer. He played a pivotal role in planning the Bolsheviks' October Revolution. De facto head of state In November 1917, Sverdlov was elected chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, making him the de facto head of state. He held the position until his death and briefly served as acting head of government after a 1918 assassination attempt on Lenin. Role in early Soviet state Consolidation of power Sverdlov was instrumental in bringing the various Soviet government bodies under firm Bolshevik control. He also authorized the execution of the Romanov imperial family in July 1918. Spanish Flu and death Sverdlov died in March 1919 at the age of 33, likely from the Spanish flu or typhus. His early death is considered a major turning point, as he was seen as a likely successor to Lenin. Legacy and hidden wealth Sverdlov was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Years after his death, a safe was discovered containing a cache of valuables, including jewels and a large sum of money. The origin of this wealth is still debated by historians. City renamed for him The city of Yekaterinburg, where he had been politically active, was renamed Sverdlovsk in his honor in 1924. The city's name was changed back in 1991. Significance in Soviet history Stalin's path to power Historians speculate that Sverdlov's early death and the resulting void in the Communist Party's leadership opened the door for Joseph Stalin to rise to power. Historical debate Some historians question whether Sverdlov, known for his administrative ruthlessness, might have created a system similar to Stalin's had he survived. Others suggest a "more humane" Soviet Union could have developed. Given Sverdlov's cold-blooded nature and penchant for bloodshed, who knows what would have awaited the USSR if the revolutionary ideologist had not died in 1919? Perhaps 1937 would have seemed like a piece of cake to Soviet citizens. Yakov Sverdlov Thought for 16s Yakov Mikhaylovich Sverdlov (born Yankel Movshevich Sverdlov; June 3, 1885 – March 16, 1919) was a prominent Bolshevik revolutionary and early Soviet leader, often regarded as one of the key architects of the Soviet state's formation. Born into a Jewish family in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, where his father was an engraver and printing shop owner, Sverdlov became involved in radical politics as a teenager. 2 sources By age 17, he was actively engaged in revolutionary agitation, propaganda, and organizing under the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Early Revolutionary CareerSverdlov joined the Bolsheviks in 1903 and quickly rose through the ranks due to his organizational talents. He faced multiple arrests, exiles to Siberia, and escapes, which hardened his commitment to the cause. During the 1905 Russian Revolution, he led underground activities in the Urals region, earning a reputation for efficiency in managing party operations and personnel. His wife, Klavdiya Novgorodtseva (also a Bolshevik), supported his work and later documented his life in memoirs. 2 sources Role in the October Revolution and Soviet GovernmentFollowing the February Revolution of 1917, Sverdlov returned from exile and became a central figure in the Bolshevik Central Committee. He played a pivotal role in the October Revolution, coordinating party efforts and serving as secretary of the Central Committee. In November 1917, he was elected chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK), making him the de facto head of the Soviet government—often described as the "first president" of Soviet Russia. 2 sources Sverdlov was instrumental in consolidating Bolshevik power:He oversaw the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in January 1918, a move that solidified one-party rule. 2 sources He helped establish the Red Terror and the Cheka (secret police), contributing to the suppression of counter-revolutionary forces. Sverdlov was directly involved in authorizing the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and the Romanov family in July 1918, a decision that remains one of his most controversial actions. His mastery of bureaucracy and personnel management earned him the nickname "the Bolshevik devil" among opponents, while allies praised his charisma and efficiency. Vladimir Lenin called "the most polished type of professional revolutionary," Death and LegacySverdlov died at age 33 in March 1919, likely from Spanish influenza or typhus during an epidemic. His death created a power vacuum that some historians argue paved the way for Joseph Stalin's rise, as Sverdlov had been a counterbalance to figures like Leon Trotsky. The city of Yekaterinburg was renamed Sverdlovsk in his honor from 1924 to 1991.Sverdlov's legacy is polarized: Marxist sources highlight him as an inspirational organizer who helped build the Soviet state, while critics, including pro-monarchist accounts, portray him as a ruthless enabler of Bolshevik atrocities and allege personal corruption, such as hidden wealth amassed during the revolution. Recent discussions (as of 2025) continue to debate his influence, with some suggesting he might have led the USSR differently had he lived longer. Some sources alternatively attribute his death to typhus, another infectious disease rampant at the time. He was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow, and his passing occurred amid the broader 1918–1919 flu pandemic that killed millions worldwide. Alternative theories about his death have circulated, though they remain unproven and largely speculative:Beating by workers: Rumors suggest he was assaulted by anti-Semitic workers in Oryol due to his Jewish heritage, leading to fatal injuries or exposure that caused illness. Poisoning: Vague claims of foul play via poison exist, but without specific evidence or attributed perpetrators. Other conspiracies: One fringe account alleges Leon Trotsky plotted to assassinate Sverdlov (along with Lenin and Stalin) in 1918, but this predates his 1919 death and lacks substantiation. Another speculative scenario imagines Sverdlov himself conspiring against Lenin, but that's a what-if alternate history, not a claim about his own death. None of these theories implicate Stalin in Sverdlov's death. Extensive searches for direct connections, including queries on conspiracies involving Stalin, yielded no historical accounts, documents, or even notable rumors suggesting he orchestrated it. Historians widely note that Sverdlov's early demise created a power vacuum that indirectly facilitated Stalin's ascent, as Sverdlov was viewed as a likely successor to Lenin in key roles like General Secretary of the Communist Party—a position Stalin assumed in 1922. This has fueled hypothetical discussions about whether Sverdlov might have outmaneuvered or even clashed with Stalin had he lived, but that's conjecture, not evidence of murder. Sverdlov was no friend of Joseph Stalin, who was making his way to the top alone. The new leader's desire to morally and physically rid himself of all who knew him as a "mere mortal" is well known. However, the dead Sverdlov, unlike the living and still quite powerful Trotsky, no longer posed any danger to Stalin—there was no need to discredit him posthumously. Due to his early death, Sverdlov remained virtually the only Soviet leader whose death was never suspected of being the work of Stalin. On the contrary, some historians have suggested Lenin's interest in eliminating his "competitor." Stalin also had a low opinion of the personal qualities of his comrade in the revolutionary struggle. However, since his words are available to us only through Nikita Khrushchev's account, it's possible that they are distorted in the memoirs. "I had a dog, I named him 'Yashka.' Of course, this was unpleasant for Sverdlov: he was Yashka and the dog was Yashka. So, Sverdlov would wash the spoons and plates after dinner, but I never did that. After eating, I'd put the plates on the floor, the dog would lick everything, and everything would be clean. And he was a neat freak," Stalin told Khrushchev. Trotsky compiled the most objective portrait of his like-minded person. “Sverdlov was short, very thin, gaunt, dark-haired, with sharp features on his thin face. His strong, perhaps even mighty, voice might have seemed out of keeping with his physical build. This could be said of his character to an even greater extent. But such an impression could only have been initial. He was a born organizer and schemer. Every political issue presented itself to him primarily in its organizational concreteness, as a question of the relationships between individuals and groups within the party organization and the relationship between the organization as a whole and the masses," Lev Davidovich wrote about Yakov Mikhailovich. It was Sverdlov who sparked the fashion for black leather jackets among the Bolsheviks. "In the first post-October period, enemies famously called communists 'leather men'—after their clothing. I believe Sverdlov's example played a major role in the introduction of the leather 'uniform,'" Trotsky confirmed this version. "He himself, in any case, wore leather from head to toe, that is, from his boots to his leather cap. It was from him, as the central organizational figure, that this attire, somehow in keeping with the character of the time, spread widely. Comrades who knew Sverdlov from the underground remember him differently. But in my memory, Sverdlov remains clad in black leather armor—under the blows of the first years of the Civil War." In early September 1918, Sverdlov became one of the main initiators of the Red Terror, signing a decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) transforming the Soviet Republic into a military camp, which served as the basis for the creation of the Revolutionary Military Council, headed by Trotsky. Another document, signed by Sverdlov as head of the Organizational Bureau of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) in January 1919, marked the beginning of decossackization—the elimination of Cossacks as a social class disloyal to Soviet power. The splitting of the villages into "friends of the Bolsheviks"—the poor—and "enemies"—the kulaks—was also Sverdlov's initiative. Despite Sverdlov's colossal contribution to the establishment and strengthening of Soviet power, his active participation in the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly, the name of the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee began to be forgotten already in the mid-1920s, when, in writing the official history of Soviet Russia in the first years of its existence, two extremes emerged: the glorification of Lenin and the "anathema" of Leon Trotsky. By and large, Sverdlov was given neither a positive nor a negative assessment during this period. Propaganda organs simply tried to ignore him. And among the people, besides Lenin, the legendary Red commanders of the Civil War were popular, but not the "office" politicians, even though the fates of millions of people depended on them for a short period of time. The "black devil of the revolution," as his political opponents called him, is often credited with a key role in the Bolsheviks' most notorious atrocities: the execution of the royal family, the beginning of the Red Terror, the dissolution of the Cossacks, and the destruction of the countryside. While some responsibility does indeed lie with Sverdlov, the extent of his culpability remains debatable on several counts. Filling the vacant position proved to be a straightforward task. For nearly 20 years, the All-Union Central Executive Committee was headed by Mikhail Kalinin , the "all-Union elder" and, later, the most popular Soviet functionary after Stalin, to whom disgruntled citizens wrote letters of complaint.
Temperament
Stalin had a fierce temper, but "had a long memory and exceptional patience" (Uralov, p. 79). Stalin could wait for years, remember, and then seek harsh, merciless revenge on those who crossed him: "Lenin died before he could deal with Stalin, and Trotsky the friend of the Georgian Nationalists was no longer there to defend them from Stalin's wrath. Stalin waited ten years, then sent Beria who liquidated all the Georgian Bolsheviks whom he had formerly accused of nationalist tendencies" (Uralov, p. 79).
There is a general consensus among historians that Stalin had a strong, often violent temper, but he was able to hold it back and then release it when it was beneficial for him to do so. Much of Stalin's violent temper stems from his childhood where violence and poverty dominated: "an individual's character is formed, of course, in early childhood, in the first years of life. What did little Stalin experience in his family, in his preschool years, and at school? Beatings, cruelty, rudeness, and constant humiliation" (Antonov, p. 232).
His father, and even mother, beat him unmercifully for no apparent reasons; "most of all Stalin hated his father, but gradually this hatred expanded until it included all fathers, all other men" (Payne, The Rise and Fall of Stalin, p. 34). Perhaps this statement by Payne best explains why Stalin so ruthlessly purged Soviet society. Tucker expanded on this by suggesting that "the alien force that his father represented had somehow been internalised within him" (Tucker, p. 75).
Stalin became hardened and indifferent to cruelty; he was determined not to surrender and became very cynical towards those around him. However, Khrushchev differed somewhat from most historians in his picture of Stalin; he thought Stalin was ruthless, but at times, he could be "patient and sympathetic" a great political skill to possess (Khrushchev, Khruschchev Remembers, p. 55).
Stalin's reversions to sympathy seem to have been more for his self image than for the general good. "The Stalinist system was able to develop because Stalin was greedy for power and to establish his power, he eliminated first all of this adversaries, then seized by a mad lust for blood he struck at the whole Soviet people" (d'Encausse, Stalin: Order Through Terror, p. 27).
Courage
In general, Stalin seems to have had two lives in terms of his courage: while he was young, a revolutionary, Stalin was involved in some street fighting and other daring acts; but as he grew older, Stalin became quite petrified, almost in a constant state of fear, verging on paranoia.
Deutscher claimed that Stalin never, or rarely engaged in violent conflict himself; as Koba he "acted as sort of a liaison officer between the Caucasian Bolshevik Bureau and the fighting squads. In this capacity he was never directly engaged in the raids . . . his technique of dissimulation was so perfect that this role of his was never detected by the eyes of the Party" (Deutscher, Stalin: A Political Biography, pp. 87 88).
Some historians agree that Stalin's seemingly bravado acts during WWII were really fronts designed to hide his true cowardly nature. Khrushchev remembered Stalin saying "this is the end [Germany's invasion of the USSR] . . . everything that Lenin created has been lost forever" (Antonvov, p. 243). Khrushchev was surprised by what he saw of Stalin at the beginning of the war: "in a word, Stalin trembled with fear" (Brumberg, Russia Under Khrushchev, p. 11).
The view that Stalin had a psychological collapse during the early days of the Nazi invasion of the USSR are contradicted by the post glasnost publication of the Kremlin logbook kept by his receptionist. This log shows that he received an intense stream of visitors who had to sign in, on June 21 and June 22,1941 (Sudoplatov, p. 433). [However this log can also be a revisionist forgery.]
During the war, Stalin surrounded himself with the best weaponry in Moscow and was rarely seen. The general consensus of Stalin during the war was that he showed little physical courage and he panicked in times of danger. However his nephew, Svanidze reports that for relaxation Stalin was fond of hunting wild boar while armed only with a spear. [Presumably the bodyguards who followed him were armed with rifles.]
Stamina
Stalin seemed to have great stamina; during the war years, Stalin delegated very little authority to others; once Russian armies began to effectively slow the German advance, Stalin gained confidence and became more involved in the war effort, until he was making all of the decisions. He was 61 years of age when the war broke out and thereafter virtually worked (with infrequent respites) for 16 to 18 hours a day, 7 days a week for the duration of the war.
During this period, he slept very little with no apparent loss of wits; possibly his long periods of exile in Siberia helped him to develop a great stamina; also as a child, he had to rely on himself most of the time, developing independence (loner) and stamina. "Many allied visitors who called at the Kremlin during the war were astonished to see on how many issues, great and small, military, political, or diplomatic, Stalin personally took the final decision . . . thus he went on, day after day, throughout the four years o£ hostilities a prodigy of patience, tenacity, and vigilance, almost omnipresent" (Deutscher, p. 467).
Stalin felt that the strength of will was all important: "I believe in only one thing the power of the human will" (Medvedev, Let History Judge, p. 324). Stalin had an incurable lust for power and to attain this he developed a superhuman strength of will: "I am a gradualist" (Medvedev, p. 324). Stalin's great stamina and strong will allowed him to become the almighty despot that he was.
Paranoia
Most historians today believe that Stalin was suffering from paranoia, but Antonov disagrees: he states "this would be attributing all of his crimes, which cost millions of lives, to mental illness; would a mentally unbalanced person have been able to hamstring all his political rivals and build such a model apparatus of power? No, Stalin was unquestionably of sound mind... Neither schizophrenia nor paranoia has any hold over such malicious natures. But his boundless ambition might seem maniacal to an outsider" (Antonov, p. 254).
Yet Robert Tucker feels that Stalin, if not a paranoid man, was at least a psychopath, who had fears about his intellectual shortcomings and strong dependence on others as evidenced in his extreme need for flattery and his fear of being alone (also noted by Khrushchev). Stalin felt that all his public support was self orchestrated and not real affection, so he was extremely defensive towards all others worrying about plots, assassinations, etc.
He felt that even those closest to him disliked his actions and presence (which was actually the case). Stalin's reaction to this hatred was to use violence as a psychopath would: "Defence was his exclusive concern and he guarded it fiercely. If anyone else expressed the slightest interest or curiosity about this or that new weapon, Stalin immediately became jealous and suspicious" (Brumberg, p.11).
Stalin was aware that the party was unpopular and he himself unpopular as party leader; because of this, "thousands of men were employed to protect him; he was very cautious, he used decoy cars and had guards at every portion of his daily route" (Payee, p. 385). Stalin always feared assassination plots and he never walked the streets of Moscow be it alone or with guards.
"Stalin feared private meetings between any of his colleagues, and immediately put them under suspicion; he always carried a revolver around in his coat pocket. He may have felt inferior as political leader since he often dealt with very able persons. He took control of his protection, looking over maps, tracings, etc., and then executed these ways of avoiding bullets" (Payee, p. 385).
Stalin may have been paranoid and even a psychopath, but not necessarily suffering from any major mental illness; Stalin may have committed atrocious crimes, but they were done by someone who carefully calculated his chances for survival and power, and then executed these plans.
Georgian
In general, Stalin was from the Georgian tradition, but tried to disassociate himself from his roots to be accepted on the national scene of Russian politics. In true Georgian tradition men were dominant in the family, women not treated very well, and children encouraged to follow in the footsteps of their fathers; also, men were fiercely proud and quite willing to fight for their own or family's honor. The Georgians felt that the Russian people did not understand them; general impressions of the Georgians were that they were trusting, impressionable, quick tempered, and devoid of energy and initiative.
These descriptions of Georgian males accurately cover much of Stalin's personality; as much as Stalin denied his Georgian heritage and customs, he was undeniably from this region of the Soviet Union. In his youth, Stalin assumed a Georgian trait of telling anecdotes and even became somewhat of a prankster and joker (albeit very crude); he also had the Georgian traits of stubbornness and revenge. Stalin would be caught conversing in Georgian, even though he knew this was not permitted at his Imperialist school, hence he would be beaten by his teachers (Antonov, p. 234).
Yet Stalin wanted to disassociate himself from his Georgian heritage. "With his association in the greater Russian Party (through Lenin) he would be freed from his earlier identification with a weak, Georgian tradition" (Glad, p. 325). As Koba, Stalin began to disassociate himself with the Georgians: "Stalin's cold and arrogant personality caused his fellow revolutionaries in Georgia to dislike him (as Koba he was quite un Georgian); one fellow Georgian revolutionary recalled "he just cannot take a joke anymore . . . strange Georgian doesn't understand jokes . . . he replies with fists to the most innocent . . ." (Glad, p. 325).
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