I’ve always found myself to have quite the crush on the former Soviet dictator. I know I shouldn’t, but I do. It’s my own little sinful pleasure. Being he was handsome in his youth and in the passing years; he’s quite the ideal. His intelligence that loomed above all who dared to stand against him; he was a beautiful beast of a man; and I’m rather ashamed to have such a crush on him. But, one can’t help who they’re attracted to.

Joseph Stalin, the unrivalled dictator of the Soviet Union, ruled from 1928 until his death in 1953. He came to power by a brand of totalitarianism that relied on widespread propaganda and a secret police force to eliminate opposition. He modernized the country through “Five Year Plans,” which consisted of forced collectivization and industrialization. Farmers were denied private property, and food was exported for foreign industrial technology. The resulting food shortages became a planned famine known as the “Holodomor” in the Ukraine, where farmers had actively opposed his attempts at collectivization. Despite Stalin’s harsh rule, the Soviet Union under his leadership became a world power and even acquired a brief technological lead in space exploration.