Joseph Stalin
Real Dictators
Episodes
Part 1: The Young Bank Robber
Joseph Stalin – the “man of steel” – was the party secretary who plotted a route to absolute power, becoming head of the Eastern Bloc and, in time, chief nemesis of the United States. But how did a man from the Georgian frontier of the Russian Empire do it? In 1917, the 300-year-old Romanov Dynasty collapses. The communist Bolsheviks storm the Winter Palace and seize power. From this band of revolutionaries, a future bloody dictator – a man with an extraordinary backstory – begins to emerge.
Part 2: The Secretary Becomes Dictator
With the First World War underway, Stalin’s journey to becoming a brutal dictator begins to grind into gear. After the War, Russian society is turned upside down. Stalin thrives in the chaos, masterminding a string of elaborate takedowns of his rivals. Rising to party leader, Stalin visits a ruthless purge on his enemies. After the ‘Great Purge’ comes the ‘Great Terror’, as the dreaded secret police cleanse the country of so-called traitors. Rural society collapses under this onslaught. But Stalin’s brutality does not go unchallenged. A showdown with his own wife at a dinner party has tragic consequences.
Part 3: Hitler Attacks
No synopsis available.