Films: Joseph Stalin – Interpretations

Film series: Power and authority in Russia and the Soviet Union

Published: 27th March 2024

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Power and authority in Russia and the USSR

In our new film series running over the course of 2024, some of the leading historians working on Russia have contributed their expertise to build a clear understanding of the leaders of modern Russia and how they have shaped their country and the rest of the world through it.

Each of the experts will share their incisive knowledge of Russian history through the motivations and actions of its leaders. This series will help students and people of all ages to understand how Russia (and the Soviet Union) has been led during the twentieth and early twenty-first century. These powerful films are an impressive journey through Russian history, which will help all those watching to unpick the background to a bear that occasionally naps but never hibernates.

Joseph Stalin: life and legacy

Our latest set of films below features Professor James Harris (University of Leeds) and focuses on the life, significance and legacy of Joseph Stalin, from his birth as Joseph Besarionis dze Jughashvili in 1878, through his rise to power to the Great Terror and his role in World War II. Films on Yeltsin, Lenin, Khruschev, Brezhnev and Alexander II will be published throughout 2024 as part of the connected series. 

1. Stalin - Early Life

2. Stalin - Rise to Power

3. Stalin - The Early Soviet Economy & the preparation for war

4. Stalin & the Great Terror

5. Stalin - World War II 

6. Stalin - Interpretations and Legacy

The previous set of films, focusing on Mikhail Gorbachev, are available here.