Josef Stalin news stories on Newser

Josef Stalin's Daughter Dies in Wisconsin

Rob Quinn — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:15:29 CST

Josef Stalin's only daughter has died in Wisconsin at the age of 85. Lana Peters—born Svetlana Alliluyeva Stalin—handed the US a massive Cold War publicity coup when she defected to the US in 1967, publicly burning her Soviet passport, and declaring: "I have come here to seek the...

Oliver Stone: 'Hitler Was a Scapegoat'

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:30:00 CST

Bad boy lefty film director Oliver Stone is stirring up the pot again, this time with his controversial comments that Adlof Hitler was a "scapegoat." Hitler "is an easy scapegoat throughout history and it's been used cheaply," he said at a press conference with critics where he discussed his new...

Stalin Planned to Destroy Moscow Ahead of Nazis

Nick McMaster — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:40:02 CST

Stalin would have all but destroyed Moscow if the Nazis had taken the city, the Telegraph reports. Secret 1941 documents now on display detail the rigging of 1,200 buildings with explosives so that the Germans—only 19 miles from the city at the time—would conquer little more than...

One Place Stalin Can Win a Popularity Contest? Russia

Victoria Floethe — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:36:01 CDT

An effort to celebrate Russian nationalism has turned up an uncomfortable number of votes for Josef Stalin, the Wall Street Journal reports. The dictator blamed for the deaths of millions of Russians often led during 3 months of Internet balloting for the nation’s top historical figure, but was pushed to...

Oh Napoleon: Tiny Leaders Rule G8

Caroline Zimmerman — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 13:47:59 CDT

The leaders at this week's G8 summit are all political big shots, but they're pretty diminutive face-to-face—five don't even make it past 5'6''. Russia's Dmitry Medvedev brings up the short end of the stick at 5'2'', and Canada's Stephen Harper is the only one to pass the 6' mark....