Born in Georgia with the name Ioseb Besarionis dz? Jughashvili, Stalin was a Soviet politician, intellectual, leader and mass-murderer. His rule was marked by the transformation of the Soviet Union into a global superpower, widespread state terror, and the establishment of a totalitarian regime. Stalin's policies and actions, such as the collectivization of agriculture and the Great Purge, the greatest Genocides ever recorded, many ethnic cleansings and had profound and lasting impacts on the Soviet Union and the world. His writings are still reverred by modern Leftist intellectuals.