Скачать или смотреть The Prison Years of Joseph Stalin

March 1910 — this is Joseph Stalin, not yet the leader of the Soviet Union, but a 31-year-old revolutionary prisoner in Bailov Prison, Baku, Azerbaijan.

At the time, Stalin was a committed Bolshevik, working underground to organize strikes, spread propaganda, and raise funds — often through armed robberies. Arrested multiple times by the Tsarist secret police, he was no stranger to prison cells and Siberian exile.

Bailov was one of the harshest prisons in the Russian Empire, housing political prisoners alongside dangerous criminals. Conditions were brutal — overcrowded cells, meager food, and constant surveillance.

For Stalin, these years were a crucible. In prison, he sharpened his political theories, built connections with other revolutionaries, and hardened his resolve.

No one in 1910 could have imagined that this inmate would one day rule a vast empire, reshaping the world — and leaving a legacy written in both triumph and tragedy.