On the 14th of October 1952, Joseph Stalin delivered his final speech during the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the USSR.
On March 1st the following year, he suffered a devastating stroke and died. Stalin's legacy loomed large over Russia for the rest of the 20th century. To some, he was a national hero who had rescued the nation and the revolution from Nazi tyranny. To others, he was a tyrant in his own right, a madman who slaughtered hundreds of thousands in a wave of terror that betrayed the promises made by Lenin and the founders of the USSR.

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