All that you have stated above is well-known and generally accepted as having historically occurred. So, other than showing us that you can cut-and-paste from wiki, what exactly is your point?

Instead of showing you are capable of making sanctimonious statements, may I suggest you take a look at my headline, this will help you to understand that there are some who still think Stalin was a hero, they need reminding of this tyrants record, and that is the reason for my posting.

Do you really think this group of history buffs are ignorant of the evil Stalin did? I think you are addressing entirely thewrong audience.

Not all that view Historica are "history buffs", some have an interest in history, and seek additional knowledge.

Thankyou for answering my question. So your point - but please correct me if I'm wrong - is something along the lines of: why is Stalin still revered in some quarters and his horrific crimes against his own people brushed aside?

It surprises me too, but I suspect it is because promoting the idea of 'Uncle Joe' as a father-like, harsh but well-meaning, benevolent dictator, is an image that is still useful to the current Russian regime, no? That's the Russian regime that even now is poised to invade a neighbouring sovereign state, that continues to try and silence all political opposition, and that in just the past couple of days has shut down the Russian human rights agency 'Memorial', as well as increasing the prison term (for trumped-up crimes) of a Russian historian who had been writing about Stalin-era atrocities.

The view of Stalin in Russia, contains an element of denial, he is considered by many to be a WW2 hero, the saviour of the nation. However there are some in the Western world, who now consider Marxism, as the way forward. Stalin considered himself to be a dedicated Marxist, many would agree he was. His reign of terror was consistent with Marxism. In a newspaper article in 1848 Karl Marx wrote "There is only one way which the murderous death agonies of the old society, and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified, and concentrated, that way is revolutionary terror"

The white-washing of Stalin's reputation seems to have started in earnest - perhaps somewhat perversely - only when full details of his atrocities finally started to emerge in the late 1980s. That exposure largely resulted from the activities of the then newly-formed 'Memorial' organisation, who were trying to systematically document political repressions carried out by the Soviet Union (when the Soviet Union was still the government). This documentation of Soviet atrocities was later greatly facilitated in the 1990s by the opening of secret government archives (now I suspect mostly re-closed) following the formal end of the Soviet Union and its political transformation into the Russian Federation. Now, over 30 years later, efforts to publicise crimes under Soviet leaders such as Joseph Stalin, have again become taboo, and while not quite seeking a return to the Soviet past, Putin has become very deeply sensitive to any criticism of it.

The closure of 'Memorial' on 28/12/2021 follows a sustained assault on Russian civil society over recent years that has led to opposition leaders such as Alexei Navalny being imprisoned, prominent activists and journalists fleeing the country, and NGOs and media outlets hit with fines and closures under Russia’s controversial "undesirable foreign agent" laws. During the court case against 'Memorial' the Russian prosecutor, Alexei Zhafyarov, portrayed the organisation as a geopolitical weapon used by foreign governments to deprive modern Russians of taking pride in the achievements of the Soviet Union: "It is obvious that, by cashing in on the subject of political reprisals of the 20th century, Memorial is mendaciously portraying the USSR as a terrorist state and whitewashing and vindicating Nazi criminals having the blood of Soviet citizens on their hands... Why should we, the descendants of the victors, have to see the vindication of traitors to their homeland and Nazi henchmen? … Perhaps because someone pays for that. And this is the true reason why Memorial is so fiercely trying to disown its foreign agent status..."

Such arguments dovetail closely with the Kremlin’s use of Soviet history as a rallying point for society and reinterpretation of key historical moments in its confrontations with European countries. Perhaps a factor in Stalin's continued popularity in Russia, particularly amongst nationalists and hence by the Russian government, is also that he is regularly invoked approvingly by both the far-left and far-right, and so far from being seen as controversial he is often viewed, or at least portrayed, as a unifying figure.

Fact Wizard wrote:

In a newspaper article in 1848 Karl Marx wrote "There is only one way which the murderous death agonies of the old society, and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified, and concentrated, that way is revolutionary terror."

Indeed, though I think Marx probably saw the victims of such revolutionary terror as being primarily amongst the ruling and owning classes, ie along the lines of the French Revolution, rather than the many millions of ordinary Russian workers killed by the Soviet state through famine or "ethnic cleansing" during the 1930s. So much for his slogan, "workers of the world unite - you have nothing to lose but your chains".