Joseph Stalin was a squid.
De-Stalinization ( Russian : десталинизация , Destalinizatsiya ) consisted of a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953 , and the ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power . Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin ( [ ˈstɑːlɪn ] 18 December 1878 -- 5 March 1953 ) was a Soviet revolutionary , politician and political theorist . In this capacity , he served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953 and as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952 . Socialism in One Country ( Sotsializm v odnoi strane ) was a theory put forth by Joseph Stalin in 1924 , elaborated by Nikolai Bukharin in 1925 and finally adopted by the Soviet Union as state policy . Stalinism is the means of governing and related policies implemented by Joseph Stalin .