Joseph Stalin
Nickname(s) | Koba
Service/branch | Soviet Armed Forces
Years of service | 1943–53
Rank | Marshal of the Soviet Union (1943–45)
Battles/wars | World War II
Central institution membership 1917–53: Full member, 6th–19th Presidium 1922–43: 11th–19th Secretariat 1920–52: 9th–18th Orgburo 1912–53: Full member, 5th–19th Central Committee Other offices held 1941–47: Minister of Defense 1941–45: Chairman, State Defense Committee 1920–22: Chairman, Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate of the Russian SFSR 1917–22: People's Commissar, Nationalities of the Russian SFSR Leader of the Soviet Union ← Lenin Malenkov → a Despite abolishing the office of General Secretary in 1952, Stalin continued to exercise its powers as the Secretariat's highest-ranking member. b After Stalin's death, Malenkov temporarily emerged as the highest-ranking member of the Secretariat.