Part 3/10:
Believing himself a divinely appointed architect of a new society, Stalin was not merely a leader; he was the embodiment of totalitarian control. His relentless ambition to construct an ideal communist world entailed the annihilation of perceived threats, real or imagined. Under his direction, the Great Purge had systematically targeted anyone labeled an enemy, resulting in the execution of approximately 800,000 Russians—averaging a grim toll of 1,500 executions per day.