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Beria's beginnings were modest. Born into a religious family with a landowning background, he joined the Bolsheviks in March 1917 and quickly ascended through the ranks. After surviving a perilous period in Azerbaijan, where he narrowly escaped execution, he carved out a reputation as a feared enforcer, especially after leading the crackdown on a nationalistic uprising in Georgia that resulted in 10,000 executions.
By the early 1930s, Beria was consolidating power as he became the first secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia and later gained a position on the Central Committee of the Soviet Union. His brutal tactics rivaled those of Stalin himself, as he ordered the execution of rivals to elevate his standing within the regime.