Question

Who was the leader of the Soviet Union during World War II? A) Leon Trotsky B) Joseph Stalin C) Vladimir Lenin D) Nikita Khrushchev

Answer 1

Answer: B) Joseph Stalin

Explanation:

Joseph Stalin was indeed the leader of the Soviet Union during World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945. He held the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party and effectively controlled the Soviet government from the late 1920s until his death in 1953.

Let's look at why the other options are incorrect. Vladimir Lenin was the first leader of the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution of 1917, but he died in 1924, well before World War II began. Leon Trotsky was a prominent revolutionary leader and Lenin's close associate, but he was exiled by Stalin in 1929 and was assassinated in 1940. Nikita Khrushchev became the Soviet leader only after Stalin's death in 1953, which was after World War II had ended.

During World War II, Stalin played a crucial role in the Allied victory against Nazi Germany. Initially, he signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler in 1939, but when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 through Operation Barbarossa, Stalin became a key Allied leader alongside Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Soviet Union's resistance and eventual push-back against German forces was instrumental in defeating the Nazis on the Eastern Front.