S1, E1: The SOVIET UNION was formed on 30 December 1922 after five years of civil war. Joseph Stalin’s iron fist and the Great Purge gave him unopposed murderous rule over his country. Heroically defeated Hitler’s onslaught in Kursk and Stalingrad 1941-43 which effectively won WWII for the allies, and helped mark out his geopolitical world and power until his death in 1953.