Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 1945–1947: Post-war reconstruction ===
After the war, Stalin was at the apex of his career.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=481}} Within the Soviet Union he was widely regarded as the embodiment of victory and patriotism,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=484}} and his armies controlled [[Central and Eastern Europe]] up to the [[River Elbe]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=481}} In June 1945, Stalin adopted the title of [[Generalissimo of the Soviet Union|Generalissimo]]{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=493|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=247}} and stood atop Lenin's Mausoleum to watch [[Moscow Victory Parade of 1945|a celebratory parade]] led by Zhukov through Red Square.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=480–481}} At a banquet held for army commanders, he described the Russian people as "the outstanding nation" and "leading force" within the Soviet Union, the first time that he had unequivocally endorsed Russians over the other Soviet nationalities.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=479}} In 1946, the state published Stalin's ''Collected Works''.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=541}} In 1947, it brought out a second edition of his official biography, which glorified him to a greater extent than its predecessor.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=543–544}} He was quoted in ''Pravda'' on a daily basis and pictures of him remained pervasive on the walls of workplaces and homes.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=548}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R78376, Budapest, II. Weltfestspiele, Festumzug, Komsomolzen.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Banner of Stalin in [[Budapest]] in 1949]]
Despite his strengthened international position, Stalin was cautious about internal dissent and desire for change among the population.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=485|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=262}} He was also concerned about his returning armies, who had been exposed to a wide range of consumer goods in Germany, much of which they had looted and brought back with them. In this he recalled the 1825 [[Decembrist Revolt]] by Russian soldiers returning from having defeated France in the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=485}} He ensured that returning Soviet prisoners of war went through "filtration" camps as they arrived in the Soviet Union, in which 2,775,700 were interrogated to determine if they were traitors. About half were then imprisoned in labour camps.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=493|2a1=Roberts|2y=2006|2p=202}} In the Baltic states, where there was much opposition to Soviet rule, dekulakisation and de-clericalisation programmes were initiated, resulting in 142,000 deportations between 1945 and 1949.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=492}} The Gulag system of forced labour camps was expanded further. By January 1953, three percent of the Soviet population was imprisoned or in internal exile, with 2.8&nbsp;million in "special settlements" in isolated areas and another 2.5&nbsp;million in camps, penal colonies, and prisons.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=268}}

The NKVD were ordered to catalogue the scale of destruction during the war.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=482}} It was established that 1,710 Soviet towns and 70,000 villages had been destroyed.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=482–483}} The NKVD recorded that [[World War II casualties of the Soviet Union|between 26 and 27 million Soviet citizens had been killed]], with millions more being wounded, malnourished, or orphaned.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=482|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=261}} In the war's aftermath, some of Stalin's associates suggested modifications to government policy.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=500}} Post-war Soviet society was more tolerant than its pre-war phase in various respects. Stalin allowed the Russian Orthodox Church to retain the churches it had opened during the war,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=496}} and academia and the arts were also allowed greater freedom.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=497}} Recognising the need for drastic steps to be taken to combat inflation and promote economic recovery, in December 1947 Stalin's government devalued the rouble and abolished the food rationing system.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=497|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=274–278}} Capital punishment was abolished in 1947 but re-instituted in 1950.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=289}} Stalin's health deteriorated,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=269|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=491}} and he grew increasingly concerned that senior figures might try to oust him.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=526|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=268}} He demoted Molotov,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=531–532|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=272–273}} and increasingly favoured Beria and Malenkov for key positions.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=534}} In the [[Leningrad Affair|Leningrad affair]], the city's leadership was purged amid accusations of treachery; executions of many of the accused took place in 1950.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=534–535|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=282}}

In the post-war period there were often food shortages in Soviet cities,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=300–301}} and the USSR experienced a major [[Soviet famine of 1946–47|famine from 1946 to 1947]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=498|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=261}} Sparked by a drought and ensuing bad harvest in 1946, it was exacerbated by government policy towards food procurement, including the state's decision to build up stocks and export food rather than distributing it to famine-hit areas.{{Sfn|Ellman|2000|pp=611, 618–620}} Estimates indicate that between one million and 1.5&nbsp;million people died from malnutrition or disease as a result.{{Sfnm|1a1=Ellman|1y=2000|1p=622|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=261}} While agricultural production stagnated, Stalin focused on a series of major infrastructure projects, including the construction of hydroelectric plants, canals, and railway lines running to the polar north.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=299}} Many of these were constructed through prison labour.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=299}}