Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 1912–1917: Rise to the Central Committee and ''Pravda'' ===
[[File:First Issue of PRAVDA.jpg|thumb|right|First issue of ''[[Pravda]]'', of which Stalin served as an early editor]]

In January 1912, the first [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Bolshevik Central Committee]] was elected at the [[Prague Conference]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=83|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=122–123}} Lenin and [[Grigory Zinoviev]] decided to co-opt Stalin to the committee, which Stalin (while still in exile in Vologda) agreed to.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=83|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2pp=122–123}}{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=48|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=83|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=240|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4pp=122–123}} Lenin believed that Stalin, as a Georgian, would help secure support from the empire's minority ethnicities.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=240}} In February 1912, Stalin again escaped to Saint Petersburg,{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=241}} where he was tasked with converting the Bolshevik weekly newspaper, ''Zvezda'' ("Star") into a daily, ''[[Pravda]]'' ("Truth").{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=84|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=243}} The new newspaper was launched in April 1912 and Stalin's role as editor was kept secret.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=84|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=247}} In May 1912, he was again arrested and sentenced to three years of exile in Siberia.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=51|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=248}} In July, he arrived in [[Narym]],{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2007|1p=249|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=133}} where he shared a room with fellow Bolshevik [[Yakov Sverdlov]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=86|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2p=250|3a1=Kotkin|3y=2014|3p=154}} After two months, they escaped to Saint Petersburg,{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=51|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=86–87|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=250–251}} where Stalin continued work on ''Pravda''.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=255}}

[[File:Stalin in exile 1915.jpg|thumb|left|upright=.8|Stalin in 1915]]

After the [[1912 Russian legislative election|October 1912 Duma elections]], Stalin wrote articles calling for reconciliation between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks; Lenin criticised him{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=256}} and he relented.{{sfn|Montefiore|2007|p=263}} In January 1913, Stalin travelled to [[Vienna]],{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=54|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=89|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=263}} where he researched the "national question" of how the Bolsheviks should deal with the Empire's national and ethnic minorities.{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=89|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2007|2pp=264–265}} His article "[[Marxism and the National Question]]"{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=53|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=85|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3p=266|4a1=Kotkin|4y=2014|4p=133}} was first published in the March, April, and May 1913 issues of the Bolshevik journal ''[[Prosveshcheniye]]''{{sfn|Kotkin|2014|p=133}} under the pseudonym "K. Stalin". The alias, which he had used since 1912, is derived from the Russian for steel (''stal''), and has been translated as "Man of Steel".{{sfnm|1a1=Himmer|1y=1986|1p=269|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=85}} In February 1913, Stalin was again arrested in Saint Petersburg{{sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2007|1pp=268–270|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=28}} and sentenced to four years of exile in [[Turukhansk]] in Siberia, where he arrived in August.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=54|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=102–103|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=270, 273|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=29}} Still concerned over a potential escape, the authorities moved him to [[Kureika (village)|Kureika]] in March 1914.{{sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=55|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=105–106|3a1=Montefiore|3y=2007|3pp=277–278|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=29}}