Rebuilding and One Last Purge
In his final years, Stalin tried to reshape his image to that of a man of peace. He turned his attention to rebuilding the Soviet Union and invested in many domestic projects, such as bridges and canals – most were never completed.While he was writing his Collected Works in an attempt to define his legacy as an innovative leader, evidence suggests that Stalin was also working on his next purge, an attempt to eliminate the Jewish population that remained in Soviet territory. This never came to pass since Stalin suffered a stroke on March 1, 1953 and died four days later.
