Was Stalin a neccessary evil? Assess

Joseph Stalin is undoubtedly one of the most notorious characters in history. He has been called: The greatest criminal in history and a 20th century Ivan the Terrible. He ruled as a supreme dictator and was responsible for the deaths of millions during collectivization, through slave labour camps and through grave mistakes during WW2. He isolated the Soviet Union from most of the world, keeping his people inside and keeping foreigners out. He created an …

…died then? When compared to other industrialized countries (America, Britain, etc.), we see that they have all gone through the same process that Russia did except that they did it over a longer time. They have all had an industrial revolution where many have died as a result of poor living conditions and capitalist exploitation. So was Stalin a necessary evil? The fact that the ends have definitely justified the means shows that he was.