The saddest part is that Stalin was anything but intimidating.
I recently watched a documentary about him and his dealings with the soviet military. I got the impression that he was terrified of his own military and they were terrified of each other.
One of the stories related said that when the found him after the German invasion of Poland he hiding in his office like a frightened little boy expecting to be arrested for screwing up so badly.
Its amazing how much pain was inflicted on the world by two pathetic moronic tyrants. (Stalin and Hitler)