What was Joseph Stalin's role in World War I?

Answer 1

Stalin had no role in World War 1. At that time he was a revolutionary Bolshevik agitator against the Tsarist government. For 3 years beginning in 1914, Stalin was in exile in Siberia. At one point in time, the Tsarist army was so desperate for soldiers, it conscripted men even from among the many revolutionaries who were living in exile. Stalin was ordered to report for a physical but was deemed unfit for military service and rejected. His left arm was withered from a childhood injury when he was hit by an oxcart.

When the Tsar abdicated in March 1917, Stalin immediately returned to Petrograd to take up his revolutionary Bolshevik activities once again. Russia's part in World War 1 ended a year later.

Answer 2

It didn't exist yet; Russia was still an empire, ruled by a Tsar. Germany helped Vladimir Lenin return to Russia, hoping to weaken their government enough to make them quit the war, since they were Germany's main adversary in the east. (The October Revolution started without Lenin; he promptly took credit for it, and all the power that he could.)