The Purges

The Purges

Reasons
1. Economic
  1. Stalin's wife blamed him for famine, committed suicide
  2. Ryutin called Stalin 'Evil Genius'
    1. Politburo refused to execute him
2. Political
  1. Murder of Kirov 1934
    1. Party boss of Leningrad, disagreed w Stalins use of force
    2. more popular than Stalin at 17th Party Congress
    3. Stalin claimed muser was a conspiracy
      1. NKVD given new powers
  2. Destroy reputation of Old Bolsheviks
    1. as they knew about Lenin's testament
    2. get rid of opponents
3. Fear
  1. Paranoia of West invading
    1. international situation in 1930's
      1. especially after rise of Hitler
4. Other
  1. Purges picked up momentum
    1. once started the purges became more rapid and people began denouncing their neighbours for their flat or to avoid being denounced
Stages
1. 1928 Shakhty Trials
  1. specialists blamed for economic failures
2. 1929 Dekulakisation
3. 1930 Show Trials of Specialists
  1. wreckers
4. 1934 Murder of Kirov
  1. led to purge of Old Bolsheviks
    1. 1,108/1966 delegates arrested
    2. K&Z accused of being Trotskyites
    3. NKVD able to execute/ arrest without trial
5. 1936-8 Yezhovschina
  1. Show trials of K&Z
  2. Bukharin shot
  3. Millions denounced and sent to gulags
  4. campaigns vs. Nationalities and Churches
6. 1937-8 Purge of Amry
  1. Marshall Tukhachevsky shot
    1. 1/2 officer corps. 13/15 Generals
7. 1938 Purge of NKVD
  1. Yezhov shot
Show Trials
1. to discredit Economic specialists and Communist Party leaders
  1. NKVD concocted confessions e.g. Trotskyite
    1. sleep deprivation/ threats to family to make sign confession
    2. accused often not know charge till trial
      1. no defence lawyer, only prosecutor Vyshinsky
        audience in hysteria
        press condemned accused
2. press condemned accused
Victims
1. 20 - 30 million shot or sent to Gulags
  1. Gulags
    1. siberia, very cold
    2. little food
    3. beatings
    4. worked to exhaustion
2. 850 thousand purged from party
3. 4/163 bishops free by 1939
4. 25% Leningrad in Gulags
5. 98/139 central committee arrested
6. from Lenins Politburo, Stalin remained
7. National Minorities
  1. wanted autonomy
  2. Stalin made Russian compulsory in schools
  3. Killed/ imprisoned Nationalist leaders
  4. 1938 Ukrainian government replaced by Russians
Stalin Cult
1. pictures, statues, road names, Stalingrad etc.
2. Indoctrination
  1. through school
    1. make children obedient to Stalin
    2. Teachers arrested if disobeyed
    3. history textbooks rewritten to remove Trotsky
3. Pioneers and Komsomol
4. writers union- Mandlestam arrested
5. Socialist Realism
  1. optimistic, simple
  2. heroic workers, happy peasants
Persecution of the Church/ Islam
1. religious propaganda banned
2. anti-religious propaganda encouraged
  1. e.g. Godless League
3. 159 bishops arrested
4. pilgrimages to Mecca banned
5. churches, synagogues, mosques closed
6. Muslim leaders given show trials
1936 Constitution
1. to impress west
2. All citizens elected Soviet Union, but only 1 party
  1. party had to obey leader: Stalin
3. guaranteed freedom of speech & religion
  1. and freedom from arrest w/o trial
    1. IGNORED

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