The Purges

The Purges

1. Reasons

   • Economic
     • Stalin's wife blamed him for famine, committed suicide
     • Ryutin called Stalin 'Evil Genius'
       • Politburo refused to execute him
   • Political
     • Murder of Kirov 1934
       • Party boss of Leningrad, disagreed w Stalins use of force
       • more popular than Stalin at 17th Party Congress
       • Stalin claimed muser was a conspiracy
         • NKVD given new powers
     • Destroy reputation of Old Bolsheviks
       • as they knew about Lenin's testament
       • get rid of opponents
   • Fear
     • Paranoia of West invading
       • international situation in 1930's
         • especially after rise of Hitler
   • Other
     • Purges picked up momentum
       • once started the purges became more rapid and people began denouncing their neighbours for their flat or to avoid being denounced

2. Stages

   • 1928 Shakhty Trials
     • specialists blamed for economic failures
   • 1929 Dekulakisation
   • 1930 Show Trials of Specialists
     • wreckers
   • 1934 Murder of Kirov
     • led to purge of Old Bolsheviks
       • 1,108/1966 delegates arrested
       • K&Z accused of being Trotskyites
       • NKVD able to execute/ arrest without trial
   • 1936-8 Yezhovschina
     • Show trials of K&Z
     • Bukharin shot
     • Millions denounced and sent to gulags
     • campaigns vs. Nationalities and Churches
   • 1937-8 Purge of Amry
     • Marshall Tukhachevsky shot
       • 1/2 officer corps. 13/15 Generals
   • 1938 Purge of NKVD
     • Yezhov shot

3. Show Trials

   • to discredit Economic specialists and Communist Party leaders
     • NKVD concocted confessions e.g. Trotskyite
       • sleep deprivation/ threats to family to make sign confession
       • accused often not know charge till trial
         • no defence lawyer, only prosecutor Vyshinsky
           • audience in hysteria
             • press condemned accused
   • press condemned accused

4. Victims

   • 20 - 30 million shot or sent to Gulags
     • Gulags
       • siberia, very cold
       • little food
       • beatings
       • worked to exhaustion
   • 850 thousand purged from party
   • 4/163 bishops free by 1939
   • 25% Leningrad in Gulags
   • 98/139 central committee arrested
   • from Lenins Politburo, Stalin remained
   • National Minorities
     • wanted autonomy
     • Stalin made Russian compulsory in schools
     • Killed/ imprisoned Nationalist leaders
     • 1938 Ukrainian government replaced by Russians

5. Stalin Cult

   • pictures, statues, road names, Stalingrad etc.
   • Indoctrination
     • through school
       • make children obedient to Stalin
       • Teachers arrested if disobeyed
       • history textbooks rewritten to remove Trotsky
   • Pioneers and Komsomol
   • writers union- Mandlestam arrested
   • Socialist Realism
     • optimistic, simple
     • heroic workers, happy peasants

6. Persecution of the Church/ Islam

   • religious propaganda banned
   • anti-religious propaganda encouraged
     • e.g. Godless League
   • 159 bishops arrested
   • pilgrimages to Mecca banned
   • churches, synagogues, mosques closed
   • Muslim leaders given show trials

7. 1936 Constitution

   • to impress west
   • All citizens elected Soviet Union, but only 1 party
     • party had to obey leader: Stalin
   • guaranteed freedom of speech & religion
     • and freedom from arrest w/o trial
       • IGNORED