1.3 The Roles of Yagoda, Yezhev and Beria Flashcards
1
Q
who was Yagoda? (3)
A
- became head of secret police in 1934
- had ambitious personality and wanted to prove his loyalty to Stalin, which led to attempt to build his own empire
- Yagoda was removed from office and shot by Stalin in 1938, because he was accused of not pursuing the opposition enough
2
Q
what did Yagoda do during his time as head of secret police? (5)
A
- rapid expansion of Gulag, vast system of forced labour to support industrialisation
- used his influence with stalin to ensure that secret police could deal with opponents without interference from courts
- emphasis changed from ideology to economic considerations (camps)
- completed the White Sea Canal
- was given task of arresting those members of party who were thought to have links with the Trotskyite opposition
3
Q
Who was Yezhov? (2)
A
- Yagoda’s replacement
- came to Stalin’s attention because of his enthusiasm for personally torturing suspects
4
Q
What did Yezhov do? (8)
A
- the NKVD had its most excessive phase of the purge
- he was skilled at framing the purges in ideological terms by accusing those arrested of political opposition to communism
- the process of arrest, trial and imprisonment was speeded up (in 1937, the Karelian Troika processed 231 prisoners each day)
- number of inmates in Gulags increased, as did deaths in the camps
- he issued orders that required camps to meet quotas for the execution of prisoners and officers who carried out the executions were awarded medals
- surveillance of general public increased
- the group of people considered opponents was widened to include anyone who did not show enough commitment to the communism
- own members of NKVD were purged
5
Q
Why did Stalin dismiss Yezhov? (3)
A
- Stalin became concerned that the heavy use of terror was demoralizing the population at a time when war with Germany seemed imminent
- Stalin used him as a scapegoat and accused him of being responsible for the excesses of the purges
- was dismissed in 1938
6
Q
Who was Beria? (3)
A
- Yezhov’s replacement
- had secured Yezhov’s removal by criticizing him in front of Stalin
- his appointment was seen as a relief by the public, as he was presented as one who would decrease the excess behaviour of the secret police
7
Q
What did Beria do? (5)
A
- he reintroduced more conventional methods of police procedure and public trials were only held with solid evidence
- surveillance continued but it only led to arrests when evidence was found
- oversaw the murder of Trotsky by a Stalinist agent in Mexico, 1940
- he wanted to make the Gulag a profitable part of the soviet economy and in 1939, food rations for inmates were improved in order to get maximum work out of the prisoners
- the measures to improve productivity in camps resulted in a growth in economic activity from 2 billion roubles in 1937 to 4.5 billion in 1940
8
Q
What were some significant changes to the role of the secret police during the second world war? (4)
A
- in 1941, they were given some power of supervision of the Red Army, to monitor disloyalty and desertions
- NKVD was given control over process of deportations of those whose loyalty to soviet state was questioned
- by 1943, the Red Army had started to overrun areas previously captured by the Germans, and Beria set up Special Departments to root out deserters and traiters here
- even soviet troops who escaped German capture were considered suspect
9
Q
what was the impact of the Removal of Beria on the use of terror? (2)
A
- with Beria removed, the Politburo quickly limited the independance of the Secret Police and brought it firmly under State control and was answerable to the KGB
- Krushchev dismantled the Gulag system and forced labour never payed a part in soviet economy again
10
Q
What is some evidence of Stalin’s responsibility in the application of terror? (6)
A
- he personally signed many death warrants
- gave the NKVD quotas to meet and if they were not met, the NKVD officers were expected to add their own names to the lists
- the process of collectivisation required kulaks and others that opposed it to be removed
- the expansion of terror in the 1930s was a result of the demand for slave labour to meet the targets of the five year plans
- forced labour needed to build stalin’s prestige projects
- Stalin’s paranoid personality led to many aspects of terror, such as assasinations
11
Q
What arguments are there to say that Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria were not simply following orders, and had a key role in terror? (4)
A
- they all became powerful leaders of the secret police as a consequence of their willingness to follow Stalin’s wishes
- all three had sadistic tendencies and little moral conscience
- none of them had much impact on the targets of the terror, which were descided by Stalin, however they all took the opportunity to add to the death lists
- they did have influence in the implementation of terror and the operation of the Gulags
12
Q
Influence of Yagoda, Yezhev and Beria in short (3)
A
- Yagoda= Gulag expanded greatly but struggled to cope with the vast increase in inmates due to collectivisation
- Yezhov= process of terror was speeded up, driven by sadistic personality
- Beria= oversaw a change in the Gulag that led to a greater emphasis on productivity which made the system less cruel, but no more humane
