Opposition and Red Terror 1917-41 Flashcards
When did Lenin create the Cheka?
December 1917
What was the Cheka (created by Lenin)?
Extaordinary Commission against Counter Revolution and Sabotage- Secret Police organisation whose job was to find and destroy any opposition
What terror took place under Lenin?
Execution now become the norm (for opposition)
Prisoners in many cities shot
Official records Cheka killed 13000 between 1918-20 - other estimates at 300000
Victims included workers, peasants, princes, judges and even children (5% of prison population in Moscow in 1920)
Established gulags- hard labour camps
Although Cheka disbanded in 1922, he replaced with GPU - another secret police organisation.
Why did Lenin pursue terror policies?
After disbanding the constituent assembly in Jan 1918 lots of protests. Did it to crush any opposition.
Increasing opposition wanting elections, a free press, the assembly back and the overthrow of Sovnarkom
Left-wing soviet revolutionaries, protesting about treaty of Brest-Litovsk., captured Dzerzhinsky in May 1918. They also shot German ambassador plus an assassination attempt on Lenin (shot in neck)
Who did the Cheka target!
What do apologists for Lenin argue?
They argue that the Cheka/red terror was necessary to curb the opposition faced during the civil war (1917-22). He was protecting the working class
He did actually disband the Cheka in Feb 1922
What do critics of Lenin argue?
Aim of the terror was to frighten all social groups, not just middle classes (as seen by targeting workers, peasants, judges, princes, children etc)
Established GPU after Cheka disbanded
Established Gulags
What policies did Stalin launch in 1928?
Rapid industrialisation and Collectivisation
Widespread opposition to collectivisation from peasants
What responses did Stalin initiate in response to the resistance to Collectivisation?
Action from the OGPU and Red army
Thousands of peasants were shot
Millions were arrested and taken to labour camps (Gulags)
Extreme cases- airforce bombed remote villages
What was the impact of the peasant revolts to Collectivisation?
Very damaging to Soviet agriculture-
Millions of animals slaughtered and less grain was harvested
Between 1928-32 was it just peasants who suffered from purges?
No, managers, engineers and specialists were also targeted to motivate workers to meet the demanding targets of the Gosplan
Who was the Deputy chairman of the OGPU in 1929?
Yagoda
What did Yagoda do to address prison overcrowding?
Expand the use of the Gulags.
Hundreds of new ones built, especially Siberia.
By 1934 one million prisoners in Gulags
Mine diamonds, coal, gold and timber.
How did Stalin extend the terror from that already seen in Lenin’s time?
Grew amount of Gulags
Show trials to spread fear
Killed political rivals-Kirov?
Purge of the Red Army
Yezhovshchina (36-38) 250,000 arrest list 28% to be killed
Purge of the communist party
What were the show trials 1928-1931?
1928 Shakhty trial - 53 engineers from coal mine accused of counter revolutionary activity - to drop production. Forced confessions, 5 executed and 44 imprisoned
1930 Industrial Party trial- alleged that members in top industrial and planning posts were part of a group paid by enemies of the Soviet Union to sabotage 5 yr plan
1931 Menshevik Trial- leading figures in drawing of first five year plan found themselves on trial because of Menshevik background (other socialist party)
Why was Stalin nervous about Kirov?
Saw him as a political threat
Kirov star of 1934 party conference
Kirov polled more votes in the election of the central committee than Stalin -1934
Kirov had been approached to take over as General secretary by several provincial secretaries and told Stalin about it
Kirov strong in Leningrad, former base of opposition to Stalin, led by Zinoviev
Was Stalin involved in the murder of Kirov?
Little doubt that Nikolayev carried out the assassination
Nikolayev had a motive, having been expelled from party in Leningrad and rumours that Kirov was having an affair with his wife (found map and Kirov’s route to work)
Was he helped by the NKVD? Had been arrested before in the neighbourhood with a revolver (unusual to be released)
NKYD men accosted Kirov’s bodyguard allowing entry to the building, with the bodyguard killed in a car accident a day later - preventing him giving evidence
Stalin set up investigation into murder, but took personal charge (therefore implicated in it?)
Other theory that Kirov’ victim of in-fighting between NKVD and the Leningrad party. Kirov didn’t support replacement of his ally Medved as leader of NKVD in Leningrad. Suggested replacement was close to Yagoda and the NKVD faction in Moscow. Did the NKVD Moscow faction murder Kirov to promote their man?
What were the great show trials of 1936-1938?
1936- Show trial of Kamenev and Zinoviev - both confessed to being involved in Trotskyite plots to overthrow Stalin and murder Kirov - shot after trial
1937- Show trial of Platakov, Radek and Sokolnikov
Leading figures in communist party who had questioned Stalin’s policies. Deomonstrated nobody was safe. After torture confessed to forming Anti-Soviet Trotskyist centre and were shot
1938 - Show trial of Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda
Last and most famous
Bukharin confessed to plots against Stalin and was shot
Yagoda arrested in 36 and confessed to numerous crimes, including the murder of Kirov, being a German spy and attempted murder of Yezhov. Yagoda was shot along with his father-in-law and brother-in-law. Sister and parents also exiled.
What was Yezhovshchina (1936-1938)?
Period of terror which was overseen by Yezhov
Yezhov fiercely loyal to Stalin and initially popular with communist party members- workaholic
He undermined Yagoda
Nicknamed the poisoned dwarf.
Yezhov admitted that innocent people would be killed - we are launching a major attack on the enemy - better that ten innocent people should suffer than one spy get away
Drew up list of 250,000 ‘anti-soviet elements’ inc scientists, writers, managers. Implemented quota system - each region and to make a certain number of arrests and even stated 28% of those arrested should be shot- rest hard Labour
How did Stalin purge the Red army?
In 1937 Tukhachevsky, civil war hero and deputy commissar for Defence was tried along with other top military leaders. 75 out of 80 members of the Supreme Military council shot, all 8 admirals were shot, 3 out of 5 Marshals were executed, 14 out of 16 army commanders and half of the army officer corps (35,000) were either imprisoned or executed
Reduced effectiveness of the armed forces. Left incompetent leaders behind, with little up to date knowledge of modern military tactics. E.g. heavy emphasis still placed on cavalry on the battlefield - no match for the tanks used by the Nazis in 1941
How did Stalin purge the Communist party?
Continually purged in the 1930s
After the Ryutin affair
After Kirov murder
Peak year 1938 1/5 expelled and many thousands shot
Old Bolsheviks (joined pre 1924) - thousands arrested and executed. Less than 10% of party membership in 1939 joined before 1920 (remove all people who could remember a time before Stalin)
Purged the 1934 delegates - never forgot the humiliation 1108 of 1966 delegates arrested by 1939
Concentrated minds that backing Stalin was the best policy
Kalinin never asked for his wife’s release after sent to Gulag, same with Molotov. His daughter said she had no mother to join the party.
Sergo Ordzhonikidze member of Politburo but opposed the excesses of NKVD - row with Stalin. Last person to oppose him. Committed suicide
2.5m members in 1935 down to 1.5 in 1939 - arrest of over 1 million and execution of around 600,000. New members recruited in late 30’s
Was Stalin’s terror worse than Lenin?
Yes, Key Differences
1. Scale and Impact:
• Lenin’s Red Terror was brutal but shorter and more focused on class enemies and civil war opponents.
• Stalin’s purges were broader, targeting even loyal communists, ethnic minorities, and ordinary citizens, with a death toll far exceeding Lenin’s campaign.
2. Duration:
• Lenin’s Red Terror was largely confined to the civil war years.
• Stalin’s terror extended over decades, with the Great Terror being its most intense phase.
3. Motivation:
• Lenin’s terror was primarily ideological, aimed at suppressing class enemies and stabilizing the Bolshevik regime.
• Stalin’s terror was largely driven by paranoia, personal ambition, and a desire for totalitarian control.
Which Was Worse?
Stalin’s terror is generally regarded as worse due to its larger death toll, its scale of repression, and the atmosphere of paranoia it created within Soviet society. However, Lenin’s Red Terror laid the ideological and institutional groundwork for Stalin’s purges, making the two historically interconnected.
