Purges 1917-41 Flashcards
What did Lenin create in 1917
The Cheka
What method became the rule in the red terror
Execution became the rule
How many died in the Red Terror officially and predicted
Officially - 13,000
Predicted - 300,000
Why was there increased repression in the red terror
Workers wanted elections, free press, the restoration of the Constituent Assembly and the overthrow of the Sovnarkom.
1918-21 - What were some left wing SRs protesting about
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Who did the left wing SRs capture in May 1918
The head of the Cheka
Who did the left wing SRs shoot in July 1918
Shot German Ambassador
Who did the left wing SRs attempt to assassinate in August 1918
Lenin
Which parties gained popularity
SRs and Mensheviks - calls for a multi party democracy
What did the Cheka fan the flames of
Class warfare
What was the main goal of the terror
Frighten all social groups into cooperation with the regime
What percentage of the population of Moscow’s prisons were children in 1920
5%
When did Lenin abandon the Cheka
February 1922
What was the Cheka replaced with
The GPU
What were peasants resisting collectivisation labelled as
Kulaks
Who did terror motivate
Managers and workers
How did peasants resist collectivisation
Killed livestock and less grain was harvested
Which show trial took place in 1928
Shakhty show trial
How many were involved in the Shakhty show trial
53 engineers accused of ‘counter revolutionary activity’ due to drop in production
What was the result of the Shakhty show trial
5 executed
44 imprisoned
Which show trial took place in 1930
‘Industry Party’ Trial
What happened at the ‘Industry Party’ Trial
Alleged that a well organised group with members in top industrial and planning posts were sabotaging the first 5 year plan
Which show trial took place in 1931
Menshevik Trial
By 1934 how many prisoners were in gulags
Over one million
When is Kirov murdered
December 1934
Who was arrested in January 1935
Zinoviev, Kamenev and 17 others
In 1935 how many party members were arrested and explusioned from the party
11,000 arrested
250,000 expulsions
What happened in August 1936
Show trial of Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others
What happened in August 1936
Yagoda replaced by Yezhov as head of the NKVD
Which show trial took place in 1937
Show trial of Piatakov, Radek and Sokolnikov
Which show trial took place in 1938
Show trial of Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda
What did Yagoda think of show trials
Didn’t believe in them
Called them ‘nonsense’
What nickname did Yezhov get
The ‘poisoned dwarf’ or the ‘bloody dwarf’
What was the period 1936-38 called
The Yezhovshchina
What did Yezhov say about killing innocent people
‘Better that ten innocent people should suffer than one spy get away’
What did Yezhov do in July 1937
Drew up a list of 250,000 ‘anti-soviet elements’
What system did Yezhov introduce
Quota system for arrests
What percentage of people did Yezhov say needed to be shot
28%
What happened to the army in 1937
Purge of the Red Army
In the purge of the Red Army how many deputy Commissars for Defence were shot
All 11
In the purge of the Red Army how many members of the Supreme Military Council were shot
75 out of 80
In the purge of the Red Army how many Admirals were shot
All 8
In the purge of the Red Army how many Marshals were shot
3 of the 5
In the purge of the Red Army how many of the army commanders were shot or imprisoned
14 out of 16
In the purge of the Red Army how many of the Army Officer Corps were shot or imprisoned
Half (35,000)
In 1938 how much of the Communist party were expelled
1/5
What percentage of the party membership in 1939 had joined the party before 1920
Less than 10%
How many of the delegates had been arrested by 1939
1108 out of 1966 delegates
What did Kalinin, the President of the USSR, never ask for
Never asked for the release of his wife who was imprisoned in a gulag between 1938 and 1945
How many party members were there in 1935
2.5 million party members
How many party members were there in 1939
1.5 million
