Stalin's Terror & Purges

Question 1

when was kirov assassinated and by whom?

Answer 1

1934 by nikolayev who had a grudge against the party, however, suggestion that it was ordered by stalin because kirov had no bodyguard & NKVD had trained the assassin to fire a pistol

Question 2

what did kirov’s death lead to?

Answer 2

many more purges & show trials

Question 3

when did yagoda become head of the secret police?

Answer 3

1934

Question 4

when did yagoda launch the great purge and who did he target?

Answer 4

1936 - party members who were alleged to have links to trotskyite opposition

Question 5

example of slave labour under yagoda

Answer 5

the white sea canal was built by 180,000 slave labourers digging by hand - 141 miles long & cost 10,000 lives but it was only 12ft deep so pretty useless

Question 6

why was yagoda removed as head of the secret police?

Answer 6

accused of not pursuing the opposition with sufficient enthusiasm & seen as a threat to stalin - removed from office & shot by order of stalin in 1938

Question 7

tell me about the show trials of 1935-36

Answer 7

arrests of the left opposition members who were still at large, accused of anti-soviet activities, always ended in death, stage to ensure that other members were intimidated by the state’s power, delayed to the public through radio & film footage

Question 8

who was targeted in the trial of the 16?

Answer 8

leaders of the left including zinoviev & kamenev - under severe pressure they confessed to crimes they couldn’t have possibly carried out like kirov’s murder

Question 9

when was the trial of the 17 & who did it target?

Answer 9

1937 - party officials such as radek & pyatakov who were accused of working for trotsky & foreign governments to undermine the economy through sabotage

Question 10

when was the trial of the 21 & who did it target?

Answer 10

1938 - the right including bukharin & rykov (tomsky had already committed suicide) they were accused of forming a ‘trotskyite-rightist bloc’ and both confessed - no solid evidence but bukharin’s ‘notes of an economist’ made clear his criticisms which stalin saw as a threat

Question 11

who were the congress of victors/victims?

Answer 11

members of the 17th party congress who criticised stalin’s 5 year plans were put on show trial in 1937 & executed - examples include radek & pyatakov

Question 12

what brought yezhov to stalin’s attention?

Answer 12

his enthusiasm for personally torturing suspects

Question 13

what was yezhov known as?

Answer 13

‘the bloody dwarf’

Question 14

how many prisoners did yezhov process in sept 1937

Answer 14

231 prisoners each day

Question 15

what were yezhov’s quotas?

Answer 15

they were given a certain number of people to kill/send to the gulag so picked people randomly to meet these quotas

Question 16

what happened to NKVD officers who carried out executions for yezhov?

Answer 16

awarded medals but often executed a few months later to meet quotas

Question 17

how did yezhov keep an eye on the general public?

Answer 17

by increasing the NKVD surveillance of the public - plain clothes officers & a system of informers from the general public

Question 18

who were considered opponents in yezhov’s time?

Answer 18

everyone from before but widened to include anyone who didn’t show sufficient commitment to the communist cause

Question 19

when & why was yezhov dismissed?

Answer 19

1938 for his frenetic work rate & excessive drinking

Question 20

when was the extensive purge of the red army?

Answer 20

1937 & 38

Question 21

stats of the red army purge 1937-8

Answer 21

3/5 marshals, 14/16 army commanders & 35,000 officers

Question 22

why did stalin purge the red army in 1937-8?

Answer 22

their criticism of collectivisation impacts concerned him as the armed forces were becoming more and more important

Question 23

why did stalin purge the secret police?

Answer 23

purges generated more work for them, causing their influence to grow, so stalin purged the purgers to ensure there was no threat to himself

Question 24

what did yezhov do in the first 6 months of being head?

Answer 24

purged 3,000 of his own personnel

Question 25

what brought beria to stalin’s attention?

Answer 25

his impressive organisational skills & unsavoury characteristics, even though he was annoyed by his excessive flattery

Question 26

why were the public somewhat relieved when beria came into power?

Answer 26

he was presented as an uncle-like figure which was slightly true because he thought indiscriminate arrests were inefficient & a waste of manpower

Question 27

which important murder did beria oversee and when?

Answer 27

trotsky was murdered by a stalinist agent in mexico in 1940

Question 28

what main changes did beria make?

Answer 28

he reintroduced more conventional methods of procedure & public trials were only held when there was solid evidence, surveillance only led to arrests when evidence was found

Question 29

what did beria change in the gulag and why?

Answer 29

in 1939 rations for inmates were improved to get maximum work out of prisoners - done because beria wanted to make the gulag profitable

Question 30

did the changes beria made involving the gulag make a difference?

Answer 30

there was a growth in gulag economic activity from 2 billion to 4.5 billion roubles and by the 1950s, over 1/3 of russia’s gold was produced through the gulag