Stalinism Politics and Control 1929-1941

Question 1

Key player: Yezhov

Answer 1

Head of NKVD 1936-38
Led arrests (1.3m), tortures and executions (681,000 shot)- gulag population tripled
Led show trials of 17 and 21
Removed 60% of Bolsheviks

Question 2

Key player: Yagoda

Answer 2

Head of NKVD 1934-36
Led arrests, trial and execution of 16
Established the gulags
Used prison labour to build White Sea Canal
Executed in trial of 21 in 1938

Question 3

Key player: Kirov

Answer 3

Party member in Moscow (powerful)
Murdered in 1934- led to trial of 16 (kickstarted the terror)

Question 4

Key player: Vyshinsky

Answer 4

State Prosecutor of Moscow Trials
Prosecuted all 54 defendants- sentenced 47 to death

Question 5

Key player: Beria

Answer 5

Replaced Yezhov as Head of NKVD in 1938
Played a major role in some minor events in later years of the terror

Question 6

Show trial of the 16

Answer 6

1936, Zinoviev and Kamenev+14 others accused of Kirov’s murder, tortured into confession, no evidence given.

All 16 sentenced to death

Question 7

Show trial of the 17

Answer 7

1937, Ex-Trotsky supporters (Radek, Pyatakov, 15 others), tortured.

13 executed, 3 sent to Gulags, Radek was spared as he implicated others (Bukharin)

Question 8

Show trial of the 21

Answer 8

1938, Bukharin, Rykov, Yagoda, 18 others all accused of conspiring to assassinate Stalin, murdering Gorky and espionage. Kristinsky plead not guilty then had a dislocated shoulder and changed his plea the next day, Bukharin tortured and threats made to family.

18 executed (Bukharin included- his wife was sent to a Gulag), 3 others were sent to gulags where they were killed.

Question 9

NKVD order 00447

Answer 9

1937
Quotas for arrests- 100,000 per month, emphasis on national minority groups (Koreans, Chinese, Afghans)

Question 10

Gulags: stats

Answer 10

1934= + 510,000
1937= + 1.1million
1938= + 2million
By 1941, gulag population is 8million and the average term was 10 years

Question 11

Gulags: locations

Answer 11

Mostly in East, many in the West, a few in Siberia (the most brutal were in Northernmost Siberia)

Question 12

Stalins oppression of the Church

Answer 12

Church schools closed, worship restricted, holy day of Sunday abolished, 40,000 churches destroyed, many priests became victims of the purges. However priests were given the right to vote back.

Question 13

The Chistka

Answer 13

First stage of the terror
1932-35
Non-violent removal of 20% of the Bolshevik party