Stalins Purges Flashcards
What does purge mean
‘A cleaning out of impurities’, used to describe forcible expulsions from the communist party but in the later 1930s it meant deemed a political enemy
When did Stalinist purges begin
Early 1930s to push through the FYP
Who were the ryutin group
A group urging stalins removal with the document ‘Stalin and the crisis of the proletarians dictatorship’
What happened to ryutin and his supporters and how many CPU’s members were expelled
Stalin called for an execution of the traitors and although he was overruled, ryutin was imprisoned for 10 years with zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others expelled for the failure t report the document with a further 24 the next month, by 1934 a ifth
What privileges came with the possession of a CPU’s party card
What does paranoia mean
Unjustified suspicion and mistrust of other people or their actions
The name of the gunman who killed Kirov
Leonid Nikolayev
When was kirov murdered
December 1934
Which party congress was kirovs popularity revealed
17th congress in 1934
What did the 1st December decree state
Gave Yagoda, as head of the NKVD, powers to rest and execute anyone found guilty oof terrorist plotting
What was the relationship between the growth in party membership and the purges
Over a hundred party members were shot and thousands more arrested and sent to prison camps
Head of the NVKD between 1934 and 1936
Yagoda
Which ardent stalinists became heads of the part in Leningrad and Moscow
Kirov and
When were Kamenev and Zinoviev tried and executed
19th to 24th Aug 1936 after certain in 1935 and killed on 25th aug 1936
What were Kamenev and zinoviev accused of
Propagandist purposes and alliance with Trotsky, stirring up discontent and plotting to kill Stalin
Who acted as state prosecutor during the show trials
Vishinsky
The 1936 constitution was intended to impress western communists and soviet sympathizers. Bukharin was its principle draftsman. Provide an a example of what it claimed
Socialism had been achieved
Who replaced yagoda as head of the NKVD in September 1936
Nikolai Yezhov
1937 saw the trail of Pyatakov and Radek. Why did Radek escape the death penalty
Who was tried in the 3rd show trail of 1938
21 communists eg Nikolai Bukharin, Rhkov, Yagoda and Tomsky
What was Tukhachevksky accused of in 1937
Treason
What followed Tukhachevskys trail and wat was the consequence of this
After confessing during torture he was executed in 1937 easing to
What is the term used to describe the period of heightened terror in the late 1930s when all sections of society were purged
The Great purge
Why was he terror extended
He was obsessed with reinforcing his own position, eliminating possible rivals and wreaking revenge on rivals
What was the gulag
The ‘main camp administration’, this agency administered the soviet forcedlabour camps from 1930
Three stages of purges
Chistka- over 20% party expelled non violently
Show trials of old bolsheviks
Violent removal
Who were removed during the purges
Political opposition such as ex Mensheviks and workers and engineers who were accused of wrecking
Causes of the purge
- Stalins personality as he became obsessed with reinforcing his own position, eliminating possible rivals and wreaking revenge alongside his idealized inferiority complex
-economic factors
-reaction to threat of the war
-paranoia
-sustainedimportance of NKVD
-wish to remove anyone who could form alternative gov
-purges achieved momentum of their own
-supplying slave labor
-was comfortable with the use of terror as a means of control
-controlling unstable society
Who were the victims of the purges
Who were the victims of the purges
Scientists, workers and engineers, managers
Leading party members
Peasants and industrial workers
Senior military officers
Other groups
Party and state leaders
People to those who had been purged
NKVD
how many were wiped out during Stalin’s terror
Millions
By 1940 how many bolsheviks from the 1917 revolution remained
Almost every one had been arrested and executed
1934 5 out of 11 members of the politburo killed or died in mysterious way
Kirovs popular viewpoint
To slow down collectivistaion and forced requisitioning
ki
Why was Kirov murdered
As an excuse for widespread purges
Who was Kirov
Joined democratic Labour Party and joined the bolsheviks
Met Stalin and worked along his oyalists while playing a ey role in conserving power
Became Leningrad party secretary and elected to the politburo as Candice member
The two were know to spend leisure time together however in early 1930s, Kirov became alternative to Stalin and Stalin began to struggle though big breaks
None of kirovs speeches wanted to stray from the line of Stalin however the 17th party congress upset him so he tampered the voting and killed him off
How significant was kirovs Murder in the development of Stalin’s use of terror in the 1930s
The Shakhty trial, 1st December 1934 Kirovs Murder, the industrial party trial 1930, ryutin imprisoned and zinoviev and Kamenev expelled in 1932, party purge of 1933, December decree published
Zinoviev and Kamenev arrest in Jan 1935, September 1936 Yagoda was replaced by Yezhov- 1938 yagoda trial, 1938 trial of 21,trial of 17,the military purge of 1937
-Stalin began to focus upon legal matters of Murder after the death of kirov however they all fell under the same reasoning just with more tactical decisions and become more socialist about it with the votes of a council
Looser structure and larger amount
How significant was the murder of Kirov in 1934 for the Stalinist government in the USSR in the years 1934 to 1936?
Paragraph 1- allowed Stalin to consolidate his position internally
-demonstrated how opposing Stalin could lead to death a and established his dominance and reduced threat
-following on from Kirov’s death Party members were purged and a decree allowing Yagoda power to arrest and execute anyone found guilty of plotting- over 100 party members shot and thousands sent to gulag
-decree allowed Stalin to diminish the power base Kirov had grown within Leningrad with 12 NKVD members imprisoned for their support and removed any internal threat
- sparked the show trials which allowed Stalin to eliminate old bolsheviks e.g. zinoviez and Kamenev so no comrades of lenin could success
- used terror to remove those he views as enemies to ensure no further opposition remained
Paragraph 2- allowed Stalin to consolidate his position externally by increasing the intensity of terror
-decree was significant in allowing the Yagoda power to arrest and execute for plotting and in turn tightened terror and made it easier for NKVD to arrest the politburo and public
-signaled a need for the regime to tighten the ussr as purges and paranoia took over alongside informers
-people encouraged to denounce anyone believed of counter-revolutionary activity which led to common disruption and people often lied to get back a one another
-increased terror created suspicion and control over the people
Paragraph 3- signified the vulnerable nature of Stalin’s position
-assassination solidified Stalins position as head but also that he was not unassailable
-kirovs rise in support showed hw easy the tide could turn on Stalin and the unpopularity of Stalin’s policies as there was opposition to industrialization and collectivization
-Stalins violent response shows he was aware of the danger to is position and took great steps to establish himself and the sole head of the communist party
Counter-
-the speed of the issued decree shows Stalins increase in terror was already pre-planned so therefore kirovs death was not significant in the increase of terror. However the terror after the figurehead death of kirov was to publicly promote as avenging the death of Stalin’s comrade
Conclusion-
-Nevertheless, I believe that the greatest significance of Kirov’s death was Stalins internal consolidation of power as although it may be argued that the increased terror pushed for further control over an unstable USSR, it was clear that the Party itself was targeted. Furthermore, Kirov’s assassination allowed Stalin to remove opposition to his power and policies, leading to a strengthened position in his own power but also his policies. Therefore, it is evident that the internal consolidation of power took priority.
Who was blamed for killing Kirov
Kamenev and zinoviev
Order 00447
Set quotas for people in various regions to be shot Nd imprisoned
Elements of Stalin’s dictatorship in the 1930s
-control of the arts
-propaganda
-secret police
-terror
-forced Labour and prison camps (gulag)
-one party state
-one party state
-censorship of press
-centralised control of economy, regions
-cult of personality
-show trials
