terror

Question 1

who tried to assassinate Vladimir Lenin?

Answer 1

Fanny Efimovna Kaplan - a Ukrainian - Jewish woman, SR and early Soviet dissident. she was arrested for the attempted assassination of Vladimir Lenin and was executed by the Cheka on 3 September 1918

Question 1

what was the trial of the Red Army’s leaders that Stalin organised?

Answer 1

in 1937 eight senior generals were executed. the eight leaders had worked with Trotsky when he was head of the Red Army, and therefore Stalin did not trust them. he believed they tried to over throw the government.

Question 2

give examples of the cheka’s terror

Answer 2

• in Kremenchuk Ukraine, Church leaders were impaled on spikes
• in the city of Oryol victims were frozen and put on display as ice statues
• women captured by the Cheka were routinely raped

Question 3

give examples of the nkvd’s terror

Answer 3

the purges of the 1930s and the great terror

Question 4

the trial of the 16

Answer 4

(1936) led to the execution of Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 of their supporters

Question 5

the trial of the 17

Answer 5

(1937) led to the execution and imprisonment of 17 of Trotsky’s former supporters

Question 6

the trial of the 21

Answer 6

(1938) led to the execution of Bukharin and many of his closest supporters

Question 7

what were Lenin’s reasons for creating the cheka

Answer 7

to preserve the revolution and to gaurantee internal protection

Question 8

what were Stalin’s reasons for creating the nkvd

Answer 8

due to his paranoia and the need to maintain his narcissistic self image as the ‘hero of the revolution’

Question 9

how many people do most historians believe were executed during the Red Terror?

Answer 9

atleast 100,000 people

Question 10

how many people do most historians believe were executed during the great terror/purge

Answer 10

atleast 750,000 people