The Purges + The Cult Of Personality Flashcards
Murder of Kirov
(6 points)
- kirov was a loyal supporter of stalin
- in 1930’s his influence + power began to rival stalin’s
- stalin was extremely paranoid
- nikolayev, a recently expelled party member, was waiting in kirov’s office
- he then shot kirov point blank in the back of the neck
- stalin claimed it was a plot by trotsky, zinoviev + kamenev
What did kirov’s murder cause?
within weeks of kirov’s death the purges started
Causes of the purges?
(5 points)
- total control, atmosphere of fear kept population loyal
- removing political opposition, used as an excuse
- stalin’s personality, he was paranoid espc. after the death of his wife
- terror economics, gulag pop. at 8 million to be used as slave labour + gave stalin a scapegoat, he blamed ‘wreckers’ for failures
- lenin’s legacy, lenin used violence so stalin did too
Conditions in the gulags
(typical labour)
exhausting physical work e.g. mining, building transport links + new cities, cutting down trees, all with only basic tools provided
Conditions in the gulags
(living)
overcrowded, badly heated barracks + random violence from guards common
Conditions in the gulags
(food)
rations received according to amount of work, hard workers earned extra, full rations was just enough to survive, prisoners with cut rations slowly starved + known as ‘goners’ by other inmates
Conditions in the gulags
(prisoners)
2 types of prisoner, professional criminals + political prisoners, political prisoners were treated worse by guards + bullied by criminals
Key features of the purges
(role of yezhov)
- 1936-38 head of the NKVD
- he was in charge of the purges
- but later got purged himself
Key features of the purges
(NKVD)
- stain’s secret police
- did the dirty work during the purges
Key features of the purges
(the gulag)
- criminals, politicians, managers, leaders of ethnic minority groups, intellectuals, military leaders were all sent
- most were innocent but stalin didn’t care as fear creates obedience + loyalty
Key features of the purges
(trial of the sixteen)
1936
- zinoviev + kamenev were the ‘stars’
- both pleaded guilty, then executed
Key features of the purges
(trial of the seventeen)
1937
- focused on trotsky’s former allies
- charges of plotting to kill kirov, contact with trotsky, disrupting 5 year plans, attempting to overthrow the government
- 13 executed + 4 sent to the gulag
Key features of the purges
(trial of the twenty-one)
1938
- bukharin took center stage
- charges of attempting to assasnitae lenin, murder of kirov, trying to overthrow the government
- chief prosecutor called B a ‘foul smelling heap of garbage’
Groups purged
(communist party)
- 2000 attended 17th party congress + 1108 later purged
- 70% of 1934 central comittee executed or imprisoned
- 1 million party members purged
Groups purged
(control of the people)
- each NKVD branch given a quota to purge
- came at night in ‘ravens’
- Butovo = mass grave of 20,000 people
Groups purged
(armed forces)
- all admirals of the soviet navy were shot
- stalin paranoid of weapons, manpower + appointed by trotsky bc red army
- 14 out of 16 army commanders shot
Impacts of the purges
(human cost)
- 7-8 million sent to gulag
- 1-1.5 mil executions
- 2 mil deaths in gulag
- climate of fear broke down normal human relationships
Impacts of the purges
(weakening of soviet union)
- weakened economy as mangers removed so less efficient e.g. Donbass 1/4 managers purged
- weakened military bc winter war w finland + 200,000 red army casualties
- rate or income decreased dramatically
