USSR 3: Purges Flashcards
1
Q
Reasons for purges
Opposition to Stalin
A
- Opposition was growing due to harsh methods
- Stalins own wife committed suicide in Nov 1932
- 1932, Ryutin circulated 200 page document calling Stalin “evil genius”
2
Q
Reasons for purges
Murder of Kirov
A
- Loyal supporter, but Stalin saw him as a rival
- 1st December 1934 Leonid Nikolayev shot Kirov
- Stalin claimed a plot to overthrow him and said K+Z “Shed the blood of Kirov”
3
Q
KF of Purges
Use of NKVD
A
- 1934 Cheka became NKVD
- Stalin used them to arrest opponents, torture and threaten
- NKVD themselves purged in 1938, leader Yezhov killed in Feb 1940 after torture
4
Q
KF of purges
Gulags
A
- Common threat used to terrify people into obedience
- 12 million died in them
- 1920s and 30s very full of Kulaks
- One camp used 250k to build the Belomor canal
5
Q
Show trials
Trial of the 16
A
- 1936
- Based on Zinoviev and Kamenev
- Chief prosecutor was Vyshinksy
- Said to “shoot them like wild dogs”
- K died with honour, Z begged for his life
6
Q
Show trials
Trial of the 17
A
- 1937
- Focused on Trotskys allies
- Charges: killing Kirov, delaying 5YPs, overthrowing gov
- 13 killed, 4 sent to gulags
7
Q
Show trials
Trial of 21
A
- 1938
- Focused on Bukharin
- B tried to show how ridiculous it was but eventually pleaded guilty
- Vyshinky called him “foul smelling heap of human garbage”
- B died cursing Stalin
8
Q
Purge of Wider Party
A
- 70% of 1934 General Commitee executed or imprisoned
- Overral, 1 mil members purge
9
Q
Purge of Armed Forces
A
- Stalin killed Tukhachevsky + 7 other generals in 1937
- 1939 all Navy admirals shot
- 3 of 5 red army Marshalls shot
- 25,000 Red Army officers shot
10
Q
Purge of the People
A
- July 1937 stalin ordered removal of “all anti-soviet elements”
- 250k people identified as state enemies
- 18 million sent to labour camps where 13 million died
11
Q
Impact of purges
Political
A
- Removed all opposition
- 1930’s Stalin admired as “dictator of people”
12
Q
Impact of purges
Weakened Sovet Union
A
- 25% of mine managers purged, drop in production
- Hitler’s invasion in 1941 made lack of experienced officers a problem
- 1939-40 Finland war causes 200k casualties
13
Q
Propaganda
Cult of Stalin
A
- Started December 1929
- Showed Stalin as “father of the nation”
- Posters, paintings and parades
- Rewrote history to make himself seem second in importance only to Lenin
- After WW2 promoted himself to “Generalissimo”
14
Q
Propaganda
Official Culture
A
- Arts heavily censored to follow “Socialist Realism”
- Only Soviet films and books allowed
- Novels: Cement (Fyodor Glakov) 1925
- Movies: Chapaev, 1934, told of a peasant hero of civil war
- Doctoring of photographs
15
Q
Censorship
A
- 1936, 30 films and 10 plays banned
- Poet Madelstam performed a poem about Stalin called “The Kremlin Mountaineer”
- Arrested and died in gulag
16
Q
1936 constitution
A
- Set up 2 chamber assembly: Supreme Soviet
- Meant to guarantee rights (jobs, speech, voting)
- Rights could be taken away for “national security”
- Stalin still Chairman and General Secretary so had total power
17
Q
Control of education
A
- Stricter in 1920s as Stalin wanted a good workforce
- 1939 the majority could read
- Political Youth Groups: Octobrists (8-10), Pioneers (10-16)
18
Q
Revision of history
A
- Stories of Old Communists purged
- Trostsky was removed and Stalin made more important in stories of revolution
- 1938 Stalin ordered creation of:
1. Short Biography of Stalin
2. Short Course of History of All Union Communist Party
