9 - The Use Of Terror In The 1930s

Question 1

What were the reasons for the purges?

Answer 1

• Threat to Stalin’s position - fear that everyone was plotting against him
• Linked with economic policies and failure of the First Five Year Plans: Stalin could blame failures on ‘sabotage’, and sending people to labour camps can be seen as the only way for mass industrialisation to occur
• Perceived treachery: Many of the armed forces were ‘accused of spying for Japan and Germany’

Question 2

What were the main events of the Great Terror (1928-1940)

Answer 2

• 1928: The Wrecking Scare: Stalin accused expert engineers of slowing down industrial output on purpose.
• 1931: The Industrial Party Trial: Concluded that the workers were paid by enemies of the Soviet Union to sabotage
• 1931: The Menshevik Trial: Leading figures of the First Five Year Plan found themselves on trial due to their Menshevik background
• 1934: The Murder of Kirov: Stalin’s second in command and a member of the Politburo was murdered, most likely by Stalin, as a result of speaking out about the First Five Year Industrial Plan
• 1936: Show trial of Kamenev and Zinoviev: Confessed to a catalogue of crimes and were then shot
• 1938: Military trial: 11 deputy commissars, 75 of the 80 in the military council, 35,000 officers were killed or imprisoned on baseless charges. All to prevent a military coup
• 1938: Show Trial of Bukharin, Yagoda and Rykov: Last and most famous Show Trial, resulted in the deaths of all three
• 1940: Trotsky was killed in exile in Mexico by one of Stalin’s agents with an ice pick. He had been working on the history of Stalin’s regime

Question 3

How did Stalin get away with the purges?

Answer 3

• Army were targeted to prevent a coup, secret police had files in half the population, nobody could overthrow.
• Some were still loyal to the communist party and Stalin. Some believed he had no knowledge of the purges.
• People’s families were threatened if they did not confess
• Stalin had control of the media, claiming he was saving his country from Trotsky’s ‘capitalism’

Question 4

What was the role of the Secret Police (Cheka - OGPU - NKVD) in the Great Terror?

Answer 4

• The secret police were Stalin’s main method of complete control
• They were passed the ‘decree against terrorist acts’, which allowed them to arrest anybody without trial and execute them on the spot
• The NKVD hunted down and destroyed Stalin’s opponents and terrorised ordinary people into obedience, and to report family members and neighbours of treason.

Question 5

What were Labour camps called and what did they entail?

Answer 5

• Victims of the purges were sent to Labour camps, called gulags - many were set up in the Arctic Circle. They were run by the Secret Police
• Millions were forced to do hard manual work, including construction and mining projects
• 13 million died from the cold, hunger and ill-treatment

Question 6

What were the consequences of the Great Terror?

Answer 6

• Population drastically decreased, there was a much weakened army, vulnerable to attack
• All trust was lost amongst citizens
• Skilled workers were not present to help with industrial output
• Many more fell into poverty after being expelled by the communist party, as they had no party card