Stalins Terror 2 Flashcards
(38 cards)
Challenges to Stalin
- a vote to abolish the post of general secretary - made Stalin equal to his colleagues
- It is possible that delegates asked Kirov to stand against Stalin for the role of general secretary before it was abolished
- In the elections to the central committee delegates voted against Stalin in favour of Kirov
Consequences of Kirov’s murder
- Stalin introduced an ‘extraordinary law’ which removed party immunity and gave the security police the power to arrest party members without seeking permission
- The suppression of the 13 strong Leningrad centre of which Nikolayev was supposedly a member
- 98 officials were shot for ‘terrorist acts’
- Central committee demanded local organisations to arrest thousands of Trotskyites and Zinovievites
- out of the 1996 delegates at the 17th party congress, 1108 were arrested and 848 executed - included Zinoviev and Kaminev who were accused of being part of the ‘Moscow centre’ and arrested
What were Trotsky and Zinoviev accused of
Creating an Opposition group against Stalin and the Soviets - 29 July 1936 a document regarding their activities was read amongst the party, creating fear and therefore allowing for Stalin to easily get rid of them
Stalin Constitution
Bukharin and Stalin created a new Constitution which would see:
- Sexual equality
- Bettered education and housing
- Freedom of speech
- extensive statement on civil rights e.g. freedom from arbitrary arrest
This appeared democratic with it’s main intention being to impress foreigners - in practice it was largely ignored
1918 Constitution
- constitution for the ‘Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic’ (RSFSR) - Stated power lay with the Russian congress of Soviets - Looked democratic
Limitations: - Workers vote was 5 times more powerful than a peasants vote
- former ‘exploiting classes’ e.g. businessmen were not allowed to vote
Kirov - 17th party congress
-26th Feb 1934 - called the congress of victories
- Split between leading members of the politburo and Stalin as he wanted to continue the rapid industrialisation whereas the Politburo wanted to slow down
- Kirov’s ideas were popular
- Stalin and Kirov both given title of secretary of equal rank
Before the murder of Kirov
- received lots of support - got more votes than Stalin
- Opposed Stalin over the Ryutin affair
Deputy head of the NKVD Zaporozhets put personnel from Moscow into key positions - Kirov wanted them removed but Stalin refused this
After the murder of Kirov
- Stalin interrogated Nikolayev who claimed the NKVD was responsible
- beginning of the party purges
Murder of Kirov
- 4pm on 1st December 1934 was killed by an assassin in the party headquarters in Leningrad
- Assassin = Nikolayev who had been expelled from the communist party in 1934 (later reinstated) -claimed the murder was ‘a personal act of desperation and dissatisfaction’
Evidence Nikolayev acted alone
- Had owned the gun since 1918
- His diary showed claims Kirov was having an affair with his wife
- Files on the case do not blame Stalin or the NKVD
Assassination was aided by the NKVD
- Nikolayev wrote a letter to the NKVD saying ‘I am ready for anything now.’
- A key witness was killed in a car accident whilst travelling with 5 members of the NKVD
Assassination was ordered by Stalin and arranged by the NKVD
- Stalin had a motive after Kirov was offered the position of General Secretary
- Many ordinary Russians believed Stalin had ordered the killing of Kirov
The First Show Trial
- August 1936
- Main Victims were Kaminev and Zinoviev and 14 others - all members of opposition groups at the time
- Charged with spying on foreign powers and being counter-revolutionaries - Belief they wanted to kill Stalin and were involved in Kirov’s murder
- Stalin’s aims were to crush his enemies ‘physically and mentally’
- Impact = 1st executions of members of the central committee - Stalin was now the only link to Lenin
The Second Show Trial
- January 1937
- Main Victims = Karl Radek - Trotskyite and Pyatakov - deputy in the commissariat for heavy industry - accused of working with Trotsky and sabotaging industry
- Outcome = 13 killed with Radek getting 10yrs in prison (probably killed by the NKVD whilst imprisoned)
- Purpose of the Show Trial was to stop a military Coup against Stalin
- Impact = led to the purge of the Red army and low ranking members denouncing those above them in the party
The Third Show Trial - 1938
- Main Victims = Bukharin and 20 other old Bolsheviks e.g. Rykov - Accused of belonging to a rightist group o communists who plotted to kill Lenin in 1918
- All found guilty and most killed
The Yezhovschina
- period of terror initiated by Yezhov which peaked in 1937 and lasting until 1938
how many affected by the Yezhovschina
7 million arrested and 1 million killed
What did the Yezhovschina encourage
- low ranking officials to denounce those higher positions - Stalin believed spies had infiltrated the party at all levels
- Resulted in a flood of accusations with many accused of being part of the ‘Bukharin right in the 1920s’ or authorising concessions to the peasants in 1925
- Some denounced colleagues to earn promotions or deflect criticism from themselves
What did Yezhov do?
- set out categories to deal with people who had suspicious political or social backgrounds, and quotas of people to be arrested in each area were created
- Quotas were always over fulfilled by the NKVD
- Also part of a sweep of former Kulaks and criminals = social cleansing on a massive scale
The Quotas during Yezhovschina
July 1937 = proportion to be shot was fixed at 28% with the rest being sentenced up to 10 years
What did the Yezhovschina encourage ordinary people to do
criticise party officials, bureaucrats and managers in order to seek out the hidden enemies - resulted in a huge number of denunciations and arrests
Who was affected by Yezhovschina
- thousands of peasants, factory workers, shop workers and office clerks - although the main target was intelligentsia
Who had confessions beaten out of them during Yezhovschina
Tukachevsky and other generals
When were people arrested during Yezhovschina
at night, from 11pm to 3am
