à Stalin blames the Kirov murder on the old Left and Right wing opponents
à Show Trials oust communist party members
à The Great Terror sweeps the whole population
Life under Stalin à The Cult Of Stalin portrays him as a brilliant leader, and he has no opposition
à Religion is prevented, and the League of Militant Atheists support atheism
à Education is stricter, and writers, painters, and composers have to support Stalin
à Marriges are quick and non-religious, and abortions are allowed
à In 1936, abortions and divorces are stopped, and there are benefits for families
B – KEY TERMS
PURGES
KIROV
NKVD
LEAGUE OF MILITANT ATHEISTS
SHOW TRIALS
C – MORE DETAILED NOTES
(i) Why they were carried out
· Stalin was paranoid – assumed people were plotting
· Stalin feared elements of army plotting with Hitler
· Stalin wanted people to fear him
· Stalin wanted to undermine critics in Party
· Stalin worried by popularity of Kirov
· Stalin saw opportunity to eliminate former rivals
(ii) How were they carried out
· Carried out by secret police – called NKVD after 1934.
· Two purges : The First Purges (1930-32) targeted anyone who opposed industrialisation or collectivisation.
· The Great Purges (1934-39) began after murder of Kirov, party boss in Leningrad, who had spoken out against Stalin. Stalin claimed others had killed him and that he needed Purges to eliminate them.
· Thousands were arrested and found guilty of all sorts of offences
· Law stated if one member of family guilty, all members guilty.
· Stalin also put on trial former rivals in public – called Show Trials. People like Kamenev, Bukharin testified to all sorts of crimes in belief they would be pardoned or to stop torture. When found guilty, they were shot. Famous Show Trials were : Zinoviev and Kamenev in 1936 and Bukharin in 1938.
(ii) What were the results of The Purges?
· Russification – the nationalities were crushed and their culture persecuted.
· Orthodox Church was attacked. Religion became persecuted, churches were destroyed, priests arrested. Set up League of Militant Atheists to destroy church.
· Twenty million people died during purges
· There was a climate of fear and terror. People informed on neighbours or relatives. Nobody dared make decision or comment.
· Industry was badly affected by the loss of top scientists and engineers
· People tried to show loyalty through Cult of Stalin – pictures everywehere, statues, towns renamed, censorship, socialist realism praising life under him, constant applause, history changed to glorify him.
· Gulags were full of prisoners – often used as slave labour
· Army and navy lost leading officers – weakened it when Hitler attacked.
MODEL ANSWERS
QUESTIONS ON THE TERROR, THE PURGES AND THE SHOW TRIALS
Why did Stalin carry out a series of Purges in the years to 1941? (6)
The Purges were attempts to remove all opposition to Stalin. Although there were purges of scientists and experts during the First Five Year Plan, the real Purges began after the murder of Sergei Kirov, the Leningrad party boss, in 1934. At the 1934 seventeenth party conference Kirov had been more popular than Stalin and so, almost certainly, Stalin decided to have this potential rival put out of the way. Stalin of course blamed counter revolutionaries for the murder and used it as an excuse to purge all those whom he suspected of disloyalty. One million were executed, while as many as two million died in the gulags. Stalin particularly distrusted the citizens of Leningrad, which had a reputation for freedom of thought, and it is estimated that a quarter of the population were sent to the gulags.
The Purges were also to Stalin’s advantage in that they provided vast numbers of suspects who could be sent to the gulags and set to work on his great building projects which were so crucial in the industrialisation of the Soviet Union.
Stalin genuinely felt insecure and so removed anybody whom he feared might threaten him. Collectivisation had been dreadfully unpopular and at the 1934 party conference delegates had voted against him in secret ballot so Stalin felt that he needed to re-establish his control over the party.
Stalin was determined to purge the leadership of the army because it certainly had the power to overthrow him it so wished. If its most popular and effective leaders were purged it would not be able to launch a coup against him. This explains why 13 of the Soviet Union's 15 generals were shot and why the brilliant Marshal Tukhachevsky was also purged. Stalin felt safer that way.
However the vast numbers of those executed during the Purges also suggests that Stalin was mentally unbalanced (paranoid) and that the Purges lacked a coherent strategy. In the end local party bosses and the NKVD outdid each other in trying to better prove their loyalty by providing more and more numbers of suspects when in fact no such conspiracies actually existed.
Explain what is meant by a ‘show trial’. (3)
A show trial was a very important form of propaganda in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Prominent members of the Soviet elite such as Bukharin, Kamenev and Zinoviev were given very public trials. These trials were covered extensively in the Soviet media and the accused would confess to crimes against the Soviet regime, such as plotting to kill Stalin or secretly negotiating with western fascists or the renegade Trotsky.
Describe the key features of the Show Trials of the 1930’s. (5)
Show Trials were Stalin’s method of getting rid of Old Bolsheviks who knew the truth about his relationship with Lenin. Stalin wanted to ensure that the Soviet people did not find out the truth about Lenin’s Political Testament. During the trials, which were widely reported in the Soviet media, the accused (following secret bribery, intimidation and torture) always admitted that they had indeed attempted to overthrow the Soviet state. Kamenev, Zinoviev and Bukharin all agreed that they had tried to overthrow Stalin in league with other counter revolutionaries. The state prosecutor who presided over many of these Show Trials was Andrei Vyshinsky. The accused faced ridiculous charges, which they almost always confessed to, usually because they had been promised that their families would be spared
What were the effects of the Purges on the Soviet Union in the years to 1941? (7)
The Purges certainly guaranteed Stalin’s position as supreme leader of the Soviet Union and ensured that there was no opposition to his rule. Soviet citizens were terrified into conformity. However those purged tended to be those who stood out because of their ideas and outspokenness. This meant that those left behind tended to lack imagination and their only quality was their slavish obedience to Stalin. No wonder the Soviet Union’s future leaders would tend to lack ideas and allow their country to stagnate!
The effect of the Purges on the military was especially disastrous. The Soviet military leadership was severely weakened as many of its best and most innovatory officers were purged. For example the brilliant commander-in-chief of the Soviet Union’s military forces Marshal Tukhachevsky was purged, as were two thirds of officers above the rank of colonel. Of the Soviet Union’s 15 generals 13 were shot. This so weakened the military high command that the Soviet army fared disastrously in the 1940 Finnish war further convincing Hitler that an invasion of the Soviet Union would be a walkover, ‘we have only to kick open the door and the whole rotten building will crumbling down’.
Why did Stalin set up labour camps? (6)
Stalin set up labour camps for several reasons. Firstly the threat of ending up in a labour camp (known as a gulag) would terrorise the population into supporting Stalin. Secondly they would provide the Soviet Union with an enormous supply of labour which would be used to construct the great building projects of the Five Year Plan such as the Dnieper dam, new factories beyond the Urals and the massive White Sea Canal. Thirdly Stalin, of course, was paranoid about any opposition, real or imagined, and by setting up labour camps his enemies could be quickly and efficiently got out of the way. Making them work to death was also a lot more useful to the state than just carrying out summary executions since their labour could be utilised to build up the great new Soviet industrial society.
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