Why were purges important

The Great Terror, a retrospective term which historians have borrowed from the French Revolution, refers to the paroxysm of state-organized bloodshed that overwhelmed the Communist Party and Soviet society during the years Recent archival-based research has resolved some issues, but there remains much that is elusive about the Terror.

For the sake of clarity, it is worth noting that the Soviet government did not describe the arrests and executions of party and state personnel as terror but rather as part of its response to alleged terrorist plots and actions.

The Great Terror was punctuated by three elaborately staged show trials of former high-ranking Communists. In July-August Lev Kamenev, Grigorii Zinoviev, and fourteen others were convicted of having organized a Trotskyite-Zinovievite terrorist center that allegedly had been formed in and was held responsible for the assassination of Sergei Kirov in December Kirov played a vital part in this — he was murdered on December 1 st by Leonid Nikolayev.

Historians are divided as to the extent Stalin played in this. The Politburo agreed with Stalin. Anyone associated with these men was also under suspicion. They were put on trial at heavily manipulated show trials where the verdict was never in doubt. The show trials had to prove their guilt preferably with a very public admission of betraying the revolution and therefore the people. The first people arrested were known supporters of Trotsky who at this time was living on an island off the coast of Turkey.

While he was safe for the time being, his supporters were not. Very few survived long enough in a NKVD prison to make a public admission of guilt.

However, signed confessions were considered useful tools as well. Why should men sign a confession knowing that it was probably nonsense and knowing that such a signing was almost like signing their own execution warrant. Those who survived the NKVD prisons — and very few did — later wrote about the brutal regime they faced. Cells would be windowless and a very strong electric light bulb — which prisoners could not turn on or off — was left permanently on. NKVD guards ensured prisoners were sleep deprived and exhausted when it came to their interrogation.

A promise of better treatment was made to ensure the swift signature of a confession. If psychological torture did not work on a prisoner, then the NKVD turned to his family. Meanwhile, the Soviet secret police, known as NKVD, conducted three-member committees in the field to decide whether killings of other anti-Soviets were justified. The accused were tried, found guilty on site and executed.

The killing and imprisonment started with members of the Bolshevik party, political officials and military members. Then the purge expanded to include peasants, ethnic minorities, artists, scientists, intellects, writers, foreigners and ordinary citizens. Essentially, no one was safe from danger. Convinced they were plotting a coup, Stalin had 30, members of the Red Army executed.

Experts estimate that 81 of the generals and admirals were executed. Stalin also signed a decree that made families liable for the crimes committed by a husband or father.

This meant that children as young as 12 could be executed. Some victims claimed they would rather have been killed than sent to endure the torturous conditions at the infamous Gulag labor camps. Many who were sent to the Gulag camps were ultimately executed. Some experts believe the true death figure is at least twice as high. Because many people simply vanished, and killings were often covered up, an exact death toll is impossible to determine.

To further complicate the matter, prisoners in the labor camps commonly died of exhaustion, disease or starvation. Trotsky was sentenced to death in absentia during the Moscow Trials. He was living in exile in Mexico when he was assassinated with an ice pick by a Spanish communist.

During World War II , Stalin was responsible for the executions of war prisoners and traitors, especially Polish nationals. His reign as dictator also made his people completely dependent on the state. Surprisingly, the legacy of the Great Purge, and Stalin himself, is lined with mixed reactions. While most Russians regard the event as a horrific incident in history, others believe Stalin helped strengthen and propel the Soviet Union to greatness, despite his barbaric tactics.

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