1. Stalin’s Purges

2. Known as the Great Purge
A period of time from where political opponents, the military and even the NKVD were charged with various crimes and either executed or imprisoned.

3. Motives??? Elimination of political opponents Paranoia Motives
Scapegoats (as for Kirov’s murder)
Removal of experienced and skilled people
Motives

4. Origins of the Purge???
It is difficult to say exactly when Stalin decided to turn on the Party itself.
He certainly had a pessimistic view of events and people.
The 1932 suicide of his 2nd wife, Nadia Alliluyeva, surely had a great effect.

5. Nadya’s Suicide
Even she had criticized his policies and the terror they brought.
After a family dispute in which he publicly hurled abuse at her, she went home and shot herself.
Stalin was badly shaken – he offered his resignation, but they did not know how to respond and he was persuaded to stay on.
After this point he seemed to lose trust in even his closest friends.

6. 1934 Party Conference Nonetheless, there seemed no reason to act.
Stalin announced that “there is nothing to prove and, it seems, no one to fight.”
Had not the peasants and workers been beaten into submission?
Even the Politburo now consisted of Stalin’s – but now some of them began to echo the concerns of the beaten opposition.

7. The Earlier Purges
Early 1920s Lenin sent tens of thousands to labour camps – ‘anti-Bolsheviks’
Public trials common
Early stages 1st FYP identified and disgraced industrial ‘saboteurs’
‘Ryutin group’ attacks
Right Bolshevik
Published attack on Stalin, calling him “an evil genius who had brought the Revolution to the verge of destruction” (Michael Lynch, p.56)

8. The Earlier Purges
nearly 1 million members purged from party (over 1/3 total membership) on basis they ‘Ryutinites’
Originally not violent, nor formal
Required members hand over Party cards for checking, not returned if suspected
Families then found impossible retain employment, privileged food rations
Resulted in conforming to official Party policy
Other resistance to Stalin led him to believe organised resistance a possibility

9. 1934 Important date Stalin’s rise to absolute authority
Systematic terrorizing of colleagues and party members (not only opponents)
Difficult to understand reasons for Stalin’s approach – not reasonable or logical

10. Kirov’s Murder
Sergei Kirov, Stalin’s apparent favourite, was dispatched to Leningrad to “clean up” Zinoviev supporters there.
On December 1, 1934 he was assassinated by a supposed supporter of Zinoviev.
Hardliner, Andrei Zhdanov, was dispatched to replace Kirov.

11. Purge of Kirov
Assassination Sergei Kirov, secretary of the Leningrad Soviet
Death plot probably sanctioned by Stalin
Kirov highly popular figure in Party – handsome, charismatic, elected to Politburo 1934
Unhappy with Stalin’s industrialisation drive – opposed to extreme measures
If organised opposition to form, Kirov likely rallying point

12. Kirov’s Murder
Hundreds of “Kirov’s murderers” were rounded up and sent to Sibertia.
Kamenev & Zinoviev themselves were sentenced to long terms for abetting the murder.
Officially, a grief-stricken Stalin allowed a reign of terror to begin. Khruschev, in his secret speech, hinted that Stalin ordered the murder himself.

13. The trial of Kamenev and Zinoviev
Both men were put on public trial in Moscow, charged with the murder of Kirov, and plotting to overthrow the Soviet State
Both men pleaded guilty, and read their confessions out in court
They were executed along with 14 other men accused of terrorist activities

14. Why did they confess?
It still remains a little unclear why they confessed – they were, after all, tough Bolsheviks, who had risked their lives in the revolution
Most likely, they had been physically and psychologically tortured, and were utterly demoralized to be faced with public accusation and disgrace
Also, their families had probably been threatened, and they knew they would suffer if they didn’t confess
Another theory is that they were so loyal to the Party that they were ready to die to serve it. According to historian Leonard Schapiro: ‘The loyalty of these men to the idea of The Party was in the last resort the main reason for Stalin’s victory’

15. What was the significance of the Kamenev/Zinoviev trial?
The trial set an important precedent: if great men in the Party were willing to confess, weaker ones would be much easier to break
It helped to create an atmosphere of fear, in which those accused begged forgiveness, and admitted their crimes in public
Confessions led to more arrests, as others were often incriminated in statements given by the victims

16. The Great Purge
Expectation that once control over Party complete purges cease
However, they increased – Soviet Union (SU) in a “state of siege”
1936 progressive terrorising of SU, most dramatically in public show trials of Stalin’s former Bolshevik colleagues
Three areas: party, army, people…

17. Purging of political opponents
There were many show trials of prominent Bolsheviks who were accused of colluding with Trotsky to overthrow Stalin, or of having the intent to sabotage the Soviet regime.

18. Post-Kirov Purges
Outstanding feature post-Kirov purge was status of victims
Prominent leaders: Kamenev, Zinoviev - formed triumvirate after Lenin’s death, and leading Left Bolsheviks power struggle 1920s
Significance of their arrest and imprisonment = whatever rank or revolutionary pedigree no longer safe

19. Post-Kirov Purges Stalin exploited opportunity of assassination
‘Retribution’ for murder resulted in new purges
Kirov’s death organised by Trotskyites and Leftists – all to be brought to account
Large numbers ‘conspirators’ imprisoned or executed
Victor Serge, ‘oppositionist’ who managed flee:
“I am convinced that at the end of 1934, just at the moment when Kirov was murdered, the Politburo was entering upon a policy of normality and relaxation. The shot fired by Nikolayev [the assassin] ushered in an era of panic and savagery.”

20. Post-Kirov Purges
Organised by Yagoda – head of NKVD (State security force)
Given powers by government ‘decree against terrorist acts’ – NKVD total power
Competition for jobs fierce, purge opened positions
Stalin chief dispenser of positions, therefore filled with loyal followers
Position ‘party boss’ in Moscow filled by Nikita Khrushchev (more on him later…)
Stalin’s grip on key personnel meant any moves to oust him were silenced

21. Purge of the Party
Kamenev and Zinoviev’s confessions made it difficult for others to plead innocence
Psychological impact profound – atmosphere where innocent victims submitted to false charges
Also incriminated others – helped further detection and justified continuation
Stalin able to do purges in secret, but public trial ‘revealed’ scale of conspiracy against him and proved need to continue purges

22. Purge of the Party Once Left had been purged, move against Right
Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky, Yagoda
All admitted guilt – loyalty to Party
Bukharin’s final speech:
“This in the end disarmed me completely and Led me to bend my knees before the Party and the country… For in reality the whole country stands behind Stalin; he is the hope of the world.”

23. Prominent show trials August 1936 January 1937 March 1938
Zinovyev, Kamenev and Smirnov, all of whom were prominent Bolsheviks during the October Revolution and the early Soviet days. Accused along with 13 other codefendants.
They were accused of joining Trotsky in 1932 to form a terrorist organisation to overthrow Stalin. Also blamed for the assassination of Kirov as planning to remove Stalin and his associates. Found guilty in 1936 and executed.
January 1937
Pyatakov, Sokolnikov, Sebryakov and Radek, all of whom were prominent figures in the regime. Accused along with 17 other codefendants.
Accused of forming an “anti-Soviet Trotskyite centre” which had allegedly collaborated with Trotsky to sabotage, wreck and conduct terrorist activities that would ruin the Soviet economy and defensive capabilities. Also accused of working with Germany and Japan and intending to overthrow the Soviet government and restore capitalism. Found guilty, Solkonikov, Radek and two others were given 10 year sentences, the rest were executed.
March 1938
Bukharin and Rykov (leaders of right wing opposition), Yagoda (former head of NKVD) and three prominent doctors (attended to leading government officials). Total of 21 defendants.
Suggested by prosecution that they were also involved in the Zinoyev-Trotsky conspiracy. Accused of inetnding to commit acts of sabotage and espionage with the intent to destroy the Soviet regime, dismember the Soviet Union and restore the capitalist system. Also charged with the murder of Kirov. Yagoda was also accused of ordering the three doctors to murder Menzhinsky (former head of NKVD), Gorky (author) and Kuibyshev (member of Politburo). Bukharin was also accused of plotting to murder Lenin in All but 3 of the defendants were sentenced to death in March The 3 who escaped the death sentence later died in prison.

24. Show Trials
In August, 1936 show trials opened of 16 old Bolsheviks – including Kamenev and Zinoviev.
The Defendants were all convicted and shot.

25. Show Trials
Next it was announced that the 16 implicated others, including Bukharin, Rykov and Tomsky, though the Central Committee rejected the claim.
In January, 1937 trials began for 17 lesser figures.
The accused confessed to even the wildest claims against them and were shot.

26. Show Trials
The third series of trials proved the most dramatic and bizarre.
The accused included:
All of Lenin’s Politburo except Stalin.
Rykov, a former Premier.
Bukharin.
Tukhachevsky, ex-Chief of the General Staff.
Tomsky, ex-Chief of Trade Unions.
Trotsky

27. Show Trials Arrests developed momentum as the trials began.
They did not end with the elimination of the old Bolsheviks. They included:
70% of the 1934 Central Committee.
Most high ranking officers and 24% of the military officer corps.
90% of trade union officials.
Most Soviet ambassadors to Europe and Asia.
Managers, intellectuals and Party and Comintern functionaries.

28. However…
The evidence in the show trials were derived from preliminary examinations of the defendants and their confessions
It was later found that most, if not all of the accused were innocent
The cases were fabricated by the NKVD
The confessions were made under pressure of intense torture and intimidation.

29. The accused
Most of the accused were believed by Stalin to be plotting to overthrow him
Stalin feared that he had lost control of Kirov and in he was murdered by Nikolayev, a Communist Party member.
The murder of Kirov was used as an excuse to remove a total of 16 opponents who were critical of Stalin

30. Reactions
Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials, otherwise known as the Dewey Commission
Set up in the United States by supporters of Trotsky to establish the truth
Headed by noted American philosopher and educator, John Dewey
Published a 422 page book called “Not Guilty”
Their findings:
“That the conduct of the Moscow Trials was such as to convince any unprejudiced person that no attempt was made to ascertain the truth.”
“That while confessions are necessarily entitled to the most serious consideration, the confessions themselves contain such inherent improbabilities as to convince the Commission that they do not represent the truth, irrespective of any means used to obtain them.”
“That Trotsky never instructed any of the accused or witnesses in the Moscow trials to enter into agreements with foreign powers against the Soviet Union [and] that Trotsky never recommended, plotted, or attempted the restoration of capitalism in the USSR.”
The Dewey Commission concluded that “We therefore find the Moscow Trials to be frame-ups."

31. Reactions
Alexander Orlov, a NKVD officer who escaped to the United States: “Stalin decided to arrange for the assassination of Kirov and to lay the crime at the door of the former leaders of the opposition and thus with one blow do away with Lenin's former comrades. Stalin came to the conclusion that, if he could prove that Zinoviev and Kamenev and other leaders of the opposition had shed the blood of Kirov, "the beloved son of the party", a member of the Politburo, he then would be justified in demanding blood for blood.”
The New Statesman (US newspaper): “Very likely there was a plot. We complain because, in the absence of independent witnesses, there is no way of knowing. It is their (Zinoviev and Kamenev) confession and decision to demand the death sentence for themselves that constitutes the mystery. If they had a hope of acquittal, why confess? If they were guilty of trying to murder Stalin and knew they would be shot in any case, why cringe and crawl instead of defiantly justifying their plot on revolutionary grounds? We would be glad to hear the explanation.”

32. Reactions
Some Western observers felt that the trials were fair, making judgements by assessing the confessions by the defendants, which were given in open court without any proof that the confessions were true.
Zinoviev’s testimony during the August, 1936 trial: “I would like to repeat that I am fully and utterly guilty. I am guilty of having been the organizer, second only to Trotsky, of that block whose chosen task was the killing of Stalin. I was the principal organizer of Kirov's assassination. The party saw where we were going, and warned us; Stalin warned as scores of times; but we did not heed these warnings. We entered into an alliance with Trotsky.”
Based on that statement, the reports below believed that the trials were fair.
A British MP, Denis Pritt, wrote that “Once again the more faint-hearted socialists are beset with doubts and anxieties," but "once again we can feel confident that when the smoke has rolled away from the battlefield of controversy it will be realized that the charge was true, the confessions correct and the prosecution fairly conducted.“
The Observer (UK newspaper), August 1936: “It is futile to think the trial was staged and the charges trumped up. The government's case against the defendants (Zinoviev and Kamenev) is genuine.”

33. Reactions
The New Republic (US newspaper): “Some commentators, writing at a long distance from the scene, profess doubt that the executed men (Zinoviev and Kamenev) were guilty. It is suggested that they may have participated in a piece of stage play for the sake of friends or members of their families, held by the Soviet government as hostages and to be set free in exchange for this sacrifice. We see no reason to accept any of these laboured hypotheses, or to take the trial in other than its face value. Foreign correspondents present at the trial pointed out that the stories of these sixteen defendants, covering a series of complicated happenings over nearly five years, corroborated each other to an extent that would be quite impossible if they were not substantially true. The defendants gave no evidence of having been coached, parroting confessions painfully memorized in advance, or of being under any sort of duress.

34. Different reactions
The reason for the different reactions was largely based on the person making the statement. Most believed that the trial was genuine because they did not know of the torture and imprisonment that the defendants had already gone through. Only a few newspapers questioned the validity of the confessions as they found inconsistencies within the confessions, but these newspapers were few and far between.

35. The Purge of the army
It is unlikely that Stalin’s control of the Party would have been sufficient to allow him complete control over the USSR
The army, as an independent force, would always pose a threat to his authority
So, in 1937, he began to attack its structure

36. Purging of military
A series of closed-door trials of top military leaders, most of whom were eliminated. Also, a large number of Soviet armed forces were purged. The elimination of skilled and experienced officers was a major factor in the Red Army’s poor performance when it was invaded by Germany in 1941.

37. Purge of the Army 1937 Soviet military came under suspicion
Stalin’s desire to control military – not possible if remained independent
“gigantic conspiracy” uncovered in the Red Army May 1937 – trial held in secret, charge of treason – generals executed :
All 11 War Commissars removed from office
75/80 Supreme Military Council executed
14/16 army commanders removed
Half of officer corps (35,000) imprisoned or shot

38. Top military commanders
Tukhachevsky and7 other top Red Army commanders were charged with conspiracy with Germany.
All eight were convicted and executed for their “crimes”.

39. Ordinary soldiers and officers
A total of 30,000 members of the armed forces were executed.
Included 50% of all army officers

40. Effects of the military purge
Of all the elements of the great terror, the military purges are the ones which are hardest to understand
All three services were severely undermanned, and now staffed by inexperienced officers
The Soviet Union was crippled in terms of its defence against foreign powers – going against everything Stalin had said he stood for
This is the strongest piece of evidence that Stalin was completely out of touch with reality

41. Reactions
A writer, Suvorov, wrote in his book The Cleansing, that the impact was not as large as originally thought. He claimed that of all the victims:
Not more than one-third were actually officers
The second-third were commissars
The last third were NKVD officials with military ranks

42. Reactions
A report by William Stephenson, head of the British Secret Intelligence Service, on Reinhard Heydrich:
“The most sophisticated apparatus for conveying top-secret orders was at the service of Nazi propaganda and terror. Heydrich had made a study of the Russian OGPU, the Soviet secret security service. He then engineered the Red Army purges carried out by Stalin. The Russian dictator believed his own armed forces were infiltrated by German agents as a consequence of a secret treaty by which the two countries helped each other rearm. Secrecy bred suspicion, which bred more secrecy, until the Soviet Union was so paranoid it became vulnerable to every hint of conspiracy.
Late in 1936, Heydrich had thirty-two documents forged to play on Stalin's sick suspicions and make him decapitate his own armed forces. The Nazi forgeries were incredibly successful. More than half the Russian officer corps, some 35,000 experienced men, were executed or banished.
The Soviet chief of Staff, Marshal Tukhachevsky, was depicted as having been in regular correspondence with German military commanders. All the letters were Nazi forgeries. But Stalin took them as proof that even Tukhachevsky was spying for Germany. It was a most devastating and clever end to the Russo-German military agreement, and it left the Soviet Union in absolutely no condition to fight a major war with Hitler.”

43. Purging of NKVD Even the NKVD was not spared
Stalin wanted those who knew too much about the purges to be disposed of as well
Announced to the country that “fascist elements” had taken over the security forces, resulting in innocent people being executed.

44. Senior officers of NKVD
Beria was appointed as the new head of NKVD
Investigated under orders from Stalin to find out who was responsible
Resulted in all the senior figures in the NKVD being executed

45. The Purges and the People
The effects of the Purges were not limited to the Party and the army: all areas of Soviet life were affected by them
The constant state of fear that they engendered conditioned the character and behaviour of everyone
Also, ordinary people were targeted directly: one in eighteen of the population were arrested during the purges
Almost every family in the USSR suffered the loss of at least one of its members
The mass of the population were disorientated, afraid, and incapable of resisting the terror which characterised Stalin’s regime

46. THE END? Nicholai Yezhov
An estimated one to ten million people died during Great Purge
In 1938, Stalin suddenly stopped the purges
Blamed head of secret police, Nicholai Yezhov, for the excesses of the purges and had him executed
Replaced by Beria
Pace of arrests slowed (although they never completely stopped) and some labor camps inmates were released
New members recruited into party
Nicholai Yezhov

47. The Later Purges 1941-53 Purges continued into wartime
Method appropriated in other states after the war
As Stalin got older he became more critical and suspicious of those around him
1947 he removed Politburo and Central Committee – removing even semblance of limitation on his authority
‘the Leningrad Affair’ 1949 = similar purge to those in 1930s

48. The Later Purges
Purged Soviet Jews, possibly because his daughter had an affair with a Jewish man he disapproved of
Also, element of anti-Semitism present in USSR
Early 1953 ‘Doctor’s Plot’ uncovered in Moscow – only prevented by Stalin’s death March 1953

49. Results of purges Mass graves
Propaganda posters telling the people to keep quiet over the purges

50. Results of purges
Images of executed or imprisoned people were doctored to remove them from photos, giving the impression that they did not exist. The person removed here is Yezhov.

51. Statistics
Of 1,996 delegate who attended party Congress ,108 were executed over the next 3 years
Out of 139 Central Committee members elected at that gathering, all but 41 were put to death
From this time Stalin’s control of the party complete
Michael Lynch: “Stalin had become the Party” (p.59)

52. Total number of people killed
The official Soviet estimates of the number of people executed was 681,692 people in total (including collectivization etc).
However, historians believe the number to be inaccurate, some estimates have shown that the number of people killed was as high as 2.5 times the Soviet estimates
Many estimations have the number of people executed in the range of 900,000 to 1.2 million people.

53. Considering the Purges
Why so little resistance?
Who to blame?
Figure of about 21.5 million died in total (this contestable, of course!). Approximations:
By million arrested and executed
By million transported to labour camps, 10 million died
By million ‘repressed’, 1 million shot, 1-2 million died in camps
By 1940 occupation of Baltic states = 2 million deported (most died)
By 1941 deportation to Siberia = various national groups (Germans, Kalmyks, Ukrainians, Chechens) led to deaths 1.4 million
‘screening’ returned prisoners from Germany = 10 million transported to gulags (5-6 million died)
million died various purges and repressions

54. Why so little resistance?
Mental and physical pressures
Dedication to the party meant easy to denounce
One of the old Bolsheviks, Yorykin, after seeing his wife abused and his family deported on the orders of Stalin still called out before he was shot “Long live the Party, love live Comrade Stalin!”
Hope that by admitting guilt would be excused

55. Stalin signing an order for the execution of 6,600 condemned prisoners
Who to blame?
Stalin signing an order for the execution of 6,600 condemned prisoners

56. Who to blame?
Stalin architect – however not rational decisions. Both Western and Soviet historians find it difficult to explain logical reasons for purges
Top-down vs. bottom-up view
Disorganised state of the bureaucracy at local level
Massive upheavals of collectivisation and industrialisation destroyed social stability and encourage extreme measures
Power play – sustained by lower rank officials eager to replace their superiors (ambition)

57. Interpretations Few documents released under the Soviet Regime
Key archives (e.g KGB) have not been opened
Those that are opened – vast amount of information reflecting different experiences

58. What do they argue about?
Debates centre around…
The role of Stalin in the purges and the extent of his personal control of the process
The extent to which his actual personality shaped the purges.

59. Totalitarian Views
Purges were masterminded by an evil puppet master – should have been predominant in the Cold War period.
Historians in West wanted to demonstrate that it was a system where the leadership exercised totalitarian control over an unwilling population

60. Totalitarian view Predominated in the West since 1945
Top down view of terror – as instructions were given by those at the top and were carried out by those below
Intentionalist interpretation – Stalin intended to kill his opponents

61. Revisionist Views Emerged 1970s-80s
Not so anti-Soviet and changes within the USSR itself
Challenges totalitarian view
Disagree for a variety of reasons

62. Revisionist Views
Sometimes called “decisionist” because it see the purges as a result of decisions made by the Communist leadership in reaction to a series of crises in he mid- 1930s
Arch-Getty – argues that Stalin alone, provided simple and convenient interpretations when real story is more complicated.

63. The nature of the topic – its scale, varying definitions of what it involves
Times in which they write, e.g under Stalin, during the Cold War, during the glasnost period of the 1980s
Different perspectives e.g views of socialism and Communism
Why do Historians disagree about the purges?
They wish to challenge prevailing views to make their names, eg revisionist challenge totalitarian interpretations
Use different sources e.g memoirs, primary papers, secondary accounts, etc.

64. Stalin was the architect and planner of the purges
Stalin was the architect and planner of the purges. He exercised much personal control over the arrests and directives
Stalin’s personality was central to the way the purges were carried out
Stalin sought to get rid of old Bolsheviks who might present a threat to his leadership
Stalin used the purges as a weapon to establish control of the party
Totalitarian
View
The NKVD was the instrument of a disciplined state apparatus which carried out orders passed down from the top
Stalin used the purges in as a terror mechanism to control the population

65. Stalin did not have a master plan for the purges
Stalin is responsible for the terror and set in process, but his personality alone is not a sufficient explanation for the scale and form of the purges
Soviet state was chaotic in the mid-30s. Confusion and conflict between Moscow and rest of USSR. The centre used the purges to try and get control but they spiralled out of control and gained a momentum of their own.
Stalin did not exercise the personal control of the process and he himself had little idea about what was going on in some areas
Revisionist
Views
Stalin did not have a master plan for the purges
The machinery of terror was not well organised. Many people were selected at random, denounced or implicated by their colleagues or other people. Terror was generated from below as well as above
The NKVD was riven by internal divisions. Units within the organisation often acted on their own initiative

66. Soviet Interpretations The Official Soviet View to 1956
The closer Soviet society moved to socialism, the more desperate the class enemy became. They would do anything to hold back the building of socialism: sabotage, murder of Soviet leaders, collaboration with the secret services of Germany and Japan. As a result, the Party had to fight back. The class struggle sharpened.

67. Soviet Interpretations The Soviet View from 1956 to Gorbachev
Stalin did a good job fighting anti-party elements in the 1920s and early 1930.
Hew was also justified in collectivization and industrialization, but owing to problems that arose in these processes and the negative influence of Beria, Stalin became isolated from the party and began persecuting its leading members who became victims of Stalin’s cult of personality

68. Russian Interpretations Since Gorbachev & Glasnost
Stalin made dreadful errors, falsely accusing Party members of crimes they did not commit.
Post communist Russians are divided about him.
Some consider him a monster.
Others feel he may have committed excesses, but only for the greater good of the country.

69. Other Interpretations: Western Perceptions
Some Westerners claim the purges were a manifestation of Stalin’s paranoia – perhaps arising out of syphilis.
Others say that paranoia was indeed the cause – but that it came out of a deep inferiority complex.

70. Other Interpretations: Western Perceptions
Others see a conspiracy at work.
The German Gestapo created havoc by producing convincing- looking documents showing Soviet leaders plotting with the Germans to overthrow Stalin – something confirmed to him by the Czech secret service.

71. Other Interpretations: Western Perceptions
Still others point to the severe strains of collectivization and industrialization in the nation and in the party – even among his own followers
At one stage he even found himself within a minority on the Central Committee and was almost ousted.
This theory insists he turned against those who he felt betrayed him. In a secret ballot of Party members in 1934, Stalin found others were more popular than himself – including his protoge, Kirov – who Stalin then had killed.

72. Conclusions I???
Isaac Deutscher: Stalin knew ‘that the older generation of revolutionaries would always look upon him as a falsifier of first truths, and usurper. He now appealed to the young generation which knew little or nothing about the pristine ideas of Bolshevism and was unwilling to be bothered about them.’
Leonard Schapiro: ‘Every man in the Politburo was a tried and proven follower of the leader, who could be relied upon to support him through every twist and turn of policy. Below the Politburo nothing counted’

73. Conclusions II???
David Christian: Stalin had ‘the support, in particular, of younger party members, industrial managers, and government and poice officials who benefitted from the changes of the 1930s.’
From the Literary Gazette, Moscow, 1988: Stalin’s policies involved ‘the special sadism, the sophisticated barbarism, whereby the nearest relatives were forced to incriminate each other – brother to slander brother, husband to blacken wife’.

74. Bibliography
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The great purge/the great terror. (n.d.). Retrieved from alin/great_purge.htm
The great purge. (2011). [Web]. Retrieved from =todaystopphotosrss