Why Did Stalin Launch the Purges? (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History)
Revision Note
Why were the Purges so Damaging to the USSR? - Summary
Historians consider Stalin as one of the most ruthless dictators in the 20th century. It is estimated that over 20 million Soviet people died during Stalin's rule. This is more than the amount of people killed under Hitler's regime. The purges are a significant factor as to why so many people died in the USSR.
Stalin's paranoia fuelled millions of political attacks. These arrests and assassinations affected all areas of society, from senior Bolsheviks to the working classes. Many people did not commit the crimes that the state accused them of. The state either forced confessions through torture or decided they were guilty through state-decided verdicts in show trials.
The purges had significant impacts on the USSR. People lived in constant fear and many citizens worked themselves to death to avoid punishment. Soviet industry struggled as trained workers were victims of the purges. The Soviet economy relied on the quantity, rather than the quality, of products. The purges also weakened the USSR. By the start of the Second World War, the Red Army had few experienced military leaders.
Political Motives
Securing Power
Stalin became the leader of the USSR through a power struggle
This created many enemies for Stalin
Stalin became paranoid
By the mid-1930s, Stalin believed that many party members wanted to overthrow him
He distrusted anyone with previous links to Lenin or Trotsky
He aimed to use any means to eliminate them as a threat to his leadership
Stalin wanted to establish a strong dictatorship
He did not want any opposition to the government
He wanted to ensure that all Soviet citizens had total loyalty to him by using fear tactics
Sergei Kirov
Kirov was a senior politician in the USSR
Kirov became a Politburo member in 1930
In 1934, a man named Leonid Nikolayev assassinated Kirov
Many historians believe that Stalin organised the assassination
Kirov wanted to reform Stalin's harsh economic policies
Stalin used Kirov's assassination to launch the Great Purge
Stalin claimed the event had uncovered an anti-Stalinist conspiracy
This triggered the Moscow Trials Trials, which accused the following rivals of treason
Kamenev
Zinoviev
Bukharin
Rykov
Historians state that the men agreed to these forced confessions after interrogation and torture
Economic Motives
Stalin tried to implement rapid industrialisation in the USSR
He stated that the USSR needed to 'catch up' industrially with the West
The purges helped Stalin with his economic aims because:
Stalin could arrest and murder people who missed their production targets
The state accused many people of being saboteurs
The fear of the purges forced people to work harder
This meant that the USSR could make significant economic progress
Stalin could gain free labour
Those arrested in the GULAG system had to do forced labour
What Groups were Targeted in the Purges?
Group | What happened to this group? |
|---|---|
Party Members | Around 70% of the Central Committee members in 1934 were arrested and shot. Stalin removed older Bolshevik members on the left and right of the party through show trials. The party encouraged members to denounce other members |
Nationalities | Stalin charged leaders of national republics with treason. Four out of five regional Party secretaries and thousands of lesser officials lost positions. Around 350,000 minorities, including 140,000 Polish people, were put on trial |
Armed forces | Stalin heavily attacked the armed forces. Eight senior generals and three out of five marshals were shot. By the end of Stalin's regime, all three armed forces had lost about 50% of their officers |
NKVD | By 1938, Stalin turned against the NKVD. He blamed them for excessive arrests. In reality, he believed the NKVD knew too much. Stalin tried and executed Yagoda, the head of the NKVD, and 23,000 officers |
Managers, engineers and scientists | Many educated people lost their positions. Some of these were executed. A large amount of the intelligentsia fled to the West |
Peasants and industrial workers | It is difficult to determine how many working-class people were victims of the purges. Kulaks represented around 50% of all the arrests and executions in this period |
Relatives of the purged | Anyone related to or associated with victims of the purges were vulnerable. Their connection to 'enemies of the state' meant that the state could arrest, deport or shoot them |
The Great Terror (Yezhovshina) 1936-1938
Kirov's assassination triggered the Great Terror (known in Russian as the Yezhovshina)
Many historians believe that it ended in 1938
Other historians state that it did not officially end until Trotsky's assassination
Trotsky's Assassination
Trotsky was a serious threat to Stalin
The Moscow Trials sentenced Trotsky to death despite not being there
He no longer lived in the USSR
He travelled to several countries before settling in Mexico
Trotsky wrote many articles against Stalin
In 1940, Trotsky was assassinated
A Spanish communist named Ramón Mercader murdered Trotsky with an ice pick in his house
The Soviet government refused to take responsibility for Trotsky's murder
Purges After the Great Terror
After the Great Terror, purges continued to happen
Stalin's leadership sent three million people into the GULAG system and murdered roughly 750,000 people
These purges had a significant impact on the Second World War
In the first few months of Operation Barbarossa, the USSR suffered significant defeats
Young military leaders eventually led to the USSR's victory over Germany
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