Stalin (1928-1953)

The Great Purge

Almost all original party members disappeared or executed.
Army generals and officers removed and murdered. (Morale of red army?)
Secret police (NKVD) - Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria
Stalin was driven by paranoia, had a desire to be seen as the savour of the nation.
Cleansed army and part in readiness for war.

Enemies: Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev.
Trotsky escaped, many saw him as a hero and wanted his return.
Stalin sought to destroy them, (Accusations of plotting against Russia / against Stalin and working with fascists).
Trials were to destroy their reputations forever.
Carried out by the NKVD
First in charge of the NKVD: Yagoda (1934-1936)
Later Yezhov (nicknamed "The Poison Dwarf") (1932-1938)

◦ Later part of the policy against ordinary citizens known as the Yezhovshcina.

Then Beria after the arrest of Yezhov.
Three main show trials.
Senior Communist party leaders were tried in public.
These trials were part of Stalin's efforts to ensure greater power for himself.
Even though Trotsky was in exile, he was as much on trial as they were.
They were branded as terrorist groups of Trotskyites.
They were also accused of conspiring with Nazi Germany.
Zinoviev broke first, he was used to get a confession from Kamenev.
Once the confessions were signed, the defendants had to memorize their lines for the trial.
Stalin used the Show Trials to discipline the Soviet Population.
He eliminated the old Bolsheviks.
Used the trials as propaganda.

"Our beloved leader and teacher - The great Stalin" - Vyshinsky (Prosecutor)

Show Trials created a veneer of justice.
Many foreign observers believed the trials were legal and that there was a conspiracy against the soviet union.

By 1938, 1 in 8 citizens has been arrested at some point in the purges.
Almost every family had lost at least one member as a victim of the terror.
The fear and suspicion generated by the purges in society had secured Stalins hold on power but now threatened to cripple the USSR.
The purges that secured Stalins hold on power generated more labour within the gulags.
The purges caused immense damage to the operational capacity of the USSR armed forces.
In 1938 the Red Army was in an appalling state on the eve of WWII.

◦ This was highlighted by their poor performance in the Winter War (1939-1940) with Finland.

Morale within the USSR was poor.
Stalin was still popular but in great danger; he was perhaps saved by the unifying force of Nazism.