A2 History: Stalin’s Russia
Part 2- Stalin’s governing of the USSR
Timeline
The Early Purges Started as early as the 1920’s
The Post-Kirov Purges 1934-1936
The Great Purge 1936-1939
The Later Purges 1941-1953
The Early Purges
• Having become the vozhd in 1929, Stalin spent the rest of his life consolidating and
extending his authority- the purges were his principal weapon for achieving this.
• In the 1920’s- Industrial purges
o Tens of thousands of ‘anti-Bolsheviks’ had been imprisoned in labour camps
o Public trials were held in the early stages of the 1st FYP to exposing industrial
‘saboteurs’
• 1932- The start of Stalinist purges
o Ryutin group- Anti-Stalinists who were publicly tried and expelled from the Party
▪ From 1933-1934 nearly 1million members, over 1/3 of membership, were
condemned for being ‘Ryutinites’ and expelled from the Party
• These first early purges were organised by Nicolai Yezhov
Nature of the early purges
• Initially, they weren’t as deadly as they later became- members were purged
via expulsion from the Party
o Members were obliged to hand in their Party card for checking. Any
suspected individuals would not have their cards returned to them
o This resulted to expulsion since Party members could no longer
access Party activities
o They and their families lost all privileges to employment, housing and
food rations
• The threat of expulsion was enough to force members to conform, and it became difficult to
mount effective opposition
• Despite this, attempts were still made in the early 1930’s to criticise Stalin (like the Ryutin
group). These attempts were ineffectual, but it led Stalin to believe that organised resistance
to him was still possible- more extreme measures had to be taken
The purges intensify
• 1934 marks the point when purges started developing into systematic terrorising not only
aimed at obvious political opponents, but also colleagues and Party members
o This was the year where Stalin’s absolute authority was starting to solidify
1
Notes compiled by: Chew Wen Min
, • Historians suggest that Stalin’s behaviour sometimes went beyond reason and logic.
o There was no logical explanation for the terror- Stalin suffered from severe paranoia
as he grew older. Right up till his death in 1953 he believed that he was under threat
from actual/potential enemies
o Robert Service- Stalin had a “gross personality disorder”
• This trait of Stalin’s meant that everyone was a suspect and no one was safe. Purges became
not a series of episodes but a permanent condition of Soviet political life.
Mechanisms of control
• In 1933-1934, Stalin centralised all the major law enforcement agencies,
putting them under the authority of the NKVD (The state secret police,
successor of Cheka), a body directly answerable to Stalin
o This included: The civilian police, the secret police, labour camp
commandants & guards, border & security guards
• Creation of a special military court
o Stood outside the regular legal system, was created to deal with
‘serious crimes’- a term that was so broad it could be used to
convict anyone Stalin didn’t like.
▪ Ex: The term ‘counter revolutionary activity’ was dubbed a serious crime,
but it was never defined precisely and could be applied to any trivial crime
It was due to this system that made the purges possible to operate on such a huge scale
o It enforced fear practically (NKVD) and psychologically (knowing that anyone could
be arrested at any time due to the smallest of pretexts)
The Post-Kirov Purges (1934-1936)
The murder of Sergei Kirov
• On 1 Dec 1934, a man walked into the Communist Party headquarters in
Leningrad and shot Kirov, the secretary of the Leningrad soviet, dead.
• The apparent motive was revenge at Kirov had been having an affair with the
man’s wife.
• However, there was a strong possibility that the murder had been
approved/planned by Stalin himself. Though unconfirmed whether Stalin was
truly involved, the murder certainly worked to his advantage:
o Kirov had been a highly popular figure in the Party
o Was known to be unhappy with the speed and scale of Stalin’s industrialisation
o Was opposed to the extreme measures used to discipline Party members
• Kirov hence posed as a threat to Stalin- if organised opposition were to form against him-
they would rally around him. This threat had now been removed.
• Stalin exploits the situation by introducing the Degree against Terrorist Acts
o Also known as the ‘1st December Decree’, it was disguised as an Act to help avenge
Kirov, hunting down those involved in his murder.
2
Notes compiled by: Chew Wen Min
Part 2- Stalin’s governing of the USSR
Timeline
The Early Purges Started as early as the 1920’s
The Post-Kirov Purges 1934-1936
The Great Purge 1936-1939
The Later Purges 1941-1953
The Early Purges
• Having become the vozhd in 1929, Stalin spent the rest of his life consolidating and
extending his authority- the purges were his principal weapon for achieving this.
• In the 1920’s- Industrial purges
o Tens of thousands of ‘anti-Bolsheviks’ had been imprisoned in labour camps
o Public trials were held in the early stages of the 1st FYP to exposing industrial
‘saboteurs’
• 1932- The start of Stalinist purges
o Ryutin group- Anti-Stalinists who were publicly tried and expelled from the Party
▪ From 1933-1934 nearly 1million members, over 1/3 of membership, were
condemned for being ‘Ryutinites’ and expelled from the Party
• These first early purges were organised by Nicolai Yezhov
Nature of the early purges
• Initially, they weren’t as deadly as they later became- members were purged
via expulsion from the Party
o Members were obliged to hand in their Party card for checking. Any
suspected individuals would not have their cards returned to them
o This resulted to expulsion since Party members could no longer
access Party activities
o They and their families lost all privileges to employment, housing and
food rations
• The threat of expulsion was enough to force members to conform, and it became difficult to
mount effective opposition
• Despite this, attempts were still made in the early 1930’s to criticise Stalin (like the Ryutin
group). These attempts were ineffectual, but it led Stalin to believe that organised resistance
to him was still possible- more extreme measures had to be taken
The purges intensify
• 1934 marks the point when purges started developing into systematic terrorising not only
aimed at obvious political opponents, but also colleagues and Party members
o This was the year where Stalin’s absolute authority was starting to solidify
1
Notes compiled by: Chew Wen Min
, • Historians suggest that Stalin’s behaviour sometimes went beyond reason and logic.
o There was no logical explanation for the terror- Stalin suffered from severe paranoia
as he grew older. Right up till his death in 1953 he believed that he was under threat
from actual/potential enemies
o Robert Service- Stalin had a “gross personality disorder”
• This trait of Stalin’s meant that everyone was a suspect and no one was safe. Purges became
not a series of episodes but a permanent condition of Soviet political life.
Mechanisms of control
• In 1933-1934, Stalin centralised all the major law enforcement agencies,
putting them under the authority of the NKVD (The state secret police,
successor of Cheka), a body directly answerable to Stalin
o This included: The civilian police, the secret police, labour camp
commandants & guards, border & security guards
• Creation of a special military court
o Stood outside the regular legal system, was created to deal with
‘serious crimes’- a term that was so broad it could be used to
convict anyone Stalin didn’t like.
▪ Ex: The term ‘counter revolutionary activity’ was dubbed a serious crime,
but it was never defined precisely and could be applied to any trivial crime
It was due to this system that made the purges possible to operate on such a huge scale
o It enforced fear practically (NKVD) and psychologically (knowing that anyone could
be arrested at any time due to the smallest of pretexts)
The Post-Kirov Purges (1934-1936)
The murder of Sergei Kirov
• On 1 Dec 1934, a man walked into the Communist Party headquarters in
Leningrad and shot Kirov, the secretary of the Leningrad soviet, dead.
• The apparent motive was revenge at Kirov had been having an affair with the
man’s wife.
• However, there was a strong possibility that the murder had been
approved/planned by Stalin himself. Though unconfirmed whether Stalin was
truly involved, the murder certainly worked to his advantage:
o Kirov had been a highly popular figure in the Party
o Was known to be unhappy with the speed and scale of Stalin’s industrialisation
o Was opposed to the extreme measures used to discipline Party members
• Kirov hence posed as a threat to Stalin- if organised opposition were to form against him-
they would rally around him. This threat had now been removed.
• Stalin exploits the situation by introducing the Degree against Terrorist Acts
o Also known as the ‘1st December Decree’, it was disguised as an Act to help avenge
Kirov, hunting down those involved in his murder.
2
Notes compiled by: Chew Wen Min
