impact of show trials

Timeframe when the Great Purge was mainly carried out

1936 to 1938

Estimated toll of the Great Purge in executions and camp deportations

Hundreds of thousands of people were executed and millions were sent to labour camps.

Show trials

Public trials where people were accused of crimes against the state, with their guilt usually already decided, used as propaganda to make Stalin's enemies look like dangerous traitors.

NKVD

Stalin's secret police, who arrested people suspected of being against the government.

Climate created in Soviet society by NKVD arrests and show trials

Created a climate of fear that made people less likely to speak out against Stalin because they knew they could be arrested, imprisoned or even executed.

Important Communist Party members put on trial and accused of plotting against Stalin

Zinoviev, Kamenev and Bukharin

Stalin's main political objective in purging party members, officials, and former Bolsheviks

To remove anyone who could become a threat to his position and make his position as leader much more secure.

Consequences of the purges for the Red Army's leadership

Lost many experienced and skilled leaders through arrests and executions, leaving remaining officers afraid to disagree with Stalin.

Self-censorship

Where people kept their real opinions to themselves because they were afraid of the consequences.

Overall impact of the purges on Soviet intellectual and cultural life

Writers, artists, and academics were arrested, imprisoned or executed, resulting in restricted freedom of thought and creativity.