The Great Terror

What was Stalin become particularly suspicious of?

the Ryutin Platform

How many people voted against Stalin’s re-election at the Party Congress 1934?

1/4

What did purges provide a lot of for Stalin?

cheap labour-prisoners sent to gulags were used for slave labour

What key event filled Stalin with lots of hatred?

his wife’s suicide-he wanted to project her death onto others

What caused a lot of opposition and hostility towards Communists?

the disruption caused by Five Year Plans (social tension and violence)

What also had a high chance of happening in the 1930s?

war

How did Stalin prepare for war?

he sped up industrialisation

What was involved in the Trial of the 16?

Zinoviev, Kamenev and 14 others were accused of counter-revolutionary activity (first time anyone from the central committee had been executed)

What happened in 1937?

Radek and Pyatakov were executed, both of whom were in very prominent positions when arrested (it was thought to be important to scapegoat economic officials)

What happened in 1938?

Bukharin and 20 others were executed (focused on the world conspiracy against the USSR)

When were the military intelligence purged?

1941

What happened to generals who performed badly?

they were shot

From February 1937 to November 1938, how many army and navy members did Stalin authorise the execution of?

39,000 and 3,000

Name some of the rights that the Stalin Constitution of 1936 enshrined

freedom from arbitrary arrest, freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate

Why was the Stalin Constitution hollow?

at the time, such rights were being systematically abused

At the end of WWII, what was agreed?

that prisoners of war should be sent back to their homeland

How many Soviet soldiers that had been captured by Germans returned home after the war?

1\.5 million

What happened when Soviet soldiers that had been captured by the Germans returned home?

they were immediately interrogated and exiled upon their arrival to Russia

How was prisoners of war punished? What was thought of them?

with hard labour in concentration camps in Siberia-that they had ‘breached their discipline’, allowing themselves to be captured

What was the number of victims between for NKVD order 00447?

600,000-800,000

In NKVD order 00447, in Moscow, how many people of the quota were shot?

5,000 out of 35,000

What did Stalin want from NKVD order 00447?

social cleansing-a sweep over former kulaks and criminals

How were Jews considered to Russia?

as ‘cosmopolitans’ (spies)

In 1945, how many of the senior managers were Jewish?

12%

In 1951, how many senior managers were Jewish?

4%