Stalin's Reign of Terror
Terror in Stalin’s Russia.
Terror played a very important and large role in Stalin’s Russia. Stalin used many different methods of terror during his reign such as a period of unprecedented cruelty called The Purges. Stalin was extremely suspicious of his opposition and used terror to remove any threat to his power and to blame his failures on people who weren’t responsible for them.
Stalin used the purges as a way of removing any threat to his power and to enforce total control. The event that triggered the Purges was the murder of Sergei Kirov in 1934, he was the popular Leningrad party leader and also a close ally of Stalin. He was too popular for Stalin’s liking and was almost certainly assasinated on Stalin’s orders. Stalin used this event as evidence of a plot against his rule and began a witch hunt against any potential enemies within or outside the party.
The NKVD, or the secret police, arrested millions of Russians, many of whom were innocent of any crimes. The NKVD worked with great determination when arresting suspects, as they knew they could be next. The arrests came in the middle of the night and informers were everywhere. Even children were encouraged to report their parents to the authorities. Party leaders, industrial managers, nobles, priests, the “old bolsheviks” and anyone who went abroad were arrested. Most of those who were arrested were either shot or sent to the Gulags. In 1936, Stalin replaced the head of the NKVD with Nikolai Yeshov. This intensified terror and many Russians called this period Yezhovschina. When Stalin wanted to end the Purges, he had Yezhov removed. He was blamed for killing too many people and was shot. He was then replaced by Lavrentiy Beria, a friend of Stalins.
The majority of people arrested were not shot, but sent to the Gulags. These were the slave labour camp systems found throughout the USSR. They were designed to help with the process of industrialisation. There were 476 camp complexes, each of whom
Terror played a very important and large role in Stalin’s Russia. Stalin used many different methods of terror during his reign such as a period of unprecedented cruelty called The Purges. Stalin was extremely suspicious of his opposition and used terror to remove any threat to his power and to blame his failures on people who weren’t responsible for them.
Stalin used the purges as a way of removing any threat to his power and to enforce total control. The event that triggered the Purges was the murder of Sergei Kirov in 1934, he was the popular Leningrad party leader and also a close ally of Stalin. He was too popular for Stalin’s liking and was almost certainly assasinated on Stalin’s orders. Stalin used this event as evidence of a plot against his rule and began a witch hunt against any potential enemies within or outside the party.
The NKVD, or the secret police, arrested millions of Russians, many of whom were innocent of any crimes. The NKVD worked with great determination when arresting suspects, as they knew they could be next. The arrests came in the middle of the night and informers were everywhere. Even children were encouraged to report their parents to the authorities. Party leaders, industrial managers, nobles, priests, the “old bolsheviks” and anyone who went abroad were arrested. Most of those who were arrested were either shot or sent to the Gulags. In 1936, Stalin replaced the head of the NKVD with Nikolai Yeshov. This intensified terror and many Russians called this period Yezhovschina. When Stalin wanted to end the Purges, he had Yezhov removed. He was blamed for killing too many people and was shot. He was then replaced by Lavrentiy Beria, a friend of Stalins.
The majority of people arrested were not shot, but sent to the Gulags. These were the slave labour camp systems found throughout the USSR. They were designed to help with the process of industrialisation. There were 476 camp complexes, each of whom