History

Stalinpurgesandpraises
Duringthe1930s,StalinsetaboutpurgingRussiaof
anyonewhoheconsideredathreatordisloyal.Whatwas
lifelikeforordinarypeopleinStalin'sRussia?

Purgesandpraises
Politicalpurges
In1934,Kirov,theleaderoftheLeningradCommunistParty,
wasmurdered,probablyonStalin'sorders.Stalinusedthis
episodetoordermassivepurgesbywhichanybodysuspected
ofdisloyaltywasmurdered,senttoprisoncamps,orputon
publicshowtrialsatwhichtheypleadedguiltytoincredible
crimestheycouldneverhavedone.
TheCommunistleadershipwaspurged93ofthe139
CentralCommitteememberswereputtodeath.Thearmed
forceswerepurged81ofthe103generalsandadmirals
wereexecuted.TheCommunistPartywaspurgedabouta
thirdofits3millionmemberswerekilled.Photographsand
historybookswerechangedtoeliminateeventhememoryof
peoplewhohadbeenarrested.

Ordinarypeople
Bytheendofthe1930s,theGreatTerrorhadspreadto
ordinarypeopleanybodywholookedasthoughtheyhada
willoftheirown.Some20millionordinaryRussiansweresent
tothe gulag[Gulag:Russianlabourprisoncamps.]the
systemoflabourcampsmostlyinSiberiawhereperhapshalf
ofthemdied.TheChristianChurchandtheMuslimreligion
wereforbidden.Ethnicgroupswerepersecuted,and
RussificationtheacceptanceofRussianlanguageand

customswasenforcedthroughouttheSovietUnion.People
whohadannoyedtheirneighbourswereturnedintotheNKVD
(thesecretpolice)andarrested,nevertobeseenagain.

Praises
EverybodyhadtopraiseStalin,allthetime.Newspapers
creditedhimwitheverysuccess.Poetsthankedhimfor
bringingtheharvest.Peopleleapttotheirfeettoapplaudevery
timehisnamewasmentioned.Hispicturewaseverywhere
parentstaughttheirchildrentoloveStalinmorethan
themselves.Theydarednotdoanythingelse.
WhydidStalindoit?Heneededtocreateunity,andcertainly
strongcontrolwasneededtomoderniseRussia.Hewasalso
atleasthomicidallyparanoid.However,by1939,hehadset
upapersonaltotalitariandictatorshipwhereononeword
fromhimtheentireSovietUniondidexactlywhathesaid.

1936Constitution
Youwillalsoneedtoknowaboutthe1936Constitutionalso
knownasStalin'sConstitution:

The1936ConstitutionchangedthenameoftheCentral
ExecutiveCommitteetotheSupremeSoviet.
TheSupremeSovietwasempoweredtosetup
Commissions,whichadministeredmostofthe
government.
TheleaderofthePresidiumwasdeclaredtobetheHead
ofState.
The1936ConstitutionthusfocussedpowerinStalin's
hands.
Italsogaveeveryonesomegoodthingssuchasrightsto
vote(butonlyfortheCommunistParty),towork,torest
andleisure,tohealthprotection,tocareinoldageand

sickness,tohousingandeducation.

Revisiontipandanswerpreparation
Revisiontip
Drawtwospidergrams,onetoshowsixdifferentgroups
purgedbyStalin,thesecondtoshowthesixdifferentaspects
oftheCultofStalin.

Answerpreparation
Aspartofyourrevision,thinkabouttheargumentsandfacts
youwouldusetoexplain:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

HowCommunistruledevelopedunderStalin.
WhatthenatureofStalin'sdictatorshipwas.
WhyStalinorderedthepurges.
HowStalincontrolledtheSovietUnion.
WhetherStalin'scontrolovertheSovietUnionwas
completeby1941.

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