main events of the purges
- Created by: HappyGiraffe
- Created on: 04-05-22 11:18
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- main events of the purges
- a faltering start
- after the murder of Kirov, many arrests were made.
- those arrested refused to implicate Zinoviev and Kamenev- but were shot anyway
- the arrests of people accused of involvement in the murder stopped, but flared up again in 1936
- those arrested refused to implicate Zinoviev and Kamenev- but were shot anyway
- the head of the NKVD- Yagoda- was arrested, and later shot for being slow to track down enemies of the USSR
- his replacement- Yezhov- was told by Stalin that the NKVD was four years behind in unmasking 'enemies'
- after the murder of Kirov, many arrests were made.
- attacking the Communist Party and 'wreckers'
- arrests first targeted local Communist Party bosses and party members who were accused of opposing government orders.
- this accompanied the first 'Show Trials' in Moscow
- arrests of factory managers who were accused of 'wrecking' (deliberately damaging the USSR) followed
- this soon expanded to drag in ordinary people too
- arrests first targeted local Communist Party bosses and party members who were accused of opposing government orders.
- mass arrests
- the Secret Police were given targets of how many 'enemies' they should 'discover'. This led to large numbers being arrested.
- as people were interrogated (usually for imaginary crimes or just accidents) they confessed and named others involved in their 'crimes'.
- these too were arrested, confessed, and named others.
- as people were interrogated (usually for imaginary crimes or just accidents) they confessed and named others involved in their 'crimes'.
- the Secret Police were given targets of how many 'enemies' they should 'discover'. This led to large numbers being arrested.
- the 'Time of Yezhov'
- the worst time of mass arrests and shootings was in 1937-38- which became known as the Yezhovschina
- Yezhov was head of the Secret Police, until he, himself, was finally arrested in 1938- and later shot.
- the fact that this period was named after Yezhov reveals a russian tradition of blaming the person who carried out government policy, rather than the leader who was truly responsible
- Yezhov was head of the Secret Police, until he, himself, was finally arrested in 1938- and later shot.
- there was also a strong sense that what people in power did was not the concern of ordinary people
- the worst time of mass arrests and shootings was in 1937-38- which became known as the Yezhovschina
- a faltering start
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