Stalin's Russia: Terror

Stalin and Terror: Causes

Overview- The great terror is known as a period in history where Stalin purged/killed millions of his own people. By the end of 1934, he had begun a wave of political terror in which many millions died and twelve million people were forced into labour camps.

There are many causes fo the 'Great Terror'. One of the reasons for this is because of particular events which led Stalin to believe that people within the party could not be trusted any more. Another reasons was what many historians call his paranoia, which was fed by the secretive police system (NKVD). Finally, purges linked in with his idealogical and economic goals. They also allowed him to remove any oppostion to make his campaign for power even stronger.

The congress of victors: This was the name given to the party congress of 1934, which was intended to celebrate the economic achievements of Stalin. However, the congress worried Stalin for several reasons. First, in the congress vote for central comittee voted Kirov top in place of Stalin. This meant that Kirov was more popular within the party than Stalin was. As well as that, shortly after the vote, Kirov was approached by some older Bolshevik's to try and get him to run for General secreatry. Despite refusing, Stalin saw this as a reason to purge them as they could no…