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Ally Koscinski

Mrs. Dietrich

Honors English 10

25 February 2019

The Great Purge

Like all moments in history, all things have a beginning. They can begin with a person,

place or event or be the cause or effect of change. World War I was the first war of the Great

Wars and was considered “the war to end all wars.” It was one of the deadliest most treacherous

moments in history and resulted in the deaths of millions. The war can be described within itself,

having different parts with different death rates. A consequence of World War I was The Great

Purge. The genocide itself can be split into sections as the amount of information before, during,

and after could be considered a separate war. The Great Purge was influenced by events of the

time period, the trials and deaths of millions, and the infamous legacy it left behind.

The Bolsheviks were the communist party before Stalin’s reign. The word “Bolsheviks”

meaning “majority” even though they were the minority of the population. They seized Russia’s

government in November 1917 and then the Soviet Union was founded five years later. Lenin

took power in the middle of World War I which sparked the communist rule in Russia. At this

point Lenin and the communist party dropped out of the war. The party was led by Valdimir

Lenin, with Stalin as his right-hand man. Joseph Stalin was a part of Lenin’s inner council, and

one of his most devoted followers. The Bolsheviks take on communism became the most
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dominant political power at the time. When Lenin died Stalin filled his shoes influencing his

desire for great power which led to The Great Purge. (Olson).

Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, declared himself

dictator in 1929 after the death of his partner Valdimir Lenin, the previous leader of the

Bolshevik party. (Hill). The Great Purge was led by Stalin who transformed his country into a

place ruled by fear. He fed off terror in his people and used it to his advantage to change the

economy from a civil working society to a military based super economy.

The Great Purge was a political, moral, and historical phenomenon that plagued Russia. It

was started to reserve, improve, and unite the Soviet Communist Party after the death of the

Bolshevik’s leader. The Great Purge, also known as The Great Terror, was a period of extreme

persecution and oppression in the late 1930s, characterized by imprisonments and executions that

overwhelmed the economy. Stalin turned on his allies and accused innocents of murder, treason,

and disloyalty. These innocents were sentenced to prison, fines, and death. All boundaries that

Lenin put up in Russia were broken. and Stalin took his place by instituting a new type of terror

on his people. The Great Purge was looked at as “The greatest political repression campaign in

Soviet Union history” (Budanovic).

There was a very clear motive behind The Great Purge. Stalin’s mind was set on

preserving the communist party and taking over after Lenin. An Andover law school describes

his motivation as “The Dream,” rebuilding the Russian nation and the “Great Socialist State”

(School of Law). Stalin wanted to kill off all members of the previous communist party who

were still around and alive. He saw all of them as threats to his position as dictator. Stalin’s urge

for power and to be the sole leader caused his dream to be completed in the worst way. His

desire was the main impact on the start to the purge (Budanovic).
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The event which put the genocide into full mode was the assassination of Sergei Kirov.

Kirov was very well known among the people which angered Stalin. He was a threat and ordered

by Stalin himself to be executed. The death of Kirov launched the most important part of the

purge, The Moscow Trials. The trials were also known as the “show” trials because afterwards

everyone learned that they were only showpieces. The Defenders were persecuted and tormented

until agreeing to admit to crimes they didn’t commit. They were large scale hearings that lasted

the entire purge. If they did not agree to this fabrication, then they were executed. Communists

from Lenin’s party confessed to being traitors and spies even though they were never in the

wrong (Hill).

Nikolai Bukharin was a former ally to Stalin, however, was turned on and forced into a

trial. “Comrades, the question of membership in the party seems to me simply native… I have

absolutely no relationship with terror… I look on this as, a sheep looking at new gates”

(Bukharin). Bukharin was the man who was charged with the assassination of Kirov. Stalin saw

Kirov as a threat and placed all the blame onto Bukharin for another of his masterful shows.

Before Stalin’s treason Bukharin was his “right opposition judge over show trials” (House of

History).

Leon Trotsky was another purged by Stalin during in his false trials. Everything died

down around 1938, however most believed that it would not be over until Leon Trotsky, Stalin’s

longtime rival, was murdered. During Stalin’s reign, Trotsky gathered support against the

dictator in Mexico. His trial took place in Absentia, August of 1940, and he was murdered with

an ice pick (Budanovic). Anyone of accused of being a Trotsky-ite was murdered immediately

during the terror. Most thought that the purge would be over however executions continued until

Stalin’s death in 1953 (Hades).

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The NKVD, People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, were the secret communist

police responsible for all the deaths. They used quick no mercy methods of killing and covered

their tracks. Almost all deaths were looked at as mere “missing persons” and their deaths not

known to the public. It has been stated that there was an average of 1000 executions a day

however researchers claim that the real number could be twice as many. Any person, normal

citizen or someone within the government, that was accused of being a threat or anti soviet

element was murdered by the NKVD (School of Law).

Stalin saw many people as intimidations and was not cautious as to who he eliminated.

Political officials and military members were murdered if they had anything to do with the time

before Stalin. He was unjust towards peasants, ethnic minorities, and foreigners as well as

average, every day, ordinary citizens. Children as young as twelve years old were purged. People

were falsely accused on the daily of treachery, terrorism, and sabatoge without given any form of

justification or free speech. Kluaks were highly sought after as well as Nepmen; wealthy

peasants and people who engaged in private enterprise. Stalin had a whole vocabulary of names

for the so-called traitors, all put under the title “fifth column.” They were looked at as

“saboteurs, subversives, enemy of people, reactionary, counter-revolutionaries” (Budanovic).

Paranoia and terror were initiated among the people because absolutely anyone could have been

accused.

Over the span of the purge there was said to be at least 750,000 executions, 1 million

deaths, and over 1 million sent to forced labor camps. All Bolsheviks that participated in the

Russian revolution murdered among the many average citizens. On top of Stalin pointing fingers,

there was a purge within the Red Army where 30,000 were executed. These included marshals,

commanders, admirals, and commissars. It was later discovered that all the people murdered by
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Stalin came from the areas of Butovo, the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic

Republic. The deaths and work camps were the epitome of The Great Purge, the reason it was

looked at as such a disturbing time (Budanovic).

The Gulags were forced labor camps very much like the Nazi’s concentration camps. All

people sent endured brutal treatment and widespread terror. If a family member was sent to the

camp, they would end up executed. The prisoners suffered from exhaustion, starvation, and

sickness. Gulag camps were compared to foreign islands, “distant and unknown to those who

have never been” (Hill). All deaths were covered up by the NKVD and therefore humans seemed

to have “disappeared” once entering camp. Along with the camps were firing ranges where most

shootings took place. A famous range was the Butovsky firing range which was said to have

taken the lives of 20,761 men, women, and children. The camp and firing range was often

compared to an abyss. There was said to be a “voice of salvation” looked at as a “battle not with

monsters, lest ye become a monster… If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you”

(Hades). The abyss was where people went to die and go to heaven during the Purge. This was

important because people looked to their voice of salvation as an escape from the tragedy. The

abyss was virtually the death door to heaven, away from Stalin’s reign.

After Stalin’s death, his successor Nikita Khrushchev took over. People assumed that the

cruel violence would continue, however, Krushchev let out a series of secret speeches to the

public. The speeches called the purge “an abuse of power” and acknowledged that almost every

victim in the war was completely innocent. He made it his job to restore Russia to its full

potential without the horrors. The Purge demanded an immense increase in coal and iron

production as well as electric power. Famine and food disruption overwhelmed the area for

years. Russia had much to complete in order to reestablish its vitality (Gracheva).
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The Great Purge left an impact on the people in Russia in a corrupt way. The widespread

terror that plagued the land was hard to demolish. Society was filled with betrayal and the Soviet

Union had been radicalized. The Great Purge was the consequence of World War I, paving the

path to World War 2. The genocide purging innocents and shedding blood on those who did no

harm. World War I’s influence on The Great Purge comes from its prior events, Stalin afraid of

being overthrown. The Moscow Trials and deaths of millions swept the area ruining lives and

tearing apart families. The Great Terror will forever be known by Stalin’s infamous legacy and

what was left behind.

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Works Cited

Budanovic, Nikola. “Stalin's Great Purge: Over A Million Detained, More Than Half A

Million Killed.” War History Online, 8 June 2017. 24 February 2019. Web.

This article described 10 main components of the purge. It helped with little details that

most don’t know about

Gracheva, Ekaterina. “Of Russian Origin: Stalin's Purges.” Political System –

Russiapedia Basic Facts about Russia. 24 February 2019.Web

This article described the motives for the war. It showed the motives as well as origin

behind Stalin’s terror.

Hades, Lena. “Stalin's Great Purge: Boy Executed For Two Loaves Of Bread.” The

Huffington Post, 7 Dec. 2017. 23 February 2019. Web.

The Huffington post did an article on people from the war. It describes who was killed

and how and why it was completed.

Hill, Laura. “Guided History.” Guided History Stalins Purge and Its Effects on World

War II, Emergence of Modern Europe, 2013. 24 February 2019. Web.

This article talked about Stalin’s ideas before, during, and after the war. It also talked

about its effects on the world as well as upcoming wars.

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Inside The Stalin Archives: The Secrets of The Great Terror. Massachusetts School of

Law at Andover, YouTube, 27 Mar. 2010. Film.

This YouTube video from the School of Law in Andover described little things about the

war in an interview between two men. The man was promoting his novel about the purge and

beginning of WWII while giving details.

Stalin's Great Purge | SOVIET SOCIETY (1932-1940). House of History, Youtube, 11

Sep 2018. Film.

This documentary covers some main topics of the war. It helped focus on the government

of the purge rather than the people.