Why Did Stalin Launch the Purges? (Cambridge International IGCSE History)

Why were the Purges so Damaging to the USSR? - Summary

Historians consider Stalin as one of the most ruthless dictators in the 20th century. It is estimated that over 20 million Soviet people died during Stalin's rule. This is more than the amount of people killed under Hitler's regime. The purges are a significant factor as to why so many people died in the USSR.

Stalin's paranoia fuelled millions of political attacks. These arrests and assassinations affected all areas of society, from senior Bolsheviks to the working classes. Many people did not commit the crimes that the state accused them of. The state either forced confessions through torture or decided they were guilty through state-decided verdicts in show trials.

The purges had significant impacts on the USSR. People lived in constant fear and many citizens worked themselves to death to avoid punishment. Soviet industry struggled as trained workers were victims of the purges. The Soviet economy relied on the quantity, rather than the quality, of products. The purges also weakened the USSR. By the start of the Second World War, the Red Army had few experienced military leaders.

Political Motives

Securing Power

• Stalin became the leader of the USSR through a power struggle

  • This created many enemies for Stalin

• Stalin became paranoid

  • By the mid-1930s, Stalin believed that many party members wanted to overthrow him

    • He distrusted anyone with previous links to Lenin or Trotsky
    • He aimed to use any means to eliminate them as a threat to his leadership

  • Stalin wanted to establish a strong dictatorship

    • He did not want any opposition to the government
    • He wanted to ensure that all Soviet citizens had total loyalty to him by using fear tactics

Sergei Kirov

• Kirov was a senior politician in the USSR

  • Kirov became a Politburo member in 1930

• In 1934, a man named Leonid Nikolayev assassinated Kirov

  • Many historians believe that Stalin organised the assassination

    • Kirov wanted to reform Stalin's harsh economic policies

• Stalin used Kirov's assassination to launch the Great Purge

  • Stalin claimed the event had uncovered an anti-Stalinist conspiracy

  • This triggered the Moscow Trials Trials, which accused the following rivals of treason

    • Kamenev
    • Zinoviev
    • Bukharin
    • Rykov

  • Historians state that the men agreed to these forced confessions after interrogation and torture

Economic Motives

• Stalin tried to implement rapid industrialisation in the USSR

  • He stated that the USSR needed to 'catch up' industrially with the West

• The purges helped Stalin with his economic aims because:

  • Stalin could arrest and murder people who missed their production targets

    • The state accused many people of being saboteurs

  • The fear of the purges forced people to work harder

    • This meant that the USSR could make significant economic progress

  • Stalin could gain free labour

    • Those arrested in the GULAG system had to do forced labour

What Groups were Targeted in the Purges?

The Great Terror (Yezhovshina) 1936-1938

• Kirov's assassination triggered the Great Terror (known in Russian as the Yezhovshina)

  • Many historians believe that it ended in 1938
  • Other historians state that it did not officially end until Trotsky's assassination

Trotsky's Assassination

• Trotsky was a serious threat to Stalin

  • The Moscow Trials sentenced Trotsky to death despite not being there

    • He no longer lived in the USSR
    • He travelled to several countries before settling in Mexico

  • Trotsky wrote many articles against Stalin

• In 1940, Trotsky was assassinated

  • A Spanish communist named Ramón Mercader murdered Trotsky with an ice pick in his house
  • The Soviet government refused to take responsibility for Trotsky's murder

Purges After the Great Terror

• After the Great Terror, purges continued to happen

  • Stalin's leadership sent three million people into the GULAG system and murdered roughly 750,000 people

• These purges had a significant impact on the Second World War

  • In the first few months of Operation Barbarossa, the USSR suffered significant defeats
  • Young military leaders eventually led to the USSR's victory over Germany