Purges, Terror and Show Trials

Read "Stalin & the Soviet Union - III," which is in the Stalin shared file folder.

1.What is the significance of Kirov's murder? (This is what I went over in class.)
Stalin used Kirov's murder as an excuse to purge the party of people he thought were a threat to the country. These people were just his opposition. This led into the purges and terror.

2. According to Stalin, who had Nikolayev been working for when he assassinated Kirov? Why is this significant?
Stalin claimed that Nikolayev had acted on orders from a "Leningrad Opposition Center" which had connections with the old Left Opposition, especially Trotsky.

3. What is a Trotskyite?
A person who supports Trotsky's beliefs about communism, such as a permanent revolution. This was a "valid" reason, according to Stalin, for the party member to be purged.

4. There are three major "show trials." List them and a brief description of their significance.
1) The Trial of the Sixteen in 1936 involved Zinoviev, Kamenev and fourteen others. They were accused of involvement in a conspiracy organised by Trotsky to overthrow the government. Most of them confessed to every accusation made against them. They were found guilty and shot the day after.
2) The Trial of the Seventeen was in 1937. The vitctims were accesed of having links with Trotsky, setting up terrorist groups and of wrecking industry. They were found guilty and shot.
3) The Trial of the Twenty-one" in 1938 involved Bukharin, Rykov and nineteen others. The accused confessed to being members of a Trotskyist-Rightist bloc, to wrecking industry and to helping foreign spies. All were found guilty and shot.
The significance of these trials were that they were confessing to extremely absurd things that were probably untrue. In some cases they had been told they wouldn't be executed if they confessed, in other cases the victims were being tortured. These were to show the public that Stalin was willing to do anything, even kill many people, to have power and to make sure the country was safe.

5. During the Great Terror, there were three stages to the purges, staring with members of the Communist party. What were the next two stages and what type of people were purged?
1937-Armed forces: several Red Army Generals were arrested and shot, accused of spying for Germany and Japan.
1938-Anyone who critisized Stalin most likely was denounced to the NKVD as a Trotskyite and were arrested. Everyone was encouraged to denounce anyone, even their family or co-workers. Some people were even arrested for failure to announce suspicious people. By this point, no one knew who it was safe to talk to.

Kirov Murder Myster

Read "Kirov Murder Mystery," which is in your Stalin shared file folder. Examine the two pages of evidence in the Kirov Murder Mystery reading. After reviewing the evidence, make your own judgments by answering the following questions.

1. In what circumstances did the assassin carry out the murder?
On December 1, 1934, Sergei Kirov went into party headquarters in Leningrad. He left his bodyguard downstairs while he went up to his office. He didn't notice the absence of the usual bodyguards in the building. His assassin, who was hiding in the bathroom, snuck up behind Kirov and shot him in the neck.

2. What strange coincidences surround the murder?
Kirov happened to leave his body guard downstairs when he went up to his office
A key witness was going to be Borisov, Kirov's bodyguard, but on the way to be questioned, a truck with many NKVD men got into a car crash and Borisov was killed, but nobody else was hurt. The NKVD men were killed later.

3. Is there any evidence to link Stalin to the murder?
Kirov had recieved more support at the Seventeenth Party Congress than Stalin. Kirov opposed stalin over the pace of industrialization, he wanted relaxation from the terror and reconciliation with the peasantry. Kirov and Stalin disagreed on many other things as well.

4. Is there any evidence to suggest that the NKVD was involved in the murder?
Kirov wanted relaxation of the terror and reconciliation with the peasantry, which would have downgraded the role of the NKVD and reduced its profile and status. It is alleged that an NKVD man had posed as a friend of Nikolayev and practiced shooting his revolver with him. When Stalin interrogated Nikolayev, he pointed to the NKVD men and said to ask them why he killed Kirov.

5. Who had the best motive for the murder?
Nikolayev-had a hatred of the party bureaucracy which he felt had not recognized his worth and given him his due. Also his wife, who was a secretary at party headquarters may have been having an affair with Kirov. There were plans in Nikolayev's briefcase of Kirov's murder. Nikolayev had been arrested in Kirov's neighborhood twice and released both times.

6. What theories can you suggest about who was responsible - was it the assassin alone or were others involved?
I think that the NKVD as well as Nikolayev played a big part in Kirov's assassination. Nikolayev was the man who carried out the NKVD's dirty work. Nikolayev had a personal motive, so the NKVD probably picked him to do their killing.