Nikolai Bukharin, member of the Soviet politburo and Central Commitee and editor-in-chief of Pravda newspaper was the central victim of the Moscow show trials. The following transcript involves Bukharin defending his allegiance to the Soviet cause and his condemnation of terror. Let me relate to you how I explained this matter. Comrade Mikoian says the following: On the most basic question, he, Bukharin, has differences of opinion with the party: In essence, he stuck to his old positions.
This is untrue. In no way have I stuck to my previous positions — not on industrialization, not on collectivization, [and] not on village restructuring in general. But with regards to stimuli in agriculture, this question was not clear to me until the matter came round to the legislation on Soviet trade. I consider the entire problem, as a whole, was resolved after the introduction of laws on Soviet trade. Prior to this, this problem, very important but not all-embracing, was not clear to me.
When this matter became pertinent to product turnover in [illegible] and Soviet…. I would like to make one more remark. I do bear responsibility for this.
But the question involves the degree of responsibility; it is a matter of the quality of this responsibility. I bear responsibility for this fact. However, it is necessary to establish the degree and nature of this responsibility. I am not shifting responsibility from myself; more than anyone else, I accept the gravity of this responsibility. However, I would like to say that the measure of responsibility, the characterization of this responsibility, is absolutely specific in nature, and it should be expressed as I have expressed it here.
This is an obvious lie. How could Kulikov offer two versions in answer to this absolutely and exceptionally terrible question? Regarding the Riutinskii platform. It was presented by Ezhov as one of the top-priority issues requiring deliberation. The collective farms were planned to reorganize the production of food and raw materials, but due to high government production quotas, peasants received, as a rule, less for their labor than they did before collectivization, and some refused to work.
Since there were no wealthy peasants in the Soviet Union after the Revolution, the term was revived against the ones who refused the collectivization. Many of them faced labor camps and execution. The purge of the Red Army and Military Maritime Fleet removed three of the five marshals then equivalent to five-star generals , 13 of 15 army commanders then equivalent to three- and four-star generals , eight of nine admirals the purge fell heavily on the Navy, who were suspected of exploiting their opportunities for foreign contacts , 50 of 57 army corps commanders, out of division commanders, 16 of 16 army commissars, and 25 of 28 army corps commissars.
One of the most controversial verdicts within the purge was one concerning Mikhail Tukhachevsky, who was the hero of the civil war. Recent evaluations suggest that the real number was between 3. Thirty percent of the officers that were expelled were allowed to return to their duties during WWII. As the purge took on all walks of life, the so-called Intelligentsia intellectuals of all sorts was affected by it too.
Being an artist under Stalin was a dangerous line of work since any form of criticism of the Big Brother was prohibited. During the s and s, some 2, writers, intellectuals, and artists were imprisoned and 1, died in prisons and concentration camps. Leon Trotsky was expelled from the party in and was exiled from the Soviet Union. Still dissatisfied with the efforts of the police to investigate and liquidate such nefarious plots, Stalin replaced Genrikh Iagoda with Ezhov as head of the NKVD in September A second show trial followed in January with Iurii Piatakov and other leading figures in the industrialization drive as the chief defendants.
They along with Iagoda and others eventually were tried, convicted, and sentenced to death in March Some experts believe the true death figure is at least twice as high. Because many people simply vanished, and killings were often covered up, an exact death toll is impossible to determine.
To further complicate the matter, prisoners in the labor camps commonly died of exhaustion, disease or starvation. Trotsky was sentenced to death in absentia during the Moscow Trials.
He was living in exile in Mexico when he was assassinated with an ice pick by a Spanish communist. During World War II , Stalin was responsible for the executions of war prisoners and traitors, especially Polish nationals. His reign as dictator also made his people completely dependent on the state. Surprisingly, the legacy of the Great Purge, and Stalin himself, is lined with mixed reactions.
While most Russians regard the event as a horrific incident in history, others believe Stalin helped strengthen and propel the Soviet Union to greatness, despite his barbaric tactics. Great Purges, New World Encyclopedia. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us!
Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The notorious prisons, which incarcerated about 18 million The Romanov family was the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia. During the Russian Revolution After overthrowing the centuries-old Romanov monarchy, Russia emerged from a civil war in as the newly formed Soviet Union.
Under Stalin, the Soviet Union was transformed from a peasant society into an industrial and military superpower. However, he ruled by terror, and millions of his own
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