The Great Terror

Nick Lilly

Dr. Holl

ML&L 3342

1 July 2010

The Great Terror

In the early 1930s, Joseph Stalin learned that opposition toward his policies was growing. Thus, he decided it was time to halt Russian progress once again. Stalin put together an elaborate plan to force political repression and persecution upon citizens of the Soviet Union known as the great terror. Characterized by widespread police surveillance, suspicion, imprisonment, and executions, the great purge showed that Stalin was after anyone that proposed any kind of threat to him. The most intense period of the purge occurred during 1937-38, which is called Yezhovshchina (meaning the Yezhov regime). As leader of the Communist party, Stalin confirmed his position by putting his authority beyond question and by using terror against his opponents. After coming to power in 1924 against Lenin's wishes, Stalin claimed his position as head of the Soviet Union by bullying all those who opposed him, whether it was through exile, imprisonment, or even execution. Stalin’s position had become fairly secure in the late 1920s. However, hardships of the first five-year plan significantly increased opposition towards Stalin, both within the party and within the country as a whole. The 1934 party conference was enough evidence for Stalin that the nation wanted him out of power, for many began to turn their attention towards Kirov as an alternative, more moderate leader. Shortly after the meeting took place, Kirov was found murdered. The general consensus was that the murder was ordered by Stalin himself. Stalin used this pivotal incident to round up many of his opponents, while placing many of his supporters in key positions. For example, Khrushchev was appointed Moscow party secretary. Additionally, Vyshinsky was made chief prosecutor and Yezhov became head of the NKVD, the communist secret police. With the reorganization of the forced labor system through the formation of Gulag, corrective labor...