The Purges + Stalin

• Terror Economics

  • Lots of forced labour
  • Driven by economic need
  • Gulags had 8 million imprisoned by 1930
  • Prisoners did dangerous work
  • When targets were missed, 'wreckers' were blamed
• Total Control

  • People would follow orders out of fear
  • Terror kept angry and unhappy people under control
  • Would ensure armaments built to prepare for German invasion
• Stalin's Personality

  • being paranoid, distrustful, rude and violent were all common traits of his
  • Led his own wife to commit suicide
  • Personality faults became worse and he isolated himself
• Political Reasons

  • Stalin could blame Kamenev and Zinoviev, increasing his security in the power struggle
  • Stalin could remove anyone in the wider party who's loyalty he doubted
• Lenin's legacy

  • Terror also a key part of Lenin's policy
  • Red terror in civil war