How Did Stalin Prose The Great Purge

The Great Purge, also known as the Great Terror, was a period in Russian historiography that involved a political repression in the Soviet Union occurring from 1936 – 1938. This was a purge between government officials and the communist party that included the repression of peasants, suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment, and executions. Historians believe that the total number of deaths throughout The Great Purge (1936 –1938) ranged from 950,000 – 1,200,000, in which a majority of these deaths took place by execution or in death camps. The leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, commenced The Great Purge to maintain power as dictator and to eliminate any other rebellious groups and individuals.

Motives of why Stalin commenced The Great Purge are still unclear to historians today. Many believe that Stalin used this as a way to maintain power as a dictator. This statement has a lot of truth behind it cause although the number of deaths involved in The Great Purge are predominantly peasants and "regular people",

"After Kirov’s death, Stalin launched his purge, claiming that he had uncovered a dangerous conspiracy of anti-Stalinist Communists. The dictator began killing or imprisoning any suspected party dissenters, eventually eliminating all the original Bolsheviks that participated in the Russian Revolution of 1917. (Great Purge, History)" This was the first out of 3 trials (better known as the Moscow Trials) that Stalin commenced, all in which resulted in the deaths of military leaders that were against Stalin's beliefs. "Kirov’s death led to three widely publicized trials that successfully wiped out many of Stalin’s political rivals and critics. (Great Purge, History)" The first trial was the start of the official Great Purge. This shows the true motives of Stalin and what he did to instill power in himself and his