When did the Great Purge take place in the Soviet Union?
The Great Purge took place between 1936 and 1938. This campaign consumed millions of lives through political purges, arrests, and executions orchestrated by Joseph Stalin.
Questions about Great Purge
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Who was responsible for authorizing execution lists during the Great Purge?
Joseph Stalin authorized execution lists throughout the Great Purge period from 1937 to 1938. He signed 357 lists that resulted in approximately 40,000 people being executed with around 90 percent confirmed shot.
What were the results of the Moscow trials held between 1936 and 1938?
Three large Moscow trials eliminated senior Communist Party leaders through forced confessions obtained via torture. All defendants in these trials including Grigory Zinoviev Lev Kamenev and Nikolai Bukharin were sentenced to death and executed despite earlier promises that their lives would be spared.
How many people were arrested and executed during the Kulak Operation?
The Kulak Operation arrested 669,929 people and executed 376,202 making it the largest single campaign of repression between 1937 and 1938. NKVD Order No. 00447 issued on the 30th of July 1937 directed regional party chiefs to arrest ex-kulaks and anti-Soviet elements for execution or Gulag imprisonment.
Why did Hitler decide to launch Operation Barbarossa in June 1941?
Hitler cited the elimination of first-class high-ranking officers in 1937 as his main reason for invading Russia in 1941. The purge effectively crippled the Red Army by destroying its officer corps which became the decisive element persuading Hitler to launch Operation Barbarossa.