The Moscow Trials
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| Three Defendants in the Moscow Trials |
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The first wave of the Great Terror followed the death of Kirov, as 40,000 people in Leningrad alone were arrested and deported. Stalin's main targets were Old Bolsheviks and on August 19, 1936 the first trial, the Trial of the Sixteen, began with Lev Kamenev, Grigori Zinoviev, Ivan Smirnov, and 13 other defendants who were mainly old Bolsheviks. They were charged with plotting to kill Stalin, Andrei Zhdanov, the Leningrad party boss, and other leaders. On the 20th, Kamenev confessed, on the 22nd Vyshinsky, the head prosecutor, made his final arguement "I demand that these dogs gone made should be shot-every one of them," and on the 24th the verdict was reached that all were guilty and all to be shot.
The Second Trial
The second trial, the Trial of the Anti-Soviet Trotskyist Center, began January 23, 1937 and had 17 defendants. The 17 accused were again mostly veteran Bolsheviks, who were once powerful and respected members of the party, and now dubbed "The Anti-Soviet Trotskyite Center". Stalin's main targets in this trial were Grigori Pyatakov, Grigori Sokolnikov, Leonid Serebryakov, and Karl Radek. The defendants were accused of plotting to destroy the Soviet economic system and spying for Germany and Japan. Trotsky was said to have ordered and directed the plotters' entire program while in his exile. The defendants admitted to various acts of terrorism, factory explosions, and train wrecks. Again, the lack of evidence other than the confessions was not a factor in the case and at 3 a.m. on January 30 the court decided them guilty. All were given death sentences except four who were sent into camps in the Arctic.
The Third Trial
By the time of the third trial, nobody was safe from the great terror as the NKVD arrested anyone they wanted. Stalin was clearly in absolute control due to the fear he created, and this third and last trial was more of a victory parade as the few surviving old Bolsheviks could not have possibly provided a threat. The chief defendants were Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, Nikolai Krestinsky, and Yagoda. Bukharin, Rykov, and Krestinsky were members of Lenin's Politburo, and Yagoda was the formed NKVD commissar and organizer of the first phase of the terror. They were charged with the usual: spying for Germany and Japan, conspiring against Stalin, and trying to return to capitalism. This trial started March 2, 1938, and all twenty two of the defendants pleaded guilty, and confessed. On March 12, the defendants were announced guilty on all charges, and 19 of the 22 received death sentences, while the rest were put into camps.Video Footage from the Moscow Trial
Video of Leon Trotsky Talking about the Moscow Trials
For more information about the Moscow Trials:
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Works Cited
RUSSIA: GREAT PURGE. N.d. Photograph. Granger Historical Picture Archive. Granger, New York. 0013484.
Linder, Douglas O. "The Moscow Purge Trials." law2.umkc.edu/. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Dec. 2014. <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/moscowpurge/
moscowlinks.html>.
Footage from infamous Moscow show trial. YouTube. N.p., 28 June 2009. Web. 11
Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=nFB9G1HINXI&index=1&list=PLC7iqtfFxXmOkLZkfw0Xt16JqE8_pfnit>.
Trotsky In Mexico Talks On Moscow Trials (1938). YouTube. N.p., 13 Apr. 2014.
Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Eyjyceo3vU>.
Stalin's use of the Moscow trials to gain absolute power really shows how he would do anything such as killing the members of the Bolshevik Party in order to be in charge. It shows slight paranoia of people taking power from him, so he also he killed anyone he thought to be a possible threat.Your pictures were very beneficials to help us better understand the Moscow Trials. It was very helpful how you went more into detail on the three different trials and what happened during them. The Great Terror resulted in 40,000 people to be either arrested or deported. The video footage of the trials really showed what actually happened and went further in depth on the subject.
ReplyDeleteThe Moscow trials are just one of the many examples of Stalins ruthlessness. the fact that he would murder people who shared his beliefs and were part of his party just to ensure absolute power is really absurd. In the first trial he arrested and deported about 40,000 people. I still find it amazing that just one man can single handedly ruin the lives of tens of thousands of people. Stalin seemed to use the Moscow trials also as a tool to instal fear in the citizens of the Soviet Union. The videos were helpful in understanding what the trials were really like.
ReplyDeleteIts amazing that Stalin would do anything to ensure his position as leader of Communist Russia. It seems that his biggest threat was the old Bolshevik supporters and he knew that he had to get rid of them. Clearly his solution was the Moscow trials. With these trials he could accuse anyone of almost anything, and would get the result that he wanted, whether the defendants were shot or deported, he could get that done. Stalin did successfully strike fear in everyone, and this allowed him to gain even more power. Its interesting to see what people would do for power. This blog is filled with really good information, nice job.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how the Moscow Trials were set up basically just so Stalin could kill all the old members of the Bolsehvik Party. I learned that he charged all those people opposing with crimes like murder, treason, espionage, and terrorism. I learned that during the first wave of the Great Terror 40,000 people were arrested in Leningrad and also deported. This really shows how dominant and powerful Stalin was. I also found it interesting that by the third trail, the NKVD arrested anyone they wanted. It scared everybody. I thought this whole blog was really interesting about how much the people feared the government and how dominant the government was.
ReplyDeleteYour blog shows the extent that Stalin would go to to achieve absolute power. His ruthless and violent rule over the people was both interesting and unsettling to learn about. These trials also showed Stalins power and it was amazing that Stalin could blame a murder on innocent people, with out even being questioned. Your blog showed the ruthlessness of Stalin's NKVD and the fear that he instilled in the people. Kamenev's confession, most likely forced by Stalin, showed just how much power Stalin had. I also liked how you included the quote about Stalin calling the guilty people of the trials "dogs" because it showed Stalins discriminating manner.
ReplyDeleteGood blog Alex, your blog was very informative. It crazy the lengths Stalin would go to have control. I did not know how many people were effected by the trials. I learned how fear was used by Stalin to gain power.
ReplyDelete