In the early 1930s, the Soviet Union had basically formed a highly centralized and controlled economic system. In line with this, political power tends to be highly concentrated, and Stalin's personality cult and Stalin's arbitrary power are becoming the dominant trend in the political field of the Soviet Union. This situation has aroused the anxiety of some leading cadres, and at the same time, some leaders have been divided on specific issues such as policies and guidelines for industrialization and agricultural collectivization. Although Stalin eliminated the "opposition" among the old Bolsheviks who once threatened his power and line through several rounds of political struggles, and promoted a group of young cadres loyal to himself to the leadership, his position was not finally stable, and his policy ideas may still be opposed or resisted by members of the Central Committee and even the Politburo. In order to nip the new opposition in the bud, Stalin needs to launch a comprehensive political cleansing campaign.

"Kirov Incident" and the Beginning of the Great Cleansing Movement

1 934 65438+February1Sunday night, in the corridor of Smolny College, where the Leningrad State Committee is located, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, member of the Committee and secretary of the Leningrad State Committee, even * * * (Bolshevik) was shot and killed by the murderer who sneaked into the palace. This incident became the beginning of the "great cleansing" of the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

Kirov's assassination remains a puzzling historical mystery. Although the murderer nikolayev was arrested on the spot and interrogated by Stalin who arrived in Leningrad that day, the interrogation record was never released, and nikolayev was shot that month; Another main witness, borisov (Kirov's guard captain), died in a "traffic accident" during the trial. No matter what the truth of Kirov's case is, it is very clear that this incident provided Stalin with an opportunity to thoroughly clean all his opponents (including potential opponents), consolidate his power position, and take various illegal means to achieve the above goals. Stalin acted according to this logic.

1934, 12, 1 on the evening of, according to Stalin's suggestion, the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the People's Committee passed the Resolution on Amending the Current Criminal Procedure Law of the participating countries, stipulating that all cases involving terrorist organizations and terrorist activities against Soviet regime staff should not be investigated for more than ten days; The conclusion of the indictment shall be handed over to the defendant one day and night before the formal hearing; Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant attended the trial; Not accepting the appeal of judgment and the request for pardon; The death sentence will be executed immediately after it is announced. This provision, which was later called "special procedure", opened the door for Luo Zhi to be accused and persecuted by illegal means in political cleansing, and became a tool for Stalin to cleanse his political opponents at will. Since then, the "great cleansing" has been gradually pushed to a climax, and the first step is the trial of the so-called "Leningrad headquarters".

The big cleaning campaign is in full swing.

1934, 12, 1 on the evening of, according to Stalin's suggestion, the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the People's Committee passed the Resolution on Amending the Current Criminal Procedure Law of the participating countries, stipulating that all cases involving terrorist organizations and terrorist activities against Soviet regime staff should not be investigated for more than ten days; The conclusion of the indictment shall be handed over to the defendant one day and night before the formal hearing; Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant attended the trial; Not accepting the appeal of judgment and the request for pardon; The death sentence will be executed immediately after it is announced. This provision, which was later called "special procedure", opened the door for Luo Zhi to be accused and persecuted by illegal means in political cleansing, and became a tool for Stalin to cleanse his political opponents at will. Since then, the "great cleansing" has been gradually pushed to a climax, and the first step is the trial of the so-called "Leningrad headquarters".

1934,1934 On February 22nd, the Soviet government issued a circular on the investigation of Kirov case, in which it mentioned for the first time that there was a terrorist organization called "Leningrad Headquarters", claiming that nikolayev was a member of this organization, which was mainly composed of former members of the opposition in Zinoviev-Kamenev. On February 27, 65438, the Soviet government made a public accusation against the "Leningrad Headquarters", confirming that Kirov's murder was instigated by the organization, and said that the murder of Kirov was part of the long-term plan of the organization to murder Stalin and other leaders. After nikolayev was executed immediately, the main members of the "Headquarters" were tried on June 5438+0935 65438+1October 5438+05. Zinoviev and others firmly denied any involvement in the Kirov case. Although they could not produce evidence, the court sentenced Zinoviev to ten years' imprisonment and Kamenev to five years' imprisonment. On June 18, the Central Committee of the * * * (Bolshevik) League sent a secret letter to national organizations, asking all localities to mobilize all forces to dig deep into the enemy, thus starting nationwide arrests and creating countless unjust cases.

In order to put the cloak of "legality" on the "great cleansing", the military court of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union held its first public trial in August 1936. The defendant is a member of the so-called Trotsky-Zinoviev Joint Headquarters of 16, including Zinoviev, Kamenev and smirnoff. During the trial, the court did not produce any evidence, and all the charges were based on the defendant's "confession" and "admission". In the absence of a lawyer's defense, the defendant's "confession" is used as the basis for conviction. The court finally announced that Zinoviev and others colluded with Trotsky who had been deported and led the murder of Kirov, and sentenced 16 defendants to death. Less than 24 hours after the verdict, the newspaper reported that the death penalty had been executed.

The trial of "Joint Headquarters" led to a new wave of arrests. According to the defendant's "confession" in the trial, a so-called Trotsky parallel headquarters was dug up, and its members included Pi Dakov, karl berngardovich radek, Sokolnikov and others. 1937 1 month, the "parallel headquarters" was held for the second time in the "big cleaning". The defendant was accused of "accepting Trotsky's instructions" and "betraying the motherland, engaging in reconnaissance and military sabotage, and engaging in terrorist and insidious activities". As in the procedure of the first public trial (only one "defender" was appointed for the defendant in form), among the 65,438+07 defendants, 65,438+03 people including Pi Dakov were sentenced to death, and four people including karl berngardovich radek were sentenced to ten or eight years' imprisonment.

Because karl berngardovich radek confessed that he had an "evil connection" with Bukharin and Likov when he was tried, Bukharin and Likov were arrested at the end of February 1937. In March of the following year, the so-called "Rightist-Trotsky Alliance" was held for the third time in the "Great Cleanup". 2I defendants, including Bukharin, were charged with "murder" and "treason", and 19 of them, including Bukharin and Likov, were sentenced to death.

The three public trials were all fake cases carefully concocted to deceive public opinion at home and abroad in the "great cleansing" movement, and the objects involved in these public trials were only a few representatives of countless unjust cases in the "great cleansing". In fact, the "big purge" created far more unjust, false and misjudged cases than the public trial revealed, and the targets of the purge included almost all social fields and all classes from the central to the grassroots. According to relevant data, among the 139 Central Committee members and alternate members elected at the 17th National Congress, 98, or 70%, were purged. Of the 1996 delegates attending the 17th National Congress, 1 108, that is, more than half were purged; 17 Politburo members and alternate members, except Kirov, 5 people were killed; The Soviet Union and government agencies were also hit hard. During the period of 1937- 1938, 17 members of the People's Committee of the Ministry were arrested and executed. Plus their deputies and subordinates, the number is several times higher. The army is doomed, too 1937 in may, a group of senior generals, including tukhachevsky, vice-chairman of the national defense people's Committee, were arrested and executed for treason for organizing an "anti-Soviet military center", and then they were thoroughly cleaned up in the army. * * * suppressed 35,000 officers, including 80% senior officers and 3/5 marshals, involving all military commanders and most group army commanders; Even the People's Committee of the Ministry of the Interior, a security agency as a "big purge" tool, was not spared. Its members were constantly updated to maintain their loyalty to the leaders or were used as scapegoats. 1September, 936, Jagoda, who led the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the early stage of the "great purge", was replaced by a more ruthless Erov because he could not meet Stalin's requirements. He was quickly arrested and executed on 1938. Ezov, who pushed the "great cleansing" to a climax according to Stalin's will, suffered the same fate. /kloc-0 was replaced by beria in July, 1938, and/kloc-0 was shot in April, 1940 for "suppressing the Soviet people without foundation".

How many unjust cases and innocent people have been killed by the "big purge"? Up to now, there is no exact statistics, but as a political repression movement, its scale, coverage and harm are unprecedented in history, and it is the darkest page during Stalin's leadership of the Soviet Union. After 1938, considering that the endurance of the Soviet people was close to the limit, the purpose of "big cleaning" was basically achieved, the wave of repression tended to ease, and some wrong practices were corrected to varying degrees. However, Stalin did not fundamentally realize the mistake of the "Great Cleansing", but continued to regard it as a necessary means to consolidate centralization of authority. The aftermath of the "Great Cleansing" continued until the eve of the war and the early days of the war, and reached its climax again after the war.

The serious consequences of the great cleansing campaign

The consequences of the "big cleaning" are manifested in two aspects. First, this political movement has caused serious trauma to Soviet society, and the social essence in all fields has been destroyed. In an environment where life safety and freedom of movement are not protected by law, people's spirit is greatly suppressed. Moreover, when the security organs abuse illegal torture and espionage, everyone feels insecure, false accusations and false confessions prevail, personality is distorted, and social moral level is seriously reduced. Its negative effects have affected generations. Secondly, this movement finally established the extreme form of highly centralized system-Stalin's personal autocracy. Due to the large-scale repression that lasted for several years, all the objects that might challenge their power, from the old Bolsheviks to the younger generation of cadres, were eliminated, especially the representatives and the central authorities who expressed dissatisfaction at the 17 th National Congress. Stalin finally consolidated his supremacy and climbed to the top of the power pyramid. In addition, with the help of the autocratic tools of the security agencies, Stalin was able to completely override the individual and the state, without being restricted by laws or government agencies, and to implement individual autocratic rule in the name of * and the state. In this sense, the "great purge" was the last time that the Soviet Union established the "Stalin model" system.