1. What is the significance of Kirov's murder?
Answer: The significance of the Kirov murder what that it gave Stalin an excuse to purge the party, and begin the show trials.
2. According to Stalin, who had Nikolayev been working for when he assassinated Kirov? Why is this significant?
Answer: According to Stalin Nikolayev was working for the Leningrad Opposition Center, this is significant because it gave him a motive to want to eliminate a major party leader, such as Kirov, Stalin etc; as an act of "terrorism" against the communist party.
3. What is a Trotskyite?
Answer: A Trotskyite was someone who was not loyal to the party, and were loyal to Trotsky and the way that he would have run the party, and his side and views. They were often denounced in party meetings or put in show trials.
4. There are three major Show Trials, name and briefly describe them.
Answer: 1. The Trial of the Sixteen- this involved Zinoviev, Kamenev, and 14 others; they were accused of involvement in conspiracy, relating to Trotsky.
2. Trial of the Seventeen- the victims were accused of having links to Trotsky, and creating terrorist actions, and wrecking industry. 3. Trial of the Twenty-One- involved Buhkarin, Rykov, and 19 others; they were accused of helping foregin spies, being Trotsky-Righists, and wrecking industry.
5. During the Great Terror, there were three stages to the purges, staring with members of the Communist party. What were the next two stages and what type of people were purged?
Answer: The next two stages were purges of the armed forces and the general public of the USSR. Neighbours could rat out their neighbours and no one was safe.
Showing posts with label Show_Trials. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Show_Trials. Show all posts
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Kirov Murder Mystery
Sorry! This is copied out of a word doc!:)
1. In what circumstances ti the assassin carry out the murder?
He was able to get into the building while Kirov's body guard was downstairs, wait in the hallway all day, and then while his body guard was not with him, shot Kirov. Previously the assassin was caught, questioned but given back his gun. 2. What strange coincidences surround the murder?
Kirov had just gained popularity among the 7th party congress- making him a threat to Stalin, the man who assassinated Mr. Kirov was also seen near his building, and neigborhood right before the murder- he also had NKVD friends, whom he enjoyed shooting his revolver with. 3. Is there any evidence to link Stalin to the murder?
although there is no evidence, there is however a lot of conspiracy that he was eliminating the competition, and that he was aiming to make himself the only person in power; as well as beginning show trials, and the reason to purge.
4. Is there any evidence to suggest that the NKVD was involved in the murder?
Yes, they had earlier questioned the assassin and let HIM go with his revolver, it is also alleged that an NKVD man posed as Nikolayev's friend and shot his revolver with him, as if to teach him how to use his revolver.
5. Who had the best motive for the murder?
Stalin, because he wouldn't want to have anyone who would be competing with him for the power of the party, especially if they were more popular then stalin. Also, i think that he would not have wanted anyone to get in the way of his purging.
6. What theories can you suggest about who was responsible - was it the assassin alone or were others involved?
I think that the assassin was influenced by the NKVD and Stalin because they would have the most reasons to be motivated to kill off Kirov for security of power, and security of the popular vote. They would also be more experienced (NKVD) in the art of assassination.
1. In what circumstances ti the assassin carry out the murder?
He was able to get into the building while Kirov's body guard was downstairs, wait in the hallway all day, and then while his body guard was not with him, shot Kirov. Previously the assassin was caught, questioned but given back his gun. 2. What strange coincidences surround the murder?
Kirov had just gained popularity among the 7th party congress- making him a threat to Stalin, the man who assassinated Mr. Kirov was also seen near his building, and neigborhood right before the murder- he also had NKVD friends, whom he enjoyed shooting his revolver with. 3. Is there any evidence to link Stalin to the murder?
although there is no evidence, there is however a lot of conspiracy that he was eliminating the competition, and that he was aiming to make himself the only person in power; as well as beginning show trials, and the reason to purge.
4. Is there any evidence to suggest that the NKVD was involved in the murder?
Yes, they had earlier questioned the assassin and let HIM go with his revolver, it is also alleged that an NKVD man posed as Nikolayev's friend and shot his revolver with him, as if to teach him how to use his revolver.
5. Who had the best motive for the murder?
Stalin, because he wouldn't want to have anyone who would be competing with him for the power of the party, especially if they were more popular then stalin. Also, i think that he would not have wanted anyone to get in the way of his purging.
6. What theories can you suggest about who was responsible - was it the assassin alone or were others involved?
I think that the assassin was influenced by the NKVD and Stalin because they would have the most reasons to be motivated to kill off Kirov for security of power, and security of the popular vote. They would also be more experienced (NKVD) in the art of assassination.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Gulags and the Purges
1. What type of construction projects were built using the Gulag System?
The most notable construction projects to come out of the Gulag would be the Canal from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea ( which was too shallow, and was deemed a failure), as well as the Moscow Metrosystem and other large scale but expensive projects such as the electrical facility in the Ukraine.
2.What were the conditions in the camps?
Many of the camps exposed its prisoners to cold and brutal conditions due to the location of the camp, in some camps temperatures were reported dipping under -60 in the winter, to make the prisoners work harder the Zek rationed food, some of the worst camps were in Kolyma this is where the winter conditions were brutal, and the workers were forced to prospect gold by hand.
3. Why do you think slave labor was used in the projects instead of paid labor?
I think that they chose to use slave labor because the projects were so large in scale and expensive as it is that they could not afford to also pay workers, another problem was relating to the purges, many of the skilled workers and more skilled people were in Gulags or dead, because they were considered to be enemies of the state. Also, by using slave labor they were able to achieve much more, because the conditions could be lower in standard.
4. What were the issues surrounding Kirov's murder?, Why do you think he had been murdered?
Surrounding Kirov's murder there were the issues of the assassins plan, he was originally caught and arrested, however the police later released him, and returned his gun to him, another strange thing about the murder of Kirov is that Kirov's bodyguard was no where to be found, when normally they were always together, the next day he too was killed. I think that he was murdered because he was too popular for Stalin's good; he was more handsome, from russia ( not georgia) popular, and a moderate member of Politburo at the time, stalin would not want anyone to appear better for the job then him.
5. What was the great purge? what specific group did it target?
The great purge was a purge of the party where those who were deemed unrealiable were purged from the party, they mostly targeted people who had been supporters of trotsky or zinoviev.
6.What was the purpose of the Show Trials?
The show trials were put on in order to parade around those who Stalin wished to purge from the party, who had places of power. They were eventually pushed into false-confessions and killed, they were put on for show, and were given the maximum publicity to humiliate and make example of the men accused.
7.What was the Great Terror?
The great terror was the spread of the purges outside of the party, those in the military went first, admirals were shot, then anyone could accuse anyone within the USSR, citizens ratted out other citizens, where they would be taken away in the night and killed.
The most notable construction projects to come out of the Gulag would be the Canal from the White Sea to the Baltic Sea ( which was too shallow, and was deemed a failure), as well as the Moscow Metrosystem and other large scale but expensive projects such as the electrical facility in the Ukraine.
2.What were the conditions in the camps?
Many of the camps exposed its prisoners to cold and brutal conditions due to the location of the camp, in some camps temperatures were reported dipping under -60 in the winter, to make the prisoners work harder the Zek rationed food, some of the worst camps were in Kolyma this is where the winter conditions were brutal, and the workers were forced to prospect gold by hand.
3. Why do you think slave labor was used in the projects instead of paid labor?
I think that they chose to use slave labor because the projects were so large in scale and expensive as it is that they could not afford to also pay workers, another problem was relating to the purges, many of the skilled workers and more skilled people were in Gulags or dead, because they were considered to be enemies of the state. Also, by using slave labor they were able to achieve much more, because the conditions could be lower in standard.
4. What were the issues surrounding Kirov's murder?, Why do you think he had been murdered?
Surrounding Kirov's murder there were the issues of the assassins plan, he was originally caught and arrested, however the police later released him, and returned his gun to him, another strange thing about the murder of Kirov is that Kirov's bodyguard was no where to be found, when normally they were always together, the next day he too was killed. I think that he was murdered because he was too popular for Stalin's good; he was more handsome, from russia ( not georgia) popular, and a moderate member of Politburo at the time, stalin would not want anyone to appear better for the job then him.
5. What was the great purge? what specific group did it target?
The great purge was a purge of the party where those who were deemed unrealiable were purged from the party, they mostly targeted people who had been supporters of trotsky or zinoviev.
6.What was the purpose of the Show Trials?
The show trials were put on in order to parade around those who Stalin wished to purge from the party, who had places of power. They were eventually pushed into false-confessions and killed, they were put on for show, and were given the maximum publicity to humiliate and make example of the men accused.
7.What was the Great Terror?
The great terror was the spread of the purges outside of the party, those in the military went first, admirals were shot, then anyone could accuse anyone within the USSR, citizens ratted out other citizens, where they would be taken away in the night and killed.
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