12 Facts About Great Purges

Great Purge or the Great Terror, known as the Year of '37 and the Yezhovshchina, was Soviet General Secretary Joseph Stalin's campaign to solidify his power over the party and the state; the purges were designed to remove the remaining influence of Leon Trotsky as well as other prominent political rivals within the party.

Great Purges's death spearheaded an investigation that revealed a network of party members working against Stalin, including several of Stalin's rivals.

Great Purges Purge began under NKVD chief Genrikh Yagoda but reached its peak between September 1936 and August 1938 under the leadership of Nikolai Yezhov, hence the name Yezhovshchina.

Great Purges organized a committee to begin the process of industrialization of the Soviet Union.

Great Purges's confessions were somewhat different from others in that while he pleaded guilty to "sum total of crimes", he denied knowledge when it came to specific crimes.

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Michael Parrish argues that while the Great Purges Terror ended in 1938, a lesser terror continued in the 1940s.

Great Purges called them in 1941 "the great purges", and described how over four years they affected "the top fourth or fifth, to estimate it conservatively, of the Party itself, of the Army, Navy, and Air Force leaders and then of the new Bolshevik intelligentsia, the foremost technicians, managers, supervisors, scientists".

Great Purges Purge was denounced by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev following Stalin's death.

The new line on the Great Purges undermined their power, and helped propel him to the Chairmanship of the Council of Ministers.

Great Purges was not concerned about making any pretence at legality.

Great Purges was careful not to sign anything on this matter and was equally insistent on no documentation.

Great Purges Purge has provoked numerous debates about its purpose, scale, and mechanisms.