Simon Crowley
Dictatorship and democracy
Stalin’s Show Trials, effectiveness and purpose.
Joseph Stalin only played a limited role in the Revolutions of 1917 but it was his appointment as
General Secretary of the Communist Bolshevik party in 1922, which brought him to prominence.
Stalin used this position to prepare the way for leadership by placing his allies in senior positions
within the Party. By 1927 Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, Stalin, has assumed complete control of
Russia. From 1925, a year after the death of Lenin, lead the ‘Great Terror’ throughout the whole of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR. As a man and leader of fear, Stalin not only attempted
to riddle the USSR of fear of his power but he also became so paranoid he began to obsess about
consolidating his power completely and utterly. (9/12)
Stalin’s three show trials, Trial of the Sixteen, Trial of the Seventeen and Trial of the Twenty-One
allowed Stalin to eliminate political threats to his reign. Stalin planned to strike fear into the hearts
of the USSR population, especially of those with a ‘treacherous’ background. The prime example of
this would be Andrei Vyshinsky. Vyshinsky had a pro-Menshevik background and had no choice but
to be Stalin’s star of the Trials. The ‘Man of Steel’ planned to used the trials to solidify his dominance
and rid of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev. Stalin also hoped to blame the failures of his 5-year plans,
Kulaks and collectivisation by instilling fear through the use of the powerful NKVD. (10/12)
After Lenin’s death in 1925 Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev took over the leadership of the Soviet
Union. Trostky had become isolated because of his policy of ‘permanent revolution’, he was
distrusted and Stalin’s policy of ‘Socialism in One Country’ was much more popular. By 1926 Trotsky
was expelled from the party and by 1928 exiled from the Soviet Union. Stalin ruled the Soviet Union
with an iron fist. His paranoia led to the formation of the NKVD secret police force. They were
established to seek out and destroy any potential threat to Stalin’s leadership. Strict censorship was
imposed on the media and although every adult had the right to vote, The Communist Party were
the only political party that existed. Stalin needed an excuse to eliminate his potential opponents
of his rule; old Bolsheviks, Trotskyites and even the powerful Red Army. The killing of his friend
Surgei Kirov in 1934 was the perfect opportunity. Stalin needed to blame the failures of the Kulaks
and fall backs of the Five Year plans and collectivisation, also to rid of any ‘anti-soviets’. (11/12)
Stalin planned to rid of these potential threats through the ‘Moscow Trials’. The defendants within
the trials, were accused of incredible crimes such as plots to assassinate Stalin and working as a spy
for Nazi, Fascist Germany. The majority of the defendants confessed their guilt as their verdicts had
been decided before the trial. Threats against the defendants’ families by the NKVD made it next to
impossible for the majority not to confess false guilt. The vast majority were then shot after the trials
and the remainder where left to rot in jail. Stalin used his trials to scapegoat the main threat to his
rule, Leon Trotsky. Conveniently for Stalin, Trotsky was hiding in exile from Stalin, making him unable
to defend his honour. (8/12)
The Trotskyite-Kamenevite-Zinovievite-Leftist-Counter-Revolutionary Bloc or Trial of the Sixteen in
1936, was the first of three show trials. This trial ended with the killing of Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev and
14 other former leading party members. They were shot in the cellars of Lubyanka Prison in Moscow
upon conviction at the end of the trials. This trial was one hundred percent effective in consolidating
fear throughout the USSR. International media were present for the three show trials and could not
understand why the accused continuously pleaded guilty. Stalin awarded the NKVD powers of
torture. This torture and threatening of the accused families lead to them all pleading guilty, of
increasingly ridiculous crimes. The trials were carefully stage-managed and held in the October Hall.
The spectators were mainly plain-clothed NKVD and journalists of foreign countries. To add to the
humiliation of the accused they were dressed in ill-fitting and old clothes. The NKVD guarded the
accused with fixed bayonets; this was to reinforce their guilt. The Trial of the Sixteen was a focus on
the Trotskyite-Kamenevite-Zinovievite-Leftist-Counter-Revolutionary Bloc , it was alleged that
Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev had killed Kirov and had attempted to take Stalin’s life. (10/12)
The second show trial came in 1937, the Anti-Soviet Trotskyite-Centre or Trial of the Seventeen. The
most prominent of those accused was Karl Radek. Radek was the Soviet Union’s leading political
writer at the time. Radek was also a former supporter of Trotsky while the others charged were
mainly leaders in the industrialisation drive. Just like the first trial the defendants fell over each
other to plead guilty. Also like the first trial the accusations were ridiculous, examples being
conspiring with Nazi Germany and Japan, both leading fascist powers at the time. This was
remarkable as the fascist regimes were extremely anti-Semitic and many of the 17 defendants were
in fact, Jewish. (8/12)
Between 1934 and 1936, while the first show trial took place, Stalin began the purge of the lower
ranks of the party. The NKVD imprisoned or shot hundreds of thousands of party activists. Many
were sent to forced-labour camps called Gulags. Few survived the harsh conditions. These first two
trials and purge of the party were extremely effective in consolidating fear and thus Stalin’s power.
In March 1938, the rial of the Bloc of Rightists and Trotskyites or Trial of the Twenty-One took
place. The third and final of the three show trials was the Trial of the Twenty-One. The highest
ranking party members were executed following this trial including, Nikolai Bukharin, a leading
Soviet scholar, Aleksei Rykov, the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars and HG Yagoda, a
former head of the secret police. Just like the two previous show trials the defendants were accused
of ridiculous crimes. These included murdering Lenin two decades before, murdering Kirov and
spying for Britain, France, Japan and Germany. The evidence was weak and poorly argued but the
accused pleaded guilty again and again. This was the case in all the defendants except one, Nikolai
Kretinsky. He pleaded innocent and said he had never heard of the Bloc of Rights and Trotskyites.
After a night with the NKVD he dramatically changed his mind. International media had kept a close
eye on three show trials and found it hard to believe the defendants all pleaded guilty of such
ridiculous crimes. They amazed the western media. Their shocked reaction was reflected in the
newspapers. Despite the lack of and weakness of evidence, the US ambassador was convinced the
defendants were guilty and wrote that most diplomats agree. (11/12)
In between the second and third show trial Stalin began a widespread purge of the army, his actions
are hard to find reason for but it is my belief that Stalin may have thought it was necessary to
remove any officers whose loyalty was in doubt, especially after the army mutiny.
According to figures published the army officers were purged of 35,000 men, 3 marshals, 50 Corps
Commanders and 154 Divisional Commanders.
By 1939, of the original 15-man Bolshevik government of 1917, only two were still alive, Stalin and
Trotsky. During the Show Trials ten had perished, this shows the effectiveness of the trials and how
Stalin hoped to rid of any threats to his power. In 1940 Trotsky was gunned down in Mexico by one
of Stalin’s men, leaving Stalin the only survivor. Stalin was now the absolute master of the
communist party, and of the USSR. The Show Trials were instrumental in his ‘Great Terror’ and
extremely beneficial to Stalin. The purging of the Red Army left it weakened and unprepared for
WW2, Stalin’s paranoia was to blame for this. The purges of the army led to the difficulties during
the Russian – Finish War 1939-1940. The purges and Show trials brought the Communist System into
disrepute. It wasn’t until 1956 that the leadership of the Soviet Union denounced the crimes of
Stalin. (10/12)
CM = 9 + 10 + 11 + 8 + 10 + 8 + 11 + 10 = 60/60
OE = 38/40
Overall = 98/100