What was the purpose of Moscow show trials?
The trials are generally seen as part of Stalin’s Great Purge, a campaign to rid the party of current or prior opposition, including Trotskyists and leading Bolshevik cadre members from the time of the Russian Revolution or earlier, who might even potentially become a figurehead for the growing discontent in the Soviet …
What was behind the Shakhty trial and the Industrial party trial?
Fifty-three engineers and managers from the North Caucasus town of Shakhty were arrested in 1928 after being accused of conspiring to sabotage the Soviet economy with the former owners of the coal mines. The trial was conducted on May 18, 1928 in House of Trade Unions, Moscow.
What is the great purge in Animal Farm?
Animal Farm Chapter 7 Commentary In the USSR, the Great Purge was a series of trials, executions and murders organised by Joseph Stalin to put an end to his political opponents. After the trials, despite the promise that they would be spared, many of the defendant’s families were murdered.
What impact did Stalin and the Soviet government have on science and the arts?
The government controlled what books were published, what music was heard, and what art was displayed. The regime required artists to create works in the style of socialist realism. Works critical of the regime could lead to punishment of the artist.
What economy was the Soviet Union?
The economy of the Soviet Union was based on state ownership of the means of production, collective farming, and industrial manufacturing. An administrative-command system managed a distinctive form of central planning.
What was life like in the gulags?
Gulag living conditions were cold, overcrowded and unsanitary. Violence was common among the camp inmates, who were made up of both hardened criminals and political prisoners. In desperation, some stole food and other supplies from each other.
What happened to Trotsky?
In 1938 Trotsky and his supporters founded the Fourth International in opposition to Stalin’s Comintern. After surviving multiple attempts on his life, Trotsky was assassinated in August 1940 in Mexico City by Ramón Mercader, an agent of the Soviet NKVD.