Great purge Interesting Essay Topic Ideas

The Great Purge, otherwise known as the Great Terror, was a period of mass repressions, arrests, and purges that took place in the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 It was largely seen as a result of Stalin's paranoia and ambition to rid the Soviet Union of any potential rivals to his power. During this period, over a million people were arrested and sent off to labor camps or executed. The mass arrests and executions were often done without any due process of law, and this period of repression was the darkest of Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union. Nikolai Bukharin was one of the most prominent figures to be purged during the Great Terror. He was a major figure in the early days of the Bolshevik Revolution, and even served as the chairman of the All-Union Communist Party from 1925 to 1929. Despite his involvement in the socialist cause and being an ally of Stalin, Bukharin was eventually arrested and executed in March 1938. Kliment Voroshilov was another prominent figure to be purged during the Great Terror. While he was a close ally of Stalin, Voroshilov eventually began to challenge Stalin's authority on a number of matters. As a result, he was arrested and later executed in June 1938. Pavel Postyshev was another figure purged during the Great Terror. Postyshev served as a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and was an important figure in the Stalinist regime. He was arrested in February 1937 and eventually executed in January 1939. Genrikh Yagoda was also purged during this time. He was a prominent figure in the NKVD, the secret police force of the Soviet Union, and was eventually arrested and executed in 1938. Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko was the last prominent figure to be purged during the Great Terror. He was a close ally of Leon Trotsky and was a prominent figure in his Left Opposition to Stalin. He was arrested in 1936 and later executed in January 1938. The Great Purge was a period of mass terror and crackdown in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It was a result of Stalin's paranoia and ambition to consolidate his own power. Many prominent figures, such as Nikolai Bukharin, Kliment Voroshilov, Pavel Postyshev, Genrikh Yagoda, and Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko, were all purged during this time. Each of these figures had been an important part of the Soviet Union at one time or another, but fell out of favor with Stalin during the Great Purge and were either arrested and sent to labor camps or executed without due process of law.