The Yezhovshchina: mass terror and repression at central and local levels; treatment of national minorities; the gulags; the end of the purges; the death of Trotsky; responsibility for and impact of the Terror and purges
Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin unleashed a wave of mass arrests, executions, and forced labour that killed or imprisoned millions of Soviet citizens. Historians call this period the Yezhovshchina, named after Nikolai Yezhov, the secret police chief who ran it.
Real World
NKVD Order No. 00447 (August 1937) assigned the Leningrad region a quota of 4,000 executions and 10,000 gulag sentences; local officials, desperate to demonstrate loyalty, routinely exceeded their targets.
Exam Focus
When asked about 'responsibility', address both Stalin's personal direction and the role of local officials who over-fulfilled quotas for career survival.
Essay Framework
Use PEEL to structure every paragraph. Tap each step for guidance and an example.
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