1937: Stalin's Year of Terror

582 Pages·14.707 MB·English

by  Vadim Z. Rogovin

Vadim Z. Rogovin
1937

1 937
S talin’s Y ear o f T error
V adim Z . R ogovin
T ranslated b y F rederick S . C hoate
M ehring B ooks, I nc.
O ak P ark, M ichigan
© 1 998 b y M ehring B ooks, I nc. A ll r ights r eserved.
P ublished b y M ehring B ooks, I nc.
U nited S tates: 2 5900 G reenfield R oad, O ak P ark, M I 4 8237
A ustralia: P O B ox 3 67, B ankstown, N SW 2 200 A ustralia
B ritain: P O B ox 1 306, S heffield S 9 3 UW E ngland
P rinted i n t he U nited S tates o f A merica
L ibrary o f C ongress C ataloging-in-Publications D ata
R ogovin, V adim Z akharovich
[ 1937, E nglish]
1 937: S talins y ear o f t error/Vadim Z . R ogovin : t ranslated by F rederick S . C hoate.
p . c m.
I ncludes bibliographical r eferences a nd i ndex.
I SBN 0-929087- 77-1 ( paperback)
1 . S oviet U nion — Politics a nd g overnment—1 936-1953. 2 . S talin, J oseph, 1 879-1953.
3 . K ommunisticheskaia p artiia S ovetskogo S oiuza— Purges. 4 . P olitical p urges—Soviet
U nion— History. I . T itle.
D K267.R47613 1 998
9 47.084’2-d c21
9 7-50514
C IP
C over photographs T op l eft: S talin. T op r ight, V yshinsky.
B ottom l eft t o r ight: R ykov, B ukharin, P yatakov, T ukhachevsky, R adek.
© This book i s printed o n a cid-free paper.
C ontents
F oreword .. .................................................................................................... i x
I ntroduction . ............................................................................................... x i
1 . P reparations f or t he F irst S how T rial . ..................................................... 1
2 . T he T rial o f t he S ixteen . ......................................................................... 1 4
3 . “ Thirst f or P ower” o r “ Restoration o f C apitalism”?. .............................. 2 6
4 . “ The M olotov A ffair” . ............................................................................. 3 0
5 . R esults o f a “ Rotten C ompromise” . ....................................................... 3 6
6 . P olitical R epercussions o f t he T rial o f t he S ixteen . ............................... 4 0
7 . T rotsky I nterned . .................................................................................... 4 6
8 . L eon S edov s R ed B ook . .......................................................................... 5 2
9 . T en P ercent o f t he T ruth, o r W hat R eally H appened . .......................... 6 0
1 0. C andidate D efendants a t F uture T rials . .............................................. 6 7
1 1. F rom C harges o f T error t o N ew A malgams . ........................................ 8 3
1 2. T he B eginning o f t he Y ezhov P eriod . ................................................... 8 7
1 3. T he K emerovo T rial . ............................................................................. 9 6
1 4.T he D ecember P lenum o f t he C entral C ommittee .. ............................. 9 8
1 5. T he T rial o f t he “ Anti-Soviet T rotskyist C enter”. .............................. 1 13
1 6. T rotsky R eturns t o B attle . ................................................................. 1 30
1 7. T rotsky o n t he G oals o f t he M oscow T rials . .......................................... 1 39
1 8. A T yrant s R evenge . ................................................................................... 1 47
1 9. T he A nti-Semitic S ubtext o f t he M oscow T rials . .................................. 1 54
2 0. W hy D id T hey C onfess? . ........................................................................... 1 64
2 1. B ukharin a nd R ykov i n t he C lutches o f a “ Party I nvestigation” . ...... 1 79
2 2. T he D eath o f O rdzhonikidze . ................................................................... 1 85
2 3. T wo L etters f rom B ukharin . .................................................................... 1 99
2 4. P relude t o t he F ebruary-March P lenum . .............................................. 2 03
2 5. T he F ebruary-March P lenum: B ukharin a nd R ykov S tand A ccused . ... 2 10
2 6. B ukharin a nd R ykov D efend T hemselves . ............................................. 2 23
2 7. T he P lenum D elivers i ts V erdict . ............................................................ 2 27
2 8. T he F ate o f t he “ Letter o f a n O ld B olshevik” . ....................................... 2 31
2 9. T he F ebruary-March P lenum: Q uestions o f P arty D emocracy . ........ 2 39
3 0. T he F ebruary-March P lenum o n S abotage . .......................................... 2 47
3 1. W hy D id S talin Need “ Sabotage”? . ......................................................... 2 63
3 2. T he N KVD S tands A ccused .. .................................................................... 2 76
3 3. T he F ebruary-March P lenum o n “ Party W ork” . .................................. 2 81
3 4. S talin I ssues D irectives . ............................................................................. 2 86
3 5. T he E lection C ampaign i n t he P arty. ...................................................... 2 98
3 6. T he D ewey C ommission. ........................................................................... 3 05
3 7. T rotsky i n t he C urved M irror o f A nti-Communism . ........................... 3 10
3 8. T rotsky o n B olshevism a nd S talinism . ................................................... 3 12
3 9. T he H unting D own o f T rotskyists A broad . ....................................... 3 23
4 0. T he B reakthrough a nd D eath o f I gnace R eiss . ................................. 3 27
4 1. “ Stay O ut o f R ange o f t he A rtillery F ire!” . ......................................... 3 35
4 2. T rotsky o n t he S panish R evolution . .................................................. 3 49
4 3. T he B arcelona U prising . .................................................................... 3 57
4 4. T rotskyists i n t he C amps . .................................................................. 3 74
4 5. “ The B ureaucracy I s T errorized”. ..................................................... 3 93
4 6. R easons f or R eprisals a gainst t he G enerals . ..................................... 4 00
4 7. P relude t o t he P urge o f t he A rmy. ..................................................... 4 11
4 8. T he S talin-Hitler P rovocation . .......................................................... 4 16
4 9. P reparing t he T rial o f t he G enerals . .................................................. 4 25
5 0. T he T rial o f t he G enerals . .................................................................. 4 41
5 1. L ooking A head F ifteen Y ears. ............................................................ 4 48
5 2. W as T here a M ilitary C onspiracy? . ................................................... 4 58
5 3. T he B allad o f G eneral O rlov . ............................................................. 4 65
5 4. T he S ecret o f t he T ukhachevsky A ffair . ............................................ 4 70
5 5. T he J une P lenum o f t he C entral C ommittee . ................................... 4 83
Notes . ....................................................................................................... 5 01
N ame I ndex . ............................................................................................. 5 19
S ubject I ndex.. .......................................................................................... 5 37

F oreword
I n g athering m aterial f or t his book, g reat h elp w as provided a t h ome a nd
a broad b y r eaders o f t he previous v olumes o f t he s eries, “ Was T here a n Al-
ternative?” T he a uthor e xpresses h is g ratitude t o M . V . G oloviznin, T . I . Isaeva-
V bronskaya, l u. V . P rimakov, R . A . M edvedev ( Moscow), S . S amulenkov ( Riga),
M ichel L e H evel ( Paris), F rederick C hoate ( San F rancisco), F elix K reisel (Bos-
t on) a nd F rank G oodwin ( Los A ngeles).
C hapters 1 0 a nd 5 2 w ere w ritten w ith N. F . N aumova, a nd C hapters 1 4
a nd 5 5 w ith t he h elp o f M . V . G oloviznin.
i x