The Great Purge in Soviet history was a political event that took place in the 30s of the 20th century, known as "Stalin's reign of terror".
During this period, the political system of the Soviet Union underwent great changes, and many leaders of Lenin's era were purged, the most important of whom were called the "Leninist team".
These people were once Lenin's confidants and supporters, and they played an important role in the revolution.
But why did Stalin purge these people?
The formation of Lenin's team
To understand why Stalin purged Lenin's team, we first need to understand the background in which the "Leninist team" was formed.
Lenin's team refers to a group of veteran figures of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who participated in the struggle with Lenin during the Soviet Revolution and held high-ranking positions in the Soviet government, party and army after the victory of the revolution.
These people played an important role in the revolution and construction of the Soviet Union, they were the builders and founders of the Soviet Union, and they were Lenin's confidants and supporters.
Therefore, in the early Soviet period, these veterans of the CPSU had great prestige and high authority in the country.
These included Trotsky, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Zubatov and others.
Stalin's relationship with Lenin's team
After Lenin's death, Stalin became the supreme leader of the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately, his relationship with the members of Lenin's remaining team was not harmonious.
On the one hand, Stalin showed his ambition to compete for supreme power before Lenin's death, and he took care of the seriously ill Lenin in disguise and took a series of actions to seize the supreme power.
Stalin, on the other hand, was dissatisfied with the authority of Lenin's team, believing that their existence threatened his dominance.
Therefore, a victory or defeat was inevitable between Stalin and Lenin's team.
The cause of the Great Purge
The causes of the Great Purge can be traced back to the Soviet Union in 1928, when Stalin began to implement a policy of economic centralization, which was criticized by Lenin's team.
They believed that Stalin's policies were too short-term and not conducive to the long-term development of socialism.
So Stalin and the elders of the CPSU began a new round of struggle, and at the same time he began to think about his relationship with Lenin's team.
First, Stalin believed that Lenin's team threatened his authority.
These people were once supporters of Lenin and had great prestige and authority.
They had great influence in politics and sometimes criticized Stalin's policies and even brought obstacles to their implementation.
This gave Stalin a feeling of wearing a tightening curse on his head, what kind of person is a person who cannot do whatever he wants?
Second, Stalin believed that Lenin's team represented a wrong ideological tendency.
They advocated a freer and more open political environment, continuing the collective leadership system of Lenin's time, while Stalin believed that there should be a stricter and more centralized political environment, that is, a paternalistic way of rule.
Simply put, there can only be one voice in this quack.
In order to become the leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin was determined to use the knife on these senators.
Stalin understood that only by purging Lenin's team could he consolidate his position and weaken the opposition, and at the same time let everyone understand that there was only one person in the Soviet Union who had the final say, and that was Stalin.
Implementation of the Great Purge
The Great Purge was a large-scale operation involving various fields such as Soviet politics, culture, and the military.
In this operation, Stalin used various means, including secret police, secret trials, assassinations, etc., to arrest, try, and execute those he considered to be hostile forces.
Among them, the team left by Lenin was almost destroyed by the regiment.
Other politicians, generals, artists, scholars, etc. were implicated.
The results of the Great Purge were devastating and are considered the most horrific period in the history of the USSR.
epilogue
In general, Stalin's purge of Lenin's team was the darkest page in the history of the USSR.
Through this movement, Stalin achieved his goal, cleared all enemies and obstacles throughout the Soviet Union, and established his position as the boss of the rivers and lakes in all the mountains.
Although the political environment in the Soviet Union eased somewhat after the end of this period, the event had a profound impact on Soviet society as a whole.
The Soviet people lived in fear and unease for a long time, which greatly limited the development of Soviet society, and many people did not dare to express their opinions and thoughts, which had a great impact on the development of Soviet society, science and technology, culture and art.