¹ This subject is now being opened up by new interpretations: Getty, J., Origins of the great purges: the Soviet Communist party reconsidered 1933–1938 (Cambridge, 1985)CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The strength of the work is its demolition of the totalitarian model of Soviet society. However, the structure substituted is no more sound than what it purports to replace. Whereas writers such as Conquest, R. (The great terror (London, 1968)Google Scholar tend to exaggerate the degree to which Stalin ‘planned’ the terror, for Stalin, Getty merely ‘sanctioned’ rather than initiated ‘the destruction of the opposition’ (p. 195)Google Scholar. As the reader will see, the interpretation offered in the text above contradicts that of Getty and further elaborates rather than substitutes for the findings of Conquest.

² ‘Protsess Trotskistsko-Zinovievskogo terroristicheskogo tsentra: obvinitel'noe zaklyuchenie’, Pravda 20 August 1936).

³ Ibid. (25 January 1937).

⁴ Ibid. (26 January 1937).

⁵ Ibid. (7 March 1938).

⁶ The crimes of the Stalin era. special report to the 20th congress of the CPSU by Nikita S. Khrushchev (New York, 1956), p. 23Google Scholar

⁷ ‘INSTRUKTSIYA vsem partiino-sovetskim rabotnikam i vsem organam OGPU, Suda 1 Prokuratory: SEKRETNO. Ne dlya pechati’ from Molotov and Stalin, 8 May 1933: Smolensk Archives, t. 87, 21.

⁸ Zelenin, I., ‘Politotdely MTS (1933–34gg)’ Istoncheskie Zapiski, ed. Sidorov, A. (Moscow, 1965), p. 44Google Scholar Also ‘Tabriz political diary’, no. 5 (May 1932), and no 10 (October 1932): F[oreign] O[ffice] 371/16339.

⁹ Haslam, J, Soviet foreign policy 1930–33. The impact of the depression (London, 1983), pp 70–96Google Scholar.

¹⁰ Strang (Moscow) to Simon (London), 14 August 1932. F.O. 371/16322

¹¹ Report from Moscow, 7 September 1932 ‘Po Rossii’, Sotsialistichesku Vestnik (26 September 1932 This emigre journal was remarkably well informed until 1937, when the terror struck with full force in Moscow Its reports on the debates over Comintern and diplomatic policy from the early to middle thirties have largely been confirmed as accurate by material published from the Soviet Foreign Ministry and Institute of Leninism, Marxism archives which I have used in The Soviet Union and the struggle for collective security in Europe 1933–39 (London, 1984)Google Scholar

¹² Report (5 October 1932) The Times (6 October 1932) Also Ciliga, A, The Russian enigma (London, 1979Google Scholar reprint), pp 292 3, Serge, V, Memoirs of a revolutionary 1901–41 (London, 1980Google Scholar reprint), p 259, ‘Pis'mo IZ Moskvy’, Bullyeten Oppozitsu (November 1932), and Strang (Moscow) to Simon (London), 11 October 1932 F O 371/16322 Although former leaders of the Right Opposition were accused of formulating the Ryutin statement – an accusation brought at their trial in March 1938 Rykov threw doubt on to this claim with his recollection that ‘the programme itself contained a phrase which expressed a certain aloofness from Bukhann, Tomsky and myself, it said something to the effect that these three were waste steam’ This remark was excised from the account of the proceedings in Pravda, 5 March 1938, but subsequently appeared in the later record The great purge trial, ed Tucker, R and Cohen, S (New York, 1965), p 163Google Scholar

¹³ La Situation politique', November 1932 Luciani, G, Six ans a Moscou (Paris, 1937), p 19Google Scholar

¹⁴ Editorial, ‘K itogam plenuma TsK VKP (b)’, Bol'shevik, nos 17 18 (30 09 1932)Google Scholar (not published until 20 October)

¹⁵ Pravda (11 October 1932).

¹⁶ ‘Besposhchadnyi otpor vragam leninskoi partii’, Pravda (11 October 1932).

¹⁷ These included Sten, Petrovsky, Uglanov and Ravich-Cherkasskii: ibid.

¹⁸ Ciliga, , The Russian enigma, p. 293Google Scholar. There was also a rumour that Ryutin was condemned to death but then reprieved: Serge, , Memoirs, p. 259Google Scholar, and ‘Iz Orenburgskoi ssylki (Iz pis'ma bol'shevika-lenintsa)’, Byulleten' Oppozitsii July-August 1936).

¹⁹ Serge, , Portrait de Staline (Paris, 1940), p. 95Google Scholar. Another source suggests: ‘Stalin did not tender his resignation, and was not asked to do so. He is said to have mentioned the possibility in conversation with Molotov, who replied that for the time being the party still had confidence in Stalin; they would see how things were in a year's time’ – Basseches, N., Stalin (London, 1952), p. 188Google Scholar . The author was an Austrian journalist, one of the veteran pro-Stalin Moscow correspondents from the West.

²⁰ Kirov, , ‘Ob itogakh sentyabr'skogo plenuma TsK VKP (b)’, speech to Leningrad Party activists, 8 10 1932Google Scholar: Pravda (14 October 1932).

²¹ See note 18.

²² Speech, 4 May 1935 Pravda (6 May 1935)

²³ Quoted in Moshkov, Yu, Zernovaya problema v gody sploshnoi kollektivtzatsii sel'skogo khozyaistva SSSR (1929–1932gg) (Moscow, 1966), p 217Google Scholar

²⁴ The quotation is probably not word-perfect. It was recorded at third remove by the wife of one of Yakir's close associates Cherednik-Dubrovaya, N., ‘Kommunista vse kasaetsya’, Komandarm Yakir Vospominamya druzei i soratmkov (Moscow, 1963), p 112Google Scholar The writer dates the quotation 1933, but other evidence suggests that the event occurred some time between the end of 1932 and late January 1933, because the gram requested by Yakir and his colleagues arrived with Postyshev shortly after the January 1933 plenum. Petrovsky, G., ‘XIII S′ ezd Sovetov SSSR’, Pravda (15 01 1935)Google Scholar Rumours of army unrest reached the émigré community at this time ‘Po Rossn’, note 11

²⁵ Editorial, ‘Na vstrechu chetvertoi bol'shevistskoi vesne’, Krasnaya Zvezda (10 February 1933).

²⁶ Haslam, , Soviet foreign policy, pp. 25–6 and 121–2Google Scholar.

²⁷ Pravda (8 March 1938)

²⁸ ‘Note on a conversation between the Soviet Ambassador and Lt-Col. Hayes’, 16 December 1937: F.O., 371/21102.

²⁹ Letter from Moscow, , ‘Po Rossii’, Sotsialisticheskii Vestnik (24 12 1932)Google Scholar.

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³² ‘I have heard that Eismont had no group, but there were simply four men, a bit tight, who muttered under their breath about how good it would be to remove Stalin’ – ‘Pis'ma iz SSSR’, Moscow, end of May 1933: ibid. July 1933.

³³ Alliluyeva, S., Only one year (London, 1969), p. 141Google Scholar.

³⁴ Ovey (Moscow) to Simon (London), 12 December 1932: F.O., 371/16324.

³⁵ ‘O poryadke perevoda v VKP (b) chlenov bratskikh Kompartii (Utverzhdeno Sekretariatom TSK VKP (b), 19.xi–32g.)’, Smolensk Archives, t. 87, 21.

³⁶ In a speech after the central committee plenum in January 1933, Voroshilov referred to the fact that ‘The plenum approved and confirmed the Politburo's decision on the Party purge’ – speech to garrison, Moscow Party activists, 20 January 1933: Krasnaya Zvezda (25 01 1933)Google Scholar.

³⁷ Editorial, ‘Ukrepim raiony proverennymi partiinymi kadrami’, Pravda (11 December 1932).

³⁸ Zaitsev, V., in Vsesoyuznoe Soveshchanie o Merakh Uluchsheniya Podgotovka Nauchno-Pedagogicheskikh Kadrov po Istoricheskim Naukam, 18–21 dekabrya 1962g. (Moscow, 1964), p. 291Google Scholar.

³⁹ Pravda (13 January 1933).

⁴⁰ See note 36.

⁴¹ See note 39.

⁴² ‘Itogi pervoi pyatiletki’, 7 January 1933: Stalin, I., Sochineniya, XIII (Moscow, 1951), 161–215Google Scholar.

⁴³ Zelenin, ‘Politotdely…’, note 8.

⁴⁴ Ibid. p. 53.

⁴⁵ After quoting Postyshev, Zelenin refers to the fact that ‘In these speeches the centre of gravity of the Party's struggle essentially shifted towards educational work among the peasantry…’: ibid.

⁴⁶ ‘O rabote v derevne’, 11 January 1933: Stalin, , Sochineniya, XIII, 216–33Google Scholar .

⁴⁷ Yaroslavsky, Em., ‘K chistke partii’, editorial, Bol' shevtk, nos. 7–8 (30 04 1933) (published 12 May 1933), p. 27Google Scholar.

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⁵¹ Quoted by Khrushchev, , 8 March 1963: Pravda (10 03 1963)Google Scholar.

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⁵⁴ ‘Otchetnyi doklad XVII s″ezdu Partii o Rabote TsK VKP (b)’ 26 January 1934: Stalin, , Sochineniya, XIII, 348–64Google Scholar.

⁵⁵ Istonya Kommumsticheskoi Partn Sovetskogo Soyuza, ed. Ponomarev, B. et al. (Moscow 1962), p. 486Google Scholar. Among the old Bolsheviks was Petrovsky, G., member of the Ukrainian Politburo and chairman of the Ukrainian supreme soviet – Bega, F. and Aleksandrova, V., Petrovsky (Moscow, 1963) p 303Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Shaumyan, L., ‘Na rubezhe pervykh pyatiletok: K 30-letiyu XVII s”ezda partii’, Pravda (7 02 1964)Google Scholar.

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⁶⁰ ‘Po Rossii’, Sotsialistichesku Vestnik (25 February 1934).

⁶¹ This much is evident from Kalinin's attitude to meat supplies in the summer of 1932 when, as a result of innumerable peasant complaints, he insisted on an ordered system of purchase by the state, calling for an end to arbitrary behaviour by the authorities. His point of view was accepted Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin: Kratkaya Btografia (Moscow, 1975), p. 208Google Scholar.

⁶² Sobrame Zakonov i Rasporyazhenii, (1932), no. 50, p. 298Google Scholar .

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⁶⁵ Postyshev, , Ot XVI do XVII s”ezda (Moscow, 1934), p. 152Google Scholar.

⁶⁶ Sobranie Zakonov i Rasporyazhenii, no. 40 (10 07 1933), p. 450Google Scholar.

⁶⁷ A phrase used by the British ambassador on the basis of recurrent reports since 1931 – Chilston (Moscow) to London, 4 March 1934: F.O., 371/18327.

⁶⁸ Strang (Moscow) to London, 3 August 1931: F.O., 371/15622.

⁶⁹ Strang (Moscow) to London, 28 September 1931: ibid.

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⁷³ Pervoe vsesoyuznoe soveshchanie sudebno-prokurorskikh rabotnikov XVII s”ezd partii i zadachi revolyutsionnoi zakonnosti – Doklad prokurora Soyuza I A Akulova', Za Sotsiahsticheskuyu Zakonnost', no 5 (05 1934)Google Scholar.

⁷⁴ Editorial, ‘Narkomvnudel SSSR’, Pravda (12 July 1934 ).

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⁷⁷ Report 12 December 1934 – Attolico (Moscow) to Rome, 13 December 1934: Italian Foreign Ministry, Archivio Storico Diplomatico), l'U.R.S.S., B. 13 (1934), fo. 1. 11Google Scholar; also Wiley, (Moscow) to Hull, (Washington), 3 01 1935: US Motional Archives: State Department, U.S.S.R., 1935, 844/314Google Scholar ; and Gilliat-Smith (Leningrad) toChilston (Moscow), 1 January 1935: F.O., 371/19463.

⁷⁸ Pravda (2 December and 4 December 1934).

⁷⁹ The Crimes, pp. 21–2.

⁸⁰ The text cited by Khrushchev is inaccurate in its details. Th e original can be found in Sobranie Zakonov i Rasporyazhenii, no. 64 (28 12 1934), p. 913Google Scholar.

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⁸² ‘V Narodnom Komissariate Vnutrennykh Del SSSR’, Pravda (23 December 1934).

⁸³ Quoted by Stalin, in his speech to the central committee plenum 3 March 1937 Pravda (29 03 1937)Google Scholar

⁸⁴ Speech to 18th Party congress, 10 March 1939 ibid II March 1939 Although never fully published the directive dated 13 May 1935, was quoted in the central committee plenum resolution on the subject of verification and checking, passed on 25 December 1935 Pravda (26 December 1935) Gettv in his Origins, ignores Stalin's retrospective judgement on the basic purpose of the verification it flatly contradicts his thesis (pp 58 64)

⁸⁵ A Vinogradov Povysit revolyutsionnuyu bditel'nost', sokrushit' vragov partn, Partnnoe Stroitel'stvo no 5 (03 1935) p 7Google Scholar

⁸⁶ Vavershennyi krug izmen 1 predatel'stva', Propagandist no 2 (01 1935), nos 8 and 6 respectivelyGoogle Scholar.

⁸⁷ ‘Iz sala verkhovnogo suda SSSR’, Pravda (16 January 1935).

⁸⁸ ‘P o Rossii’, 16 Januar y 1934: Sotsialisticheskii Vestnik (25 January 1934).

⁸⁹ Gol'dkhil, Dzh., ‘Vostochnyi Pakt’, Kommunisticheskaya Revolyutsiya, no. 8 (08 1934), pp. 43–4Google Scholar .

⁹⁰ ‘Po Rossn’ (17 June 1934) Sotsialishcheskii Vestnik (25 june 1934)

⁹¹ ‘Po Rossn’ (13 May 1935) ibid (25 May 1935)

⁹² lueshya (16 May 1935)

⁹³ ‘La preparazione di una nuova guerra mondiale da parte degh impenalisue l compiti delP Internazionale communista’, 10–11 August 1935 Togliatti, P, Opere, ed Ragionien, E, III, 2 (Rome 1973), 777Google Scholar

⁹⁴ Pravda (5 March 1936). ‘It is embarrassing even to read and transcribe these lines, they are so inappropriate and indecent’, Trotsky wrote; ‘The past binds him, the traditions hamper him, the phantom of the Opposition frightens him’, he added, 18 March 1936: Writings, pp. 275 and 277.

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⁹⁶ Pravda (29 November 1934).

⁹⁷ ‘V Sovnarkome SSSR i Ts K VK P (b)’, hvestiya (30 November 1934).

⁹⁸ Speech to the first all-Umon meeting of Stakhanovites, 17 November 1935 Pravda (22 November 1935)

⁹⁹ ibid (29 January 1935)

¹⁰⁰ Pashukanis, E., Obshchaya Teortya Prava 1 Marksizm (Moscow, 1929), p. IIIGoogle Scholar

¹⁰¹ Yudin, P., ‘Protiv putanitsy, poshlosti 1 reviziomzma (Zhurnal “Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo” za 1936 god)’, Pravda (20 01 1937)Google Scholar Yudin, Pashukanis' gravedigger, was not a man to miss an opportunity He became director of the Institute of Red Professors only one year after I graduation (1932)'

¹⁰² Partiinoe Stroitel' stvo, no II (June 1935)

¹⁰³ Central committee plenum resolution, 7 06 1935 PravdaGoogle Scholar (8 June 1935)

¹⁰⁴ Ibid (27 June 1935)

¹⁰⁵ Editorial, ‘Vsegda I vezde v boevoi gotovnosti’, ibid (8 June 1935)

¹⁰⁶ Speech to Leningrad Party activists, 13–14 June 1935 ibid. (19 June 1935)

¹⁰⁷ Chilston (Moscow) to Hoare (London), 15 June 1935 F O, 371/19450 In his memoirs, a former member of the German embassy in Moscow writes ‘“Sergo” Ordzhonikidze who was then responsible for economic affairs, and Abel Enukidze, the Secretary General of the Party [sic] – both Georgians were humane and decent and one could talk openly with them They were thoroughly agreeable, and did not make one feel that their personalities had been much affected by their being Communists’ von Herwarth, J., Against two evils memoirs of a diplomat-soldier during the Third Reich (London 1981)Google Scholar The book has unfortunately been marred by poor editing There were rumours that liberalism was being suppressed, in Sotsialistichesku Vestmk (25 February 1935)

¹⁰⁸ Bulhtt, (Moscow) to Hull, (Washington), 8 06 1935 National ArchivesGoogle Scholar, U S S R, 1935, 844/632

¹⁰⁹ ‘Itogi proverki partiinykh dokumentov’, central committee plenum resolution, 25 December 1935 Pravda (26 December 1935)

¹¹⁰ Ibid

¹¹¹ Neu Militant (15 February 1936) reprinted in Writings, p 241

¹¹² International Press Correspondence, 6 June 1936

¹¹³ Marty, Andre, ‘Obshchee polozheme vo Frantsn’, Kommumsticheskii Internatsional, nos 11–12, 5 06 1936, p 45Google Scholar

¹¹⁴ ‘Frantsuzskaya revolyutsiya nachalas’, 9 June 1936 Byulleten' Oppozitsii, no 51 (July August, 1936), P 4

¹¹⁵ Such fears were expressed to Luciam, among others, by a Soviet diplomat, c June 1936 Luciam, , Six Ans, pp 417–18Google Scholar

¹¹⁶ Speech, 11 June 1936, Inprecorr (20 June 1936)

¹¹⁷ The fact that he delivered a speech is referred to in the resulting resolution: Pravda (5 June 1936).

¹¹⁸ A phrase Stalin used in his interview with Howard: ibid. (5 March 1936).

¹¹⁹ Editorial, ‘Istoricheskii plenum stalinskogo Tsentral'nogo Komiteta’, ibid. (5 June 1936).

¹²⁰ Unsigned, ‘Stalinskaya Konstitutsiya pobedivshego sotsializma’, ibid. (12 June 1936).

¹²¹ ‘Ob itogakh iyunskogo plenuma TsK VKP (b)’, ibid.

¹²² Editorial, ‘Kollektivnost' v partiinom rukovodstve’, ibid. (27 July 1936).

¹²³ Quoted by Stalin in his speech to the central committee plenum, 3 March 1937: ibid. (29 March 1937).

¹²⁴ The role of Spain in this process was first alluded to by Slusser, R. in ‘The role of the Foreign Ministry’, Russian foreign policy: essays in a historical perspective, ed. Lederer, I., pp. 218–20Google Scholar.

¹²⁵ Payart, (Moscow) to Delbos, (Paris), 2 October 1936: Documents Diplomatiques Français 1932–1939, 2^e série (1936–9), III (Paris 1966)Google Scholar, doc. 310.

¹²⁶ Coulondre (Moscow) to Delbos (Paris), 16 November 1936: ibid. doc. 497.

¹²⁷ Editorial, ‘Umet' rasponznavat' vraga’, Pravda (7 August 1936); editorial, ‘Bol'shevistskaya bditel'nost' na lyubom uchastke’, ibid. (9 August 1936).

¹²⁸ Editorial, ‘Prezrennye dvurushniki’, ibid. (13 August 1936).

¹²⁹ Ibid. (22 August 1936).

¹³⁰ Editorial, ‘Gnily liberaly – posobniki vragov’, ibid. (27 August 1936).

¹³¹ The crimes.