Stalin's Dictatorship - The Great Terror and Cult of Personality

Stalin's Dictatorship - The Great Terror and Cult of Personality

The Great Terror:

• In many parts of the USSR millions had been arrested and shot or sent to labour camps, e.g. doctors, lawyers, writers, peasants, industrial workers
• Targets were set for the number of people in each village, resulting in random kills
• Up to 12 million people died as a result of execution or appalling conditions in labour camps
• There were NKVD spies everywhere and they could arrest and punish with little evidence
• People informed on others to avoid being arrested
• People who informed on colleagues got promotions or better housing
• After arrested the suspect would be interrogated viciously and then shot or sent to a labour camp
• In labour camps: terrible conditions, 1 in 5 died every year from coldness or starvation, given brutally…