This project will attempt to uncover some of the secrets surrounding this enigma by reexamining the testimonies and trial proceedings and cross-referencing them with 21st century research. To the contrary of what most historians believe, this project will strive to prove that there was no grand conspiracy created by Stalin to eliminate his opposition - rather that the trial victims were pray to personal rivalry, faction play and inter-party dynamics within the Soviet Union. Stalin still remained one of the main culprits, but much like his idol Ivan the Terrible, he was easily influenced and manipulated by party opportunists who sought to prove their loyalty by proving the treason of others.
A new insight into the organization of the trials, the interrogation proceedings and the conduct of the state prosecution correlated with outside testimonies and letter transcripts of main party officials revealed no evidence to suggest a pre-determined strike, or of the existence of an organized opposition to Stalin. Instead the facts show most accusations against the defendants were the result of inter-party grudges and suspicions, mainly those of Yezhov, Voroshilov and Kaganovich, against the rest of the Politburo. While there were no organized factions, personal political alliances and mutual enemies were enough to provoke secret investigations and the forging of evidence to convince Stalin of the dangers of an International Trotskyite Terrorist Centre. This volatile political environment of conspiracy, distrust and ambitious opportunists, combined with the paranoid nature of Stalin’s mind in the end proved enough to launch one of the biggest witch-hunts in modern history. |
About the Project
To this day the Moscow Trials of the 1930s continue to be one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century. The events and factors, which precipitated and were ultimately the cause of the trials, divide historians in vigorous debates and conclusions. Yet despite the trials no longer stand as immediate history after the fall of the Soviet Union, basic questions remained unanswered. Who is responsible? What provoked Stalin to murder most of the Russian Politburo? Was it all a secret conspiracy, devised by Stalin to eliminate party opposition? |