Editing Joseph Stalin (section)

=== 1932–1939: Major crises ===

====Famine of 1932–1933====
{{Main|Soviet famine of 1930–1933}}

[[File:Famine en URSS 1933.jpg|thumb|right|Map of areas affected by the [[Soviet famine of 1932–1933]]]]
Within the Soviet Union, civic disgruntlement against Stalin's government was widespread.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=316}} Social unrest in urban areas led Stalin to ease some economic policies in 1932.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=310}} In May 1932, he introduced ''kolkhoz'' markets where peasants could trade surplus produce.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=310|2a1=Davies|2a2=Wheatcroft|2y=2006|2p=627}} However, penal sanctions became harsher; a decree in August 1932 made the theft of a handful of grain a capital offence.{{Sfn|Davies|Wheatcroft|2006|p=628}} The second five-year plan reduced production quotas from the first, focusing more on improving living conditions{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=310}} through housing and consumer goods.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=310}} Emphasis on armament production increased after [[Adolf Hitler]] became [[German chancellor]] in 1933.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=318}}

The Soviet Union experienced a major famine which peaked in the winter of 1932–1933,{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=312|2a1=Conquest|2y=2008|2pp=19–20|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=117}} with 5–7 million deaths.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=117}} The worst affected areas were [[Ukrainian SSR|Ukraine]] (where the famine was called the [[Holodomor]]), [[Southern Russia]], [[Kazakh SSR|Kazakhstan]] and the [[North Caucasus]].{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=119}} In the case of Ukraine, historians debate whether the famine was intentional, with the purpose of eliminating a potential independence movement;{{Sfn|Ellman|2005|p=823}} no documents show Stalin explicitly ordered starvation.{{Sfnm|1a1=Ellman|1y=2005|1p=824|2a1=Davies|2a2=Wheatcroft|2y=2006|2pp=628, 631}} Poor weather led to bad harvests in 1931 and 1932,{{Sfnm|1a1=Ellman|1y=2005|1pp=823–824|2a1=Davies|2a2=Wheatcroft|2y=2006|2p=626|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=117}} compounded by years of declining productivity.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=117}} Rapid industrialisation policies, neglect of [[crop rotation]], and failure to build reserve grain stocks exacerbated the crisis.{{Sfn|Ellman|2005|p=834}} Stalin blamed hostile elements and saboteurs among the peasants.{{Sfnm|1a1=Ellman|1y=2005|1p=824|2a1=Davies|2a2=Wheatcroft|2y=2006|2pp=627–628|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=120}} The government provided limited food aid to famine-stricken areas, prioritising urban workers;{{Sfnm|1a1=Ellman|1y=2005|1p=833|2a1=Kuromiya|2y=2008|2p=665}} for Stalin, Soviet industrialisation was more valuable than peasant lives.{{Sfnm|1a1=Davies|1a2=Wheatcroft|1y=2006|1p=628|2a1=Ellman|2y=2007|2p=664}} Grain exports declined heavily.{{Sfn|Davies|Wheatcroft|2006|p=627}} Stalin did not acknowledge his policies' role in the famine,{{Sfn|Davies|Wheatcroft|2006|p=628}} which was concealed from foreign observers.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=164|2a1=Kotkin|2y=2014|2p=724}}

====Ideological and foreign affairs====
{{Further|Joseph Stalin's cult of personality}}

In 1936, Stalin oversaw the adoption of [[1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union|a new constitution]] with expansive democratic features; it was designed as propaganda, as all power rested in his hands.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=319}} He declared that "socialism, the first phase of communism, has been achieved".{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=319}} In 1938, the ''[[History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks)]]'' was released;{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=212|2a1=Volkogonov|2y=1991|2pp=552–443|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=361}} commonly known as the "Short Course", it became the central text of Stalinism.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=212}} Authorised Stalin biographies were also published,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=361}} though Stalin preferred to be viewed as the embodiment of the Communist Party, rather than have his life story explored.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=362}}

[[File:Soviet armor in the spanish civil war.png|thumb|Review of Soviet armoured vehicles used to equip the [[Spanish Republican Army|Republican Army]] during the [[Spanish Civil War]]]]
Seeking better international relations, in 1934 the Soviet Union joined the [[League of Nations]], from which it had previously been excluded.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=386}} Stalin initiated confidential communications with Hitler in October 1933, shortly after the latter came to power.{{Sfn|Conquest|1991|p=217}} Stalin admired Hitler, particularly his manoeuvres to remove rivals within the [[Nazi Party]] in the [[Night of the Long Knives]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=176|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2p=116|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=340}} Stalin nevertheless recognised the threat posed by fascism and sought to establish better links with the [[liberal democracies]] of Western Europe;{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=218|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=123, 135}} in May 1935, the Soviets signed treaties of mutual assistance with France and Czechoslovakia.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=135}} At the Communist International's [[Seventh World Congress of the Comintern|7th Congress]] in July–August 1935, the Soviet Union encouraged Marxist–Leninists to unite with other leftists as part of a [[popular front]] against fascism.{{Sfnm|1a1=Haslam|1y=1979|1pp=682–683|2a1=Conquest|2y=1991|2p=218|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=385|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=135}} In response, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the [[Anti-Comintern Pact]].{{sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=392|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2p=154}}

When the [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out in July 1936, the Soviets sent military aid to the [[Republican faction (Spanish Civil War)|Republican faction]], including 648 aircraft and 407 tanks, along with 3,000 Soviet troops and 42,000 members of the [[International Brigades]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=219|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=387}} Stalin took a personal involvement in the Spanish situation.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=154}} Germany and Italy backed the [[Nationalist faction]], which was ultimately victorious in March 1939.{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=387, 389}} With the outbreak of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] in July 1937, the Soviet Union and China signed a [[Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact|non-aggression pact]].{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=156}} Stalin aided the Chinese as the KMT and the Communists suspended their civil war and formed his desired [[Second United Front|United Front]] against Japan.{{sfn|Service|2004|pp=392}}

====Great Purge====
{{Main|Great Purge}}

[[File:Vinnycia16.jpg|thumb|right|Exhumed mass grave of the [[Vinnytsia massacre]], 1943]]
Stalin's approach to state repression was often contradictory.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=126}} In May 1933, he released many convicted of minor offences, ordering the security services not to enact further mass arrests and deportations,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=125}} and in September 1934, he launched a commission to investigate false imprisonments. That same month, he called for the execution of workers at the Stalin Metallurgical Factory accused of spying for Japan.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=126}}{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=125}} After [[Sergey Kirov|Sergei Kirov]] was murdered in December 1934, Stalin became increasingly concerned about assassination threats,{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=179|2a1=Montefiore|2y=2003|2pp=126–127|3a1=Service|3y=2004|3p=314|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4pp=128–129}} and state repression intensified.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=128, 137}} Stalin issued a decree establishing [[NKVD troika]]s which could issue rapid and severe sentences without involving the courts.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=315}} In 1935, he ordered the NKVD to expel suspected counterrevolutionaries from urban areas;{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=318}} over 11,000 were expelled from Leningrad alone in early 1935.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=318}}
[[File:RIAN archive 910794 Memorial events in Bykovnya Graves reserve.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial to a victim of the Great Purge at the [[Bykivnia graves|Bykivnia mass grave]]]]

In 1936, [[Nikolai Yezhov]] became head of the NKVD,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=139}} after which Stalin move to orchestrate the arrest and execution of his remaining opponents in the Communist Party in the [[Great Purge]].{{Sfn|Service|2004|pp=314–317}} The first [[Moscow Trials|Moscow Trial]] in August 1936 saw Kamenev and Zinoviev executed.{{Sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1pp=139, 154–155, 164–172, 175–176|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=320|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=139}} The second trial took place in January 1937,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=139–140}} and the third in March 1938, with Bukharin and Rykov executed.{{Sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1pp=192–193|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=346|3a1=Conquest|3y=2008|3p=24 |4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=140}} By late 1937, all remnants of [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collective leadership]] were gone from the Politburo, which was now effectively under Stalin's control.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=176–177}} There were mass expulsions from the party,{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=349}} with Stalin also ordering foreign communist parties to purge anti-Stalinist elements.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=391}} These purges replaced most of the party's old guard with younger officials loyal to Stalin.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=137–138, 147}} Party functionaries readily carried out their commands and sought to ingratiate themselves with Stalin, to avoid becoming victims.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=140}} Such functionaries often carried out more arrests and executions than their quotas set by government.{{Sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=204}}

[[File:Gelya Markizova.jpg |thumb|upright=.7|Stalin receives flowers from [[Engelsina Markizova]], 1936. The girl's father was later executed in the Great Purge.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hockstader |first=Lee |date=10 March 1995 |title=From a ruler's embrace to a life in disgrace |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/03/10/from-a-rulers-embrace-to-a-life-in-disgrace/6df151d2-82c3-4589-85b3-2015c802258f/#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |archive-url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1995/03/10/from-a-rulers-embrace-to-a-life-in-disgrace/6df151d2-82c3-4589-85b3-2015c802258f/#federation=archive.wikiwix.com&tab=url |url-status=dead |archive-date=2007-06-15 |website=Washington Post (Arq. in WikiWix Archive)}}</ref>]]

Repressions intensified further from December 1936 until November 1938.{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=347}} In May 1937, Stalin ordered the [[Case of the Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization|arrest of much of the army's high command]], and mass arrests in the military followed.{{Sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=201|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=349|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=140}} By late 1937, purges extended beyond the party to the wider population.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=141, 150}} In July 1937, the Politburo ordered a purge of "anti-Soviet elements", targeting anti-Stalin Bolsheviks, former Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, priests, ex–White Army soldiers, and common criminals.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1p=350|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=150–151}} Stalin initiated "[[Mass operations of the NKVD|national operations]]", the ethnic cleansing of non-Soviet ethnic groups — among them [[Polish Operation of the NKVD|Poles]], [[NKVD Order No. 00439|Germans]], [[Latvian Operation of the NKVD|Latvians]], [[Finnish Operation of the NKVD|Finns]], [[Greek Operation|Greeks]], [[Deportation of Koreans in the Soviet Union|Koreans]], and [[Soviet deportations of Chinese people|Chinese]] — through internal or external exile.{{Sfnm|1a1=Montefiore|1y=2003|1p=204|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2pp=351, 390|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=151}} More than 1.6 million people were arrested, 700,000 shot, and an unknown number died under torture.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=151}} The NKVD also assassinated defectors and opponents abroad;{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=394}} in August 1940, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico, eliminating Stalin's last major opponent.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=230|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=394|3a1=Overy|3y=2004|3p=338|4a1=Khlevniuk|4y=2015|4p=174}}

Stalin initiated all key decisions during the purge, and personally directed many operations.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=151, 159}} Historians debate his motives,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=151}} noting his personal writings from the period were "unusually convoluted and incoherent", filled with claims about enemies encircling him.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=152}} He feared a domestic [[fifth column]] in the event of war with Japan and Germany,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|pp=153, 156–157}} particularly after right-wing forces overthrew the leftist Spanish government.{{Sfnm|1a1=Service|1y=2004|1pp=347–248|2a1=Khlevniuk|2y=2015|2pp=125, 156–157}} The Great Purge ended when Yezhov was replaced by [[Lavrentiy Beria]],{{Sfn|Service|2004|p=367}} a fellow Georgian completely loyal to Stalin.{{Sfn|Montefiore|2003|p=245}} Yezhov himself was arrested in April 1939 and executed in 1940.{{Sfnm|1a1=Conquest|1y=1991|1p=209|2a1=Service|2y=2004|2p=369|3a1=Khlevniuk|3y=2015|3p=160}} The purge damaged the Soviet Union's reputation abroad, particularly among leftist sympathisers.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=162}} As it wound down, Stalin sought to deflect his responsibility,{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=157}} blaming its "excesses" and "violations of law" on Yezhov.{{Sfn|Khlevniuk|2015|p=159}}