The Great Purge: Stalin’s Reign of Terror (1936–1938) | The Machinery of Fear

The Great Purge: Stalin’s Reign of Terror (1936–1938) | The Machinery of Fear

Between 1936 and 1938, the Soviet Union witnessed one of the most harrowing state-led terror campaigns in modern history: The Great Purge, also known as The Great Terror or Yezhovshchina. Under Joseph Stalin’s totalitarian rule, the Purge swept across all levels of Soviet society, targeting Communist Party officials, Red Army generals, ethnic minorities, intellectuals, artists, and innocent civilians.

This documentary delves into the origins, execution, and legacy of the Purge—revealing how ideology, paranoia, and bureaucracy merged to form a deadly system of repression. From Stalin’s power struggle with Leon Trotsky to the brutal role of the NKVD and the mass executions under Order No. 00447, we uncover how the Soviet state institutionalized fear and dismantled the very revolution it claimed to uphold.

Through in-depth historical analysis, this video argues that the Purge was not a reaction to threats—but a deliberate campaign of state violence aimed at consolidating absolute control. Discover how the destruction of the military, the silencing of the intelligentsia, and the erosion of social trust marked a political and moral catastrophe with consequences still relevant today.

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#Stalin #GreatPurge #SovietHistory #Totalitarianism #HistoryDocumentary