The Crisis of 1932

• In 1932, axes, saws, and hammers were used in freezing temperatures, resulting in 25,000 deaths out of 100,000 prisoners who were employed for this task.
• Stalin opened a shipping canal in 1933 with publicity, but at 12 feet deep, it was useless for bigger ships.

The Crisis of 1932

• In November 1932, Stalin's wife, Nadezhda, committed suicide after leaving a note criticizing Stalin's policies and sympathizing with his political enemies.
• Orlando Figes says this event "unhinged" Stalin, leading him to believe that even close allies could betray him.
• The reported cause of Nadezhda's suicide was appendicitis.
• There were worker strikes in industrial towns in 1932, driven by economic factors and criticisms of Stalin's leadership.
• Nikolai Bukharin, Stalin's old opponent, was re-elected to the Central Committee in June 1930.
• Some of those who formally backed Stalin against Bukharin were expelled for criticizing collectivization.
• Two opposition groups emerged within the Party elite in 1932.
• An informal group of old Bolsheviks, including Leonid Smirnov, was discovered holding meetings to discuss Stalin's removal and were arrested by the OGPU, Smirnov was expelled from the Party.
• Martemyan Ryutin led another group. Ryutin was a former Moscow Party Secretary and a 'rightist'.
• Their criticisms were known as the 'Ryutin Platform', they sent signed 'appeals' urging for Stalin's removal.
• Ryutin and his circle were arrested, and Stalin wanted their execution, but the Politburo overruled him, specifically Sergei Kirov.
• Twenty-four members were expelled from the Party and exiled from Moscow, due to the Ryutin affair.
• "Old Bolsheviks", including Zinoviev and Kamenev, were also expelled simply for knowing about the group without reporting it to the police.
• Ryutin was sentenced to ten years in prison.
• Ryutin was shot in 1937 on Stalin's orders.
• In April 1933, Stalin announced a general purge of the Party, branding over 18% of the Party membership as 'Ryutinites' over the next two years.
• Many purged members were new Party members whose loyalty Stalin felt unsure of and considered them 'careerists'.

The Kirov Affair, 1934

• In elections to the Central Committee, Stalin received about 150 negative votes (only three were officially recorded).
• A split emerged between those wanting to maintain industrialization and those wanting to stop grain seizures and increase workers' rations.
• Kirov spoke about stopping grain seizures and increasing workers' rations.
• Only Vyacheslav Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich of the Politburo firmly supported Stalin.
• At the 17th Party Congress, the title of 'General Secretary' was considered for abolishment.
• Stalin, Kirov, Zhdanov, and Kaganovich all had the title 'Secretary of Equal Rank'.

Key People

• Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (1893-1991) had been a Bolshevik since 1911.
• From 1924, he was responsible for patronage and helped Stalin defeat his rivals.
• By 1930, he was a full member of the Politburo.
• He supported collectivization and brought the Moscow regional Party under Stalin's control (1930-35).
• Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890-1986) joined the Bolsheviks in 1906 and became secretary of the Central Committee in 1921.
• Molotov supported Stalin and was promoted to the Politburo in 1926.
• He purged anti-Stalin members in the Moscow Party Committee in 1928-30.
• He was chairman of the Council of People's Commissars until 1941.
• Molotov replaced Litvinov as the Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs in May 1939 and negotiated the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August.

Kirov's Murder

• Kirov was murdered in December 1934, under suspicious circumstances.
• Stalin was quick to claim the murder was part of a Trotskyite conspiracy led by Zinovievites to overthrow the Party.
• A decree was published a day after the assassination, granting Yagoda, head of the NKVD, the power to arrest and execute anyone found guilty of 'terrorist plotting'.
• About 6500 people were arrested in December under this law.
• Kirov was shot in the neck by Leonid Nikolayev in the Leningrad Party headquarters on December 1, 1934.
• Nikolayev was a disgruntled Party member who was once expelled, but reinstated.
• He suggested the NKVD knew about the murder, when questioned.
• Kirov's bodyguard and some NKVD men were killed in a car accident.
• Other NKVD men were sentenced for failure to protect Kirov.

In 1932, forced labor resulted in many deaths. Stalin's wife committed suicide, which affected him deeply. Worker strikes occurred, and opposition groups emerged within the Party.