Who attempted to assassinate Stalin in 1937, and whether this event became the cause of mass repressions

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The repressions, which went down in history as "mass terror", reached a culmination and moved to a new exorbitant level after the execution of eight leaders - the top of the country's military command. Not just the leaders of military districts and directorates, but those who went through the civil war, revolutionaries with colossal combat experience, and all this on the eve of World War II. Despite the enormous historical and political role of this event, it went down in history as the most cruel milestone of repression. So what made Stalin so angry and why did he begin to destroy those with whom he made the revolution and built socialism yesterday?

Even against the background of other repressions already going against church leaders, peasants and intellectuals, this case stands apart. Recognition that the top military leadership of the state is "enemies of the people" is, in fact, the destruction of statehood. If the accusations were false, and the military leadership was shot, then the question also arises, what kind of state was it in which this was possible? In any event, such a decision must have been based on good reason.

After, after the well-known 20th Party Congress, it became necessary to explain Stalin's motives for the massive repressions of the military (primarily for their rehabilitation), the version about the involvement of the Germans in the assassination attempt began to spread widely. Allegedly, Stalin was misled by planting false documents from abroad, which testified to the cooperation of the military elite of the Union with Germany. However, such a version begins to burst at the seams at the slightest detailed study, therefore it is impossible to exclude the likelihood that Stalin did not in vain in this way with the country's military elite.

The assassination attempt on Stalin on Red Square

Despite the fact that there was no such attempt on his life, one of the versions in the Tukhachevsky case looks very plausible, albeit creepy. They were supposed to shoot at the leader right in front of the crowd, at a holiday, and even on Red Square. The troops were already in formation, there were minutes before the start of the parade, the leaders went to their places near the Mausoleum. Their path led past the military leaders lined up right there. The men greeted each other by the hand. Tukhachevsky held out his hand to greet Stalin, but he defiantly did not shake it. Everyone was noticeably nervous, but Stalin remained deliberately calm.

Those present were already aware that there would be shooting at the Mausoleum, as a result of which the leader would be killed. At least, it was just such a rumor that went through the stands, everyone had literally cold blood in their veins. The spectators did not take their eyes off Stalin, the same one remained silent and calm. Tukhachevsky was on the podium, and he kept his hands in his pockets, next to him were two military leaders, literally blocking him.

May Day holidays were one of the rare events for which Stalin went out to the people. The level of training of the secret services for this event exceeded all modern standards. Long before May Day, the services began preventive work to identify, open and prevent everything that was possible.

The opposition planned to carry out a military coup on May 1, 1937, all forces were thrown at this, and Tukhachevsky himself was supposed to make an attempt on his life. Supposedly that is why he kept his hands in his pockets - they had a pistol in them. However, the assassination attempt fell through due to the fact that there was a leak of information and the special services were ready.

Multivolume cases with blood drops

Despite the fact that there are more than 20 volumes in this case, there is no other evidence other than the confessions of the accused themselves. But on the "grateful" sheets there are brown spots of old blood. Later it was determined that the style of presentation indicates that the confessions were written under dictation, there are numerous errors of a factual nature, which, however, would not have been made by a person working for the German state.

An examination of the handwriting was also carried out, the experts came to the conclusion that all the writers were in a state of stress, in some places the handwriting was clearly distorted, as if they were writing with someone else's hand forcibly. Experts came to approximately the same conclusion after analyzing Tukhachevsky's handwriting. It was concluded that the marshal wrote in a state of great excitement or under the influence of strong drugs.

He signed the confession documents after the "conveyor" - a special method of interrogation, which was invented by the NKVD. Its essence was that the interrogation was conducted without a break for sleep and rest, and the investigators replaced each other, repeating the same questions in a circle. Usually such a conveyor lasted several days in a row. Marshal Tukhachevsky was accused of being in contact with the commanders-in-chief of the German army. Of course, he was familiar with them and communicated at least in view of the fact that it was part of his official duties.

Stalin monitored the progress of the investigation and gave orders, then he worried about the formation of a certain public opinion about the convicts. Another dictator, Hitler, closely followed the progress of the case. Rumor has it that Hitler laughed to tears when he learned that Stalin had destroyed his military commander-in-chief and concluded that now Germany must be ready. Archival data has been preserved - the correspondence of German generals, in which they express their delight over what happened and express confidence that the decapitated Red Army does not pose a danger.

Decapitate and demoralize

It was these goals that were achieved in the country of the Soviets, getting rid of the military elite. But the repression in the army did not end there, the purges of the entire staff began. Moreover, if in 1937 it was mainly the highest ranks who were repressed, then the next year all the ranks were purged. In total, about forty thousand soldiers in various ranks were sent to the camps (including shot).

The servicemen in such an environment felt monstrous, the number of suicides increased. It was not clear who to obey and what to do, because tomorrow it could be that your commander is an enemy of the people. Over the years, all district commanders, their deputies, chiefs of staff, most of the commanders of corps, divisions, regiments, battalions and divisions have been replaced.

This could not but affect the level of training of military personnel. By the 40th year, out of 200 people, only 20 graduated from military schools, the rest had only courses for junior lieutenants behind them. Historians have calculated that the losses of personnel over these years exceeded the losses during the years of the Great Patriotic War.

After the reprisal against the marshal, all projects that he headed, including the development of new weapons and equipment, were curtailed. Scientists working in this field went to the camps, because of this, the "Katyusha" appeared not in 1939, but at the beginning of the war.

Was there at least some logical rationale in the actions of Stalin, who deliberately and cold-bloodedly destroyed the country's military elite, leaving the country virtually defenseless in the face of an external enemy? He saw danger in anyone who showed dissent, and if he also had combat experience and wielded weapons, then even more so.

What was Tukhachevsky's fault? He, like many of his high-ranking colleagues, could afford to criticize the military sphere, if only because he was well versed in this and had a great influence. Rather, it was a vocalization of problems for their further solution, rather than empty criticism. Alas, in the Union it was not customary to think outside the box, even for the common good.

Repressed - to rehabilitate, documents - to burn

Considering that we are talking about events that are not so distant, it is surprising that historians cannot come to a consensus on this issue: was Tukhachevsky to blame or not? After Khrushchev, in his fiery speech, accused Stalin of repression and terror, it was profitable for the state to present the repressed in a more favorable light, removing all charges against them. This would make Stalin even more guilty.

Along with the rehabilitation process, the archives were cleaned up, allegedly these two activities carried a single idea - “life from a clean face” for yesterday's prisoners. However, Khrushchev had his own views on this large-scale action. Many exiled and execution documents bore his signatures, and it was extremely beneficial for him that there were as few such papers as possible. During the same period, many materials from the Tukhachevsky case were destroyed. There are only some interrogation protocols, the criminal case itself.

But in 1957, many documents were fabricated for the rehabilitation of the marshal, as opposed to the events of 1937. Therefore, now it is not an easy task to figure out what and when was written, planted or faked.

Tukhachevsky was actually an ambiguous person and a very noticeable figure. He is notable at least for the fact that since the 1920s (previously it was simply unknown) he was the only military leader to whom Stalin apologized, and in writing. And the thing was this. Tukhachevsky was the first to talk about the need for high technical equipment of the Soviet army, founded the theory of offensive operations, and of such a level that no country in the world could afford this. All the more so the Soviet Union, which has not yet moved away from previous events. The peasantry has not yet said goodbye to bast shoes, but now they are proposing to build tanks!

Stalin considered such aspirations to be an attempt to build militarism, but literally several years passed and Stalin, under the onslaught of external military danger, changed his point of view. Here he needed the ideas of Tukhachevsky, and he himself. He was transferred to Moscow.

Tukhachevsky: traitor or hero

Contemporaries most of all in the case of Tukhachevsky are struck by the swiftness. Less than a month passed from arrest to execution, or to be more precise, three weeks. No other military leader was parted so quickly. In addition, despite the "conveyor" interrogation system, the marshal surrendered almost immediately, even the civilians held out for weeks, and here is a high-ranking military leader.

More or less objectively, the marshal began to be treated only after the collapse of the Union. After all, initially, history, like a pendulum, reeled from love to the marshal to fierce hatred. Contemporaries remembered that during the suppression of the uprisings they used chemical weapons against the peasants, so perhaps the accusations of an attempted military coup are not groundless?

He made a brilliant military career, was deputy people's commissar for naval and military issues, it is noteworthy that he constantly clashed with Voroshilov, who was considered Stalin's close friend. However, their conflict was not personal; they had different views on military policy and defense scheme.

Thanks to Khrushchev's policy, Tukhachevsky was considered a progressive military leader, whose contribution to the country's military power can hardly be overestimated. However, contemporaries are inclined to believe that the theory of the red Bonaparte (it was this nickname that stuck to him) consisted in the systematization of obvious thoughts and theories, the only difference was that Tukhachevsky presented all this under the sauce of political propaganda.

Although in fairness, it is worth noting that the marshal was inclined to support progressive scientific developments in the military sphere. Although, at the same time, he also had enough ideas that can hardly be called wealthy. For example, he offered to produce at least 50 thousand tanks a year, if the country's leadership agreed to such a step, then all resources would be spent on equipment that would be outdated by the 30s.

Tukhachevsky initiated a project to create a long-range cannon, while simultaneously shooting down both aircraft and tanks. The project was curtailed, and such a weapon did not appear in any army in the world, apparently because this, in principle, is impossible.

And there are more than enough such examples in the work of the marshal.

The head of the NKVD Nikolai Yezhov tried to fabricate the Tukhachevsky case, for which he had his own motives and unrealized ambitions. However, the name of the marshal now and then surfaced in conspiracies both in the USSR itself and abroad, starting from the 30s. In addition, many opponents of the Bolsheviks were well aware of his ambitions and desire for a complete dictatorship.

Initially, this did not affect Tukhachevsky in any way. But by the mid-30s, the military gathered around him, dissatisfied with Voroshilov. They supported Tukhachevsky as a candidate for the post of People's Commissar. In 1936, a revolution started by the general took place in Spain. Stalin, accustomed to calculating everything several steps ahead, quickly drew conclusions and identified the source of the danger right under his nose. The marshal was taken under special control by the special services. And then it’s a matter of technology - there would be a man, but there would be an article.

First, he was removed from the post of deputy people's commissar and transferred to the Volga Federal District, and then he was arrested. The haste with which they dealt with the military leader is explained by the fact that the Soviet leadership was afraid of a military action by his supporters and an attempt to seize power. It is not known whether Tukhachevsky planned a seizure of power and a military coup. After all, no one gave him to bring his conceived to practice (even if it was conceived).

Once he had already surrendered to the Germans, this time he did not deny his guilt before the Chekists. In the first case, he counted on a pardon and received it. He did not hide the fact that he did not go to war to fight for Russia, but to make a brilliant military career. Therefore, he voluntarily laid down his arms, surrendering to the enemy. But this number did not work with the NKVD officers.

All those who were charged in the Tukhachevsky case were posthumously rehabilitated or released. Whether they were guilty or not is unknown, history sometimes gives more questions than answers.