Stalin and The Betrayal of Leningrad part 5/5

Part 5/5

Stalin was always suspicious of Russia's former capital. Its huge cultural, scientific and economic importance, its historical role as the cradle of the 1917 Revolution, its pre-eminent position in the history of the Russian intelligentsia - all produced a dangerous spirit of independence when viewed from the Kremlin.

From 1918 to 1926, moreover, it was the power base of Grigorii Zinoviev, one of Stalin's main rivals to succeed Lenin.

After Zinoviev's downfall Stalin installed Sergei Kirov as first secretary of the Leningrad party, and Trotsky's and Zinoviev's followers were ruthlessly purged. Though a loyal Stalinist, Kirov may well also, in turn, have come to be seen as a threat.

A popular figure and - unlike Stalin - a Russian, by the early 1930s he was certainly seen by some in the Party as preferable to Stalin as leader. His assassination in December 1934 has often been attributed to Stalin, though official investigations under Khrushchev, Gorbachev and Yeltsin failed to unearth conclusive evidence of this.

What is certain is that Stalin seized the opportunity presented by Kirov's death to purge Leningrad of former oppositionists and members of the old ruling and professional classes - and also to appoint one of the rising generation of Stalinist cadres, Andrei Zhdanov, as ruler of the USSR's second city.

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• leningrad
• lenin
• Joseph
• Stalin
• communist
• crimes
• USSR
• soviet
• genocide
• ww2
• history
• totalitarianism
• great
• purge

[SirHappyThe1st]

Very enlightening. Thanks for the upload.

[genrail1]

And so the batiushka tsar was replaced by Ulyanov, Bronstein, Djugashvili, Scriabin and Dzhezhinsky and turned the country into hell.. It would have been so much easier to reform the imperial govt. but Ulyanov knew better...

[Friendlykiller2]

@uspimpclub it is because sometimes people like Stalin and Hitler become overcome with power and they think they can do anything they want and not care .

[talitakoomi]

@Mycterizian My friend, I hate to agree with you, but you are right. We are set up for the fall in MANY areas-economically,governmenta­lly, socially, morally,physically. Never b4 have SO many been SO dependent on others, corporations/gov, for life's basics. If the trucks stopped deliv. food- we'd be in big trouble; having a garden is a novelty! Or if electricity was cut to a large area for even a week,EVERYTHING would grind to a halt. We've gone from independent>depend.in 1 generation. Scary.

[Mycterizian]

@talitakoomi I hate to say it but the 21st century will be worse by a 100x.

[uspimpclub]

how could human beings be so cruel

[funufana]

we the human race are something i allways wonder what else its just beyond my mind and i will never understand why and so we allways ask why with no clear answer to it

[talitakoomi]

Stalin was truly one of the most evil men to have ever polluted the Earth by his very existence. It is amazing and alarming to realize how many horrible, sociopathic, faithless men came to power in the 20th century. The world has always had wicked rulers- some who are notorious for the carnage they caused, but never SO MANY who brought the destruction of millions within the same 60-70 years! All over the world! Stalin and Hitler were but 2 of the many. I hope the 21st century isn't a repeat.

[alanheath]

@genrail1 You seem to be overlooking the minor fact that the imperial government did not want to be reformed.

[Ryyyyde]

Germany won the war.

[TimJamesSaunders]

And the lamest comment of the year goes too...