The Great Terror 1936–1938: Purges, Show Trials and the NKVD

What this note covers

1. Historical Context: The Soviet State on the Eve of the Terror
2. The Moscow Show Trials 1936–1938: Procedure, Confessions and Purpose
3. The Purge of the Red Army: Military Decapitation 1937–1938
4. The NKVD and the Mass Operations: Order No. 00447 and the National Operations
5. Historiographical Debate: Conquest, Khlevniuk, and Competing Interpretations
6. Stalin's Motivations: An Analytical Assessment
7. HSC Examination Skills: Source Analysis and Extended Response Strategies

7 sections · 14 key terms & formulas · 6 common mistakes