The main explanation of the purges was mainly because of Stalin's personal beliefs. He used the purges to get rid of any opposition or any person who had the potential to oppose him. The purges aim was to terrify anyone who was thinking of disagreeing with Stalin and any of his policies. Stalin's need for absolute power led him to ruthlessly take the lives of anyone who seemed to go against his ruling. The wave of Terror also gave Stalin the opportunity to remove the 'old' members of the Bolshevik party who had individual beliefs and who owed nothing to Stalin, and replace them with loyal and obedient followers of whom would never dare question any of Stalin's policies.
A further explanation of why the Purges began in 1934 is because of the war scare. The reason for the wave of terror may not have been just to boost Stalin's personal power within the Soviet Union, but may have had a genuine reason to protect the revolution. With the increasing threat coming form Germany, a genuine fear was placed within the Party about the loyalty of certain members, so Stalin thought it necessary to remove these members who had the potential of becoming spies for the opposition or criticising Stalin's handle on foreign policy or conduct of war. By removing potential rivals of the Communist Party, it gave Stalin a sense of comfort in knowing that they would not be present to potentially destroy the Communist Policy that the Bolsheviks had worked so hard to achieve during the revolution.
Stalin had made sure that every social class in society had been thoroughly 'cleansed' of any person who had the potential of becoming a rival to Stalin. So, there were specific reasons for why each of the social classes was purged. During 1935 and 1936, Stalin purged the Left Opposition. These were the people who called for 'permanent revolution' in the 1920s and this went against Stalin's policy of 'Socialism in One Country'. The Left Opposition was therefore accused of working for Trotsky to undermine the state. They even confessed to these unrealistic and barbaric 'crimes' although the sole reason for this was because of harsh pressure from the NKVD. Another group of victims of the Purges were the Party Officials who were accused of working for Trotsky and foreign Government's to undermine the Soviet economy. The Right Opposition was also purged. This group was accused of wanting to keep the NEP and for criticising Stalin’s Five-Year Plans and rapid industrialisation. Bukharin and Rykov were in the Right Opposition and so fell victim to Stalin’s purges.
The Red Army were also victims of the purges because of being accused of criticising Stalin’s policy of collectivisation and also, the growth of the army’s importance and increase in defence resources posed a threat to Stalin, so the power of the army had to be cut down through the purges. The secret police, the NKVD, were even purged to make sure that even they posed no threat to Stalin. Class enemies like the Kulak’s and spies were also purged due to having capitalist-like tendencies and going against the Communist policy which shows that all people are equal.
In conclusion, there were many reasons as to why, in 1934, a climate or terror, known as the purges, began in the USSR. Some of these reasons were to enhance Stalin’s power within the Soviet Union; other reasons were to do with removing specific social groups within society for different reasons. All of these reasons, however, contribute to the why the USSR was faced with a climate of Terror during the 1930s.
