"A grand bloodbath" : the western reaction to Joseph Stalin's 1930s show trials as foreign policy
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Jeffrey L Achterhof (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
- Advisor
- Susan McCaffray
Abstract: Joseph Stalin’s show trials, held in Moscow in the 1930s, are generally regarded by many
historians primarily as a domestic policy move designed to remove opposition. This is not the
entire picture. The trials need to be examined as part of a foreign policy maneuver designed by
Stalin as a reaction to other world events occurring at the time, including the Great Depression,
the Spanish Civil War, the rise of fascism in Germany and Italy, and the threat of an increasingly
militaristic Japan.
In analyzing the reactions of the West, including sources such as journalists and
ambassadors, the individual trials of 1936, 1937, and 1938 can be more easily seen as part of
Soviet foreign policy. However, the increasing criticism and lack of support from the West
ultimately led to a failure in foreign policy on the part of Joseph Stalin.
"A grand bloodbath" : the western reaction to Joseph Stalin's 1930s show trials as foreign policy
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Created on 1/1/2009
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Masters of Arts
- Language: English
- Date: 2009
- Keywords
- Stalin Joseph 1879-1953, Terrorism--Soviet Union, Soviet Union--Politics and government--1917-1936, Trials (Political crimes and offenses)--Europe Eastern
- Subjects
- Stalin, Joseph, 1879-1953
- Terrorism -- Soviet Union
- Soviet Union -- Politics and government -- 1917-1936
- Trials (Political crimes and offenses) -- Europe, Eastern