do you get money for writing reviews on amazon
|
base
adulation of the leader and enforced ideological conformity were
inseparable from the atmosphere of fear and intimidation fanned
deliberately beginning in 1928. in march 1928, fifty-five engineers
and administrators of the town of shakhty in the coal-mining region
of donbass were arrested on charges of sabotage, allegedly sponsored
from abroad. they were accused of trying to disrupt the operation of
the coal industry and cause workers?unrest. at the public show
trial that followed many of the defendants were made to confess
their alleged crimes. eleven death sentences were served, five of
which were carried out. the rest of the alleged saboteurs received
long prison sentences. the shakhty affair set a precedent and a
pattern for future demonstrative denunciations and show trials. |
 |
it
has now been established beyond doubt that the whole affair was
fabricated by stalin抯 secret police. most probably, stalin used it
to infuse the political life with elements of social confrontation
to drum up support for his radical economic measures. the trial
enabled him to discredit bukharin抯 plan of class cooperation and
counter it with the diametrically opposite idea of the
intensification of class struggle. stalin claimed that resistance of
the enemies of the soviet power would only intensify with the
country抯 advance toward socialism. the population should be
constantly vigilant against concealed wreckers and saboteurs, whose
activities were allegedly directed by the capitalist west.
|
from
1928 on official propaganda spared no efforts in driving home the
perverted logic of the 搃ntensification of class struggle? as
socialism is getting stronger, its enemies do not wish to surrender.
instead, they strive to unite and put up growing resistance; they
are like mortally wounded animals, which are especially dangerous.
but equally dangerous are all those who do not appreciate the new
policies or dread them; all those who lack faith and spread panic
should be dealt a shattering blow, regardless of the posts they
occupy.
stalin抯 ominous theory prepared the population psychologically for
the moment when he would point his accusing finger at leaders who
strayed from 搕he party line?and thereby obstructed the nation抯
progress toward the shining goal of socialism. it enabled the regime
to maintain constant ideological tension in society. the tiniest
shades of dissidence, diverging views, and independent opinions were
relentlessly smashed.
from
1928 until the end of stalin抯 period in power, stage-managed
witch-hunts and show trials against alleged 揺nemies of the people,?
fabricated jointly by the secret police (known by the russian
acronyms ogpu and, from 1934, nkvd) and judicial bodies, practically
never ceased. these horrendous activities were designed to maintain
the 揺nemy image,?which lay at the heart of the system of
ideological terror and intimidation used to enforce complete
ideological conformity of soviet society.
