The Procès of Moscow are a series of spectacular faked Procès, organized by Joseph Stalin, to politically eliminate (and for the majority physically) the veterans Bolchevik S from the Russian Révolution, who had concluded the creation of the Soviet Union in company of Lénine.

They were held of 1936 with 1938.

The objective

The Lawsuits of Moscow fall under the line of the Grandes purgings of the Années 1930. In April 1933, the Central committee issues a purification campaign of PCUS. The lawsuits touch initially the first Bolsheviks, those which enjoy a strong popularity within the population.

To eliminate them, one should not for Stalin simply send them in a Gulag, or carry out them: they should be discredited within the population.

Thus files of charges will be created of all parts by NKVD (the political police). Bolsheviks of the first hour will be accused of high treason, sabotages, assassinations and other crimes of the same kind.

Lawsuits

There were four key lawsuits carried out by the public prosecutor Andrei Ianourievitch Vychinsky:

• that of the 16 (August 1936)

• that of the 17 (January 1937)
• of the generals of the Red Army (June 1937)
• that with the 21 (March 1938)

The characteristic of these lawsuit is the complete absence of lawyer and very often the consents of the defendants were obtained after several weeks of Torture and threats on their families.

With regard to the public opinion, it was prepared by the newspapers with the treason of the old guard Bolshevik. Thus the writers received orders to show worse crimes the future defendants.

The Lawsuit of the 16

The lawsuit known as of the terrorist Center trotskyste-zinovievist proceeded in Moscow of the August 19th to the August 24th 1936.

Here the complete listing of the marked ones:

The charges go from Terrorisme, with the assassination of Kirov, while passing by the sabotage and the preparation of assassination of several high ranking officials of the Soviet government like Stalin.

The verdict is the death sentence for all. Condemned are carried out in the twenty-four hours.

The lawsuit of the 17

A second lawsuit, known as of the anti-Soviet Center trotskyste of reserve , opens on January 23rd 1937, this time, 17 people, mainly of the economic high ranking officials, will be marked: The defendant-high-speed motorboat is Gueorgui Piatakov.

The charges are almost the same ones as for the preceding lawsuit. Are added to it the contacts with foreign countries and the membership to the secret services German (Nazi) or Czechoslovakian. The prosecutor is always Vychinsky. Except for Sokolnikov, Radek, Arnold and Sroilov (judgment from 8 to 10 years of camp), the others all will be condemned to died on January 30th 1937 and will be carried out the next day.

The lawsuit of the generals red

A third lawsuit opens in June 1937, but this time it exclusively aims the highest generals of the Red Army . This lawsuit will be secret and proceeds as a military tribunal. Among the defendants it there a:

They are shown of conspiracy anticommunist and will be condemned to death. They are carried out the June 11th 1937.

The lawsuit of the 21

This lawsuit, known as of the Block of the droitiers and the anti-Soviet trotskystes proceeds from March 2nd to 13rd 1938. The principal defendants are:

In the same vein that the preceding lawsuits, they were shown of plot aiming at assassinating Stalin, conspiracy to destroy the economy and the military power of the country, to work with the services of espionage of the Germany, the France, the Japan or of the the United Kingdom. Secret agreements also aurraient concluded with Germany and Japan.

All passed to the consents, except for Krestinsky, but which it next day acknowledged all the counts of indictment. Except for Pletnev (25 years), Rakovsky (20 years) and Bessono (15 years), all the defendants are condemned to death.

" the verdict of the Court was accommodated, titrated the Pravda of March 13rd, by many popular demonstrations of joy. " Nicolas Werth, the lawsuits of Moscow , Éditions Complexes p. 42

The execution of Genrikh Iagoda, which was with the head of NKVD during the first moments of the Grande Purging, did not really mark the end of this period of terror. It decreased notably with the bursting of the “Patriotic Great War” against the Nazi Germany, but it is truly with the death of Stalin, in 1953, that the things started to change.

The result as of these lawsuits

With final, all the members of the Politburo of the time of Lénine were judged, except for Stalin, Mikhaïl Kalinine and Viatcheslav Molotov. Stalin stopped or carried out the majority of the Bolsheviks of the Russian Révolution of 1917. On 1966 delegated Congresses of 1934, 1108 are stopped. On the 139 members of the Central committee, 98 are stopped. Three fifth of the Soviet marshals and a third of the officers of the Red Army were stopped ou/et shot. Apart from the political prisoners, several million others died during the purgings.

The principal defendant, Leon Trotsky, (expelled of the USSR in January 1929) succeeded in escaping the lawsuits while leaving in exile. But it was found with the Mexico by Ramón Mercader, an agent of the NKVD which carried out it on July 20th 1940 on the order of Stalin.

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