1 déc. 1934 - Sergey Kirov Dies

Description:

On December 1, 1934, Sergey Kirov was murdered on the orders of Stalin. Kirov was a member of the ruling elite (as a member of the Leningrad party) and he held popularity among the people of Russia and there was even talk about him becoming general secretary. Stalin wanted anyone who held any kind of power eradicated because anyone who had any intellectual ability was immediately labeled as a threat. This assassination sparked the chain of events known as the Great Terror of the 1930s--millions of innocent people were arrested under the impression that they had something to do with Kirov's murder, when, in reality, it had been Stalin who had planned the crime. This great purge of people ended up hurting the Russians' army immensely: now, Stalin had killed many competent officers and others who were a keystone in the army, leaving only imbeciles with only an army uniform as any redeeming quality.