Civil and Political Life
in Russia during the Days of Terror
(1930-1937)

 
A historical overview of the political and civilian events
between 1930 and 1937.
 

This section will give a brief history of the civil and political events that took place throughout the USSR as Stalin took complete control of the nation.  It was the age of famine, the show trial, and the Purges.  Joseph Stalin himself will also be profiled at a later time.

Political & Civil Events Historical Index
  

 
Statistics of Stalin's Russia
1930-1937
 

Russian Leaders
(1930-1937)
1924-1953 Joseph Stalin

 

 

 

Timeline 1930-1937

 

1930

 

 16th Party Congress is held.

2 March

 Stalin's "Dizzy with Success" speech is published in Pravda.  In it he tries to blame the problems of his collectivist policies on 'overzealous' local officials.

1931
17 March Lenin's widow, Nadezda Krupskaya, is removed from the Central Committee by Stalin.

1932
    The Ukrainian Famine occurs and lasts into the following year.
The Russian Association of Proletarian Writers is dissolved.
21 January

Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev returns to the Soviet Union after spending many years in the United States and France.

The Non-Aggression Pact with Finland is signed.

The Soviet art style of "socialist realism" is made the official Soviet form of art.  It used realistic techniques to express life as it supposedly was or would how it would ideally be under socialism

July Poland signs a Non-Aggression Pact with the Soviet Union.
9 August The instruments of ratification of the Russo-Finn non-aggression treaty were exchanged at Moscow.
10 October The Dniepr River Dam was completed and began operations.  At the time it was the world's largest.  It was destroyed during the Great Patriotic war, but later rebuilt.
November A non-aggression pact is signed between the French and the Soviets.  Franco-Soviet relations then begin to dramatically improve.

1933

 

 Ivan Bunin wins the Soviet Union's first Nobel Prize in literature for "the strict artistry with which he has carried on the classical Russian traditions in prose writing"

18 July

Yevgeny Yevtushenko, a leader of the younger post-Stalin generation of Russian poets, was born.

16 November

The Soviet Union is recognized by the United States.

21 November

The first U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, William Christian Bullitt, begins his service.

1934

 

 

 17th Party Congress is held.
Birobidzhan becomes autonomous Jewish state within the USSR.

First Congress of Russian Writers is held.

September

 The Soviet Union is admitted into the League of Nations.
15 November The first television program with sound is aired in the USSR.
1 December Sergei Kirov is murdered in Leningrad by Leonid Nicholaev.  The murder was planned by the NKVD and provided the excuse for a wave of purges.

1935
  The collective farm statute is passed.
The 'Stakhanovism' campaign begins.  It celebrated the efforts of the ordinary worker and allowed a hard worker to become a celebrity for a short time.
2 May France signs alliance with the Soviet Union.  This was done to deter Hitler from using military force in Europe, but only if France acted against Germany first would Russia intervene.
May Czechoslovakia signs alliance with Soviet Union.

1936

 

 18 June Maxim Gorky dies at age 68.

The Soviet Constitution of 1936 (also known as the 'Stalin constitution') is announced.
Another round of show trials begin.  Zinoviev and Kamenev are among the first victims.
July Spanish Civil War begins.  Soviet government supports Republican forces while Germany and Italy support the Nationalist forces.

1937
The show trials continue with Radek and Yezov becoming two of the more prominent victims.
Stalin's purge of the Soviet officer corps begins.  Many Red Army commanders are arrested and executed.

 

 

Statistics of the Russia during the 1930's
(1930-1937)

• Coming Soon!!

Civilian Items from the 
Years of 1930-1937

Earlier Political Events

Return to the
History of 1930-1937

Later Political Events