The Road To Terror: Twenty-One Book Report

Sources of History Assignment 1
The topic I have chosen to discuss is the third of the Moscow show trails in 1938, also known as the Trial of Twenty-One. I have chosen this topic because I found the sheer corruption and fraud within the court due to Stalin’s paranoia to be extremely interesting. For example Stalin wiped out every member of Lenin’s politburo during the Moscow Trials and reportedly observed the Trial of Twenty-One for a secret chamber within the courtroom. Stalin is intriguing considering most of his crimes were unavailable and hidden for the west for most of the twentieth-century.
What I would like to focus on is key defendant Nikolai Bukharin also known as the ‘star’ defendant. He was the most high profile victim of Stalin’s
purges. Even after confessing his love and loyalty for Joseph Stalin in a letter while in prison in March 1938 he was still executed.
The first of my secondary sources is a book called The Great Terror (The Great Terror: Stalin’s Purge of the Thirties) by British novelist Robert Conquest first published in 1968.
However the book I used is called The Great Terror: A Reassessment which is a revised version of the original which was published in 1990. This book was published by Oxford University Press and was one of the first books published by a western writer discussing the Great Purge. Another book which I bought on eBay is called The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939. This is a book by John Arch Getty and Oleg V. Naumov and was published by Yale University Press in 1999. Although yet to look at the book, Getty is an American Historian known for his research on Stalin and Soviet Russian history. My third secondary source is a document I found online on the Marxists Internet Archive (marxists.org) and is titled The Trial of Twenty-One. This document is based on the Trial of Twenty-One and is from New International, Volume IV, Number 4, April 1938, from Tamiment Library microfilm archives. It is transcribed and marked-up by Andrew Pollack. My fourth and final source is a novel by Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler. Although this novel is fictional it gives an account of an Old Bolshevik who is arrested and put on trial for treason by a government which he helped create. It is based on Nikolai Bukharin. This novel was first published in
1940.
The Great Terror questioned why communist leaders such as Bukharin, Rykov and Yagoda had pleaded guilty and signed confessions to the crimes they were being accused of committing. Conquest argued that Stalinism was the result of a regime set in place by his predecessor Lenin. However he did state that that it was Stalin’s personality and traits that brought about the catastrophe that was the Moscow Trials. In the book he also criticised the West for turning a blind eye towards the reality of what was actually happening in Soviet Russia at this time. Similarly the document The Trial of Twenty-One also discusses why the defendants signed confessions and pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit. It runs through the struggle of the Stalin co-operatives to retrieve confessions from those who refused to plead guilty. This document gives a detailed account of court proceedings at the trial using quotes. Darkness at Noon is different to my other sources as it is a fictional novel. This novel is set in 1938 and is based on Nikolai Bukharin and The Trial of Twenty-One. Overall the novel focuses on the characters disillusionment at being tried for treason in a state in which he helped create. The novel also focuses on how far from the communist principals Stalin, referred to as ‘Number One’ in the novel, has actually strayed. My other source The Road to Terror I have yet to examine as I have received to book yet. Throughout my sources the main ideas and arguments appear to overlap.
The Great Terror is based on information released during the Khrushchev Thaw, 1956-1964. During this period information was easier to access as Stalin was denounced. It was largely based on information retrieved from the Soviet census. Khrushchev’s speech to the Twentieth Communist Congress in 1956 is also a primary source that can be used when discussing this topic. Another primary source linked to the document titled The Trial of Twenty-One which quotes actual sections of the trial. The trial was recorded and the full trial can be seen online on youtube.com. Although it is poor quality this is a very reliable source as you are given an inside look at the trial and how it was run. Another primary source I have located is The Red Book on the Moscow Trials by Leon Sedov. This book was published by New Park Publications Ltd., 1980. This book was first published in 1936 and is a reliable primary source. None of my sources appear to overlap.
I feel all four of my sources are important as they touch on different areas of my chosen topic. I think Darkness at Noon, tough fictional gives an accurate account of the struggle of Bukharin. It was written at the time of the trial therefore gives a good insight into the on goings of the trial. Conquests book looks at the defendants and how they were forced to sign confessions and admit guilt to grave accusations such as treason and conspiracy to murder. Conquest also discusses how the show trails came about rooted as far back as Lenin. He also looks at the West’s reaction to the trials and how blind to reality they were. The document from the Marxist Archive gives a detailed account of the actual trial explaining court proceeding and how these defendants were found guilty.
How was Bukharin treated and convicted during the Trial of Twenty-One.