#Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky

[historydailyfrancischappellblack]

Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky and a group of seven other senior officers from the Soviet High Command were found guilty and executed at a show trial. They were accused of coordinating a German-funded military plot inside the Red Army. June 12, 1937.

Subscriber Content Add content here that will only be visible to your subscribers. Payment Image: Tukhachevsky with the other first four Marshals of the Soviet Union in November 1935. (l-r): Tukhachevsky, Semyon Budyonny, Kliment Voroshilov, Vasily Blyukher, and Aleksandr Yegorov. Only Budyonny and Voroshilov survived the Great Purge. (Public Domain) On this day in history, June 12, 1937,…

[nebris]

Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevsky (Russian: Михаил Николаевич Тухачевский, tr. Mikhail Nikolayevich Tukhachevskiy, IPA: [tʊxɐˈtɕefskʲɪj]; 16 February [O.S. 4 February] 1893 – 12 June 1937) nicknamed the Red Napoleon by foreign newspapers, was prominent between 1918 and 1937 as a Soviet military officer and theoretician.

After service in World War I of 1914-1917 and in the Russian Civil War of 1917-1923, from 1920 to 1921 he commanded the Soviet Western Front in the Polish–Soviet War. Soviet forces under his command successfully repelled the Polish forces from Western Ukraine, driving them back into Poland, but the Red Army suffered defeat outside of Warsaw, and the war ended in a Soviet defeat. He later served as chief of staff of the Red Army from 1925 through 1928, as assistant in the People's Commissariat of Defense[1] after 1934 and as commander of the Volga Military District in 1937. He achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1935.

As a major proponent of modernization of Soviet armament and army force structure in the 1920s and 1930s, he became instrumental in the development of Soviet aviation, and of mechanized and airborne forces. As a theoretician, he was a driving force behind the Soviet development of the theory of deep operations in the 1920s and 1930s. Soviet authorities accused Tukhachevsky of treason, and after confessing he was executed in 1937 during Stalin's military purges of 1936–1938.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Tukhachevsky

[myhouseinhistory]

#你以為諜報片的劇本都是塑膠膩 『如果人類要發起一場革命，也唯有上帝知道何時結束。』 2月16日知名壽星：「紅色拿破崙」圖哈切夫斯基（Mikhail Nikolayevich #Tukhachevsky，1893－1937） 叱吒風雲的歐陸一代名將，誕生於昔日俄羅斯帝國遠西薩福諾沃（#Safonovo）一個據傳流著早年西歐人血脈的傳統貴族世家，圖哈切夫斯基，擁有當年舉世難得的軍事才華，全身上下更充滿著作戰細胞，從以中尉身分投入第一���世界大戰，直到成為蘇聯紅軍軍官參與「俄國內戰」（#Russian Civil War），戰功彪炳的他，十分受到長官們的賞識，除了成功保衛莫斯科之外，更鎮壓了反叛方的白軍與農民起義事件，雖然當中他允許下令使用不合法的毒氣，同時大規模處決無辜老弱人質，但在「政治正確」之下，25歲即破格晉身中將，西元1925年，也就是才32歲左右，圖哈切夫斯基更直接登上蘇聯紅軍總參謀長（Chief of the #General Staff）一職。 . 身為橫跨俄羅斯帝國與蘇聯紅軍兩個世代的傑出將領，圖哈切夫斯基被當時蘇共領導人史達林（Joseph #Stalin，1878－1953）視為是國內最具威脅性的「小拿破崙」。而在「蘇波戰役」的逆轉敗北與深刻反思下，其針對實際對壘上的「縱深作戰」（Deep #battle）理論，和前線通訊聯繫受阻的窘境，他亦親自主導了稍後蘇聯軍團的全面機械化與現代化，更大膽導入了第一支空中突擊特種部隊！如此遠見，也讓他42歲時再次締造紀錄，晉階為蘇聯紅軍建軍史上，最早一批被授予「元帥」（#Marshal of the #Soviet Union）封號的軍事領袖之一！ . 然而，這位百年難覓的將領，卻在西元1937年間蘇聯所展開的軍方肅反「大清洗」行動中，莫名被捲入間諜案風暴，在不公開的秘密審判下，圖哈切夫斯基和其餘高級軍官一同被情治單位認定與納粹德國往來密切，更在嚴厲的酷刑「伺候」下，完成了一份血跡斑斑的通敵自白書，承認受到納粹特務的收買。同年6月11日午夜，圖氏被歸類成萬惡不赦的叛國者，在現場沒有辯護律師、被告亦不得上訴的情況下，被判處唯一死刑，並即刻槍決，一顆閃亮的紅色星星，就此殞落，可悲的是，他的妻子與兄弟同樣遭到連坐，三人均慘死於蘇共槍口之下。 . 直到西元1956年，蘇聯政權改由赫魯雪夫（Nikita Khrushchev，1894－1971）上台執政，莫斯科當局藉由「蘇共二十大」最高會議重啟調查，才得以替圖哈切夫斯基洗清冤屈，給予正式全面性平反，更為其發行專屬郵票以做為緬懷。 . 看到這裡，問題來了，圖哈切夫斯基到底是被誰栽贓的呢？ . 根據今日部分已解密的資料顯示，過去提供蘇聯情治機構有關圖哈切夫斯基與納粹德國交好之通訊資料來源者，其實就來自於納粹本身！而且幕後操盤偽造紀錄的首謀，正是當年納粹國家安全總局局長，海德里希（Reinhard Heydrich，1904－1942）…因為就希特勒等德國高層的縝密布局，先用計除掉圖哈切夫斯基，消滅蘇聯大半的領導優勢後，納粹才能夠輕鬆打入紅軍的陣地，亦順勢入侵東方陣線，擴大統治範圍，所以德國情報人員決定來個假造資料，以假亂真來混淆視聽，藉自相殘殺來完成攻擊目標！ . 但更讓人膽戰心驚的是，有一些軍事學者指出，納粹可能也只是在圖氏通敵案件裡扮演著「過水」或是「點火」的配角位置，真正的「藏鏡人」，就是畏懼圖氏勢力不斷坐大的史達林...回歸套路去脈，最早乃是蘇聯官方有意無意的透露或暗示出史、圖雙方莫須有的嫌隙，納粹情報員獲悉了假情報後予以利用，交由德國方面偽造正式的虛偽文件，然後再將此雙重偽造下的不實檔案送交莫斯科，也順勢完成史達林剷除異己的拼圖，圖氏忠黨愛國，此刻反而成為無法形容的諷刺。 . 插曲：據傳言，圖哈切夫斯基生前曾短暫在莫斯科向某人教授過軍事戰術學...而這位「某人」呢，則是中國近代赫赫有名的大人物，更是台北市蔣萬安立法委員的祖父喔。 . #歷史 #二戰 #蘇聯 #水瓶座 #俄羅斯 #birthday #photo #history #story #spy #hero #life #time #russia #war #death #sad #february https://www.instagram.com/p/B8nE0GVHLUq/?igshid=awie845vvu47

[historyandclassicactors]

The Enemy Within: Stalin’s Purge of the Red Army

It’s another short post, guys. And there is an inordinate amount of quotes this time around as well. Unfortunately, this is a rough post. Sorry about that. Maybe, hopefully, next week’s will be longer (and better)!

On June 11, 1937, Stalin sentenced “some of the most senior officers in the Red Army to execution” (Source).

Their crime?

Supposedly working alongside Nazis to coordinate a military-fascist plot of sabotage and espionage, wanting to “overthrow the Stalinist regime” (Source).

“The sentences – carried out just hours later – marked the point when Stalin’s military purge burst into the open and sparked nothing short of international scandal. [Stalin] was decapitating his military at the very moment that Europe was bracing itself for total war” (Source).

Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky was among the men found guilty. They were all sentenced to be shot. But they were innocent.

This did not stop the purge, however, and it continued it’s course through 1938, some 30,000 men were discharged, “thousands were arrested and executions were widespread” (Source).

[Below: Mikhail Tukhachevsky (left) and the marshals of the Red Army in 1935]

Tukhachevsky was the army’s greatest strategist and, above all else, extremely loyal to Stalin and his politics, even the most repressive acts. He even fully backed Stalin’s collectivization of agriculture - the seizure of private property and land by the government that cost anywhere from 6,000,000-13,000,000 deaths. These resources were meant to be funneled into the Red Army. However, many peasants understandably revolted with mass violence and were, thus, thrown into “a sprawling network of gulag camps” (Source).

On the whole, actually, none of the officers who were executed showed any kind of opposition. However, “officers were denounced by their own soldiers” (Source). There reasons were various. Some were afraid of the consequences if they did not denounce someone. Others held on to past grievances and decided that this was the perfect time to seek revenge. What is clear here, is that the purge had gotten out of hand.

If Stalin's primary concern was actually about maintaining his position as dictator, then launching a military purge throughout the Red Army “in such a dramatic (and ultimately uncontrollable) fashion” was not only extremely risky, but awfully foolish (Source). Especially with a second world war on the horizon and so many other dictators hungry for world domination. So, then, “why were tens of thousands of army leaders subsequently drawn into a mass purge?” (Source). Surely, Stalin could not have believed that this was the best way of maintaining his own power. The strength of his own military should have been paramount in the face of other domineering dictators; when the Soviet Union - like most of Europe - was facing the threat of occupation from another source. If anything, his decision to purge some of his brightest and most loyal only threatened his own position in the face of like-minded world powers, such as those of Mussolini and Hitler.

“The impact of the military purge must be seen alongside serious intelligence failures leading up to the German onslaught as well as Stalin’s stubborn refusal to accept the reality of the danger facing the Soviet Union” (Source).

However, this was hardly the first, nor the last example of violence within the army of the U.S.S.R. From early on, there was a long history of suspicions of loyalty and reliability. Additionally, they were constantly drumming up “cases of supposed counterrevolution and espionage in the ranks” (Source). Clearly, someone was feeling a bit paranoid.

Eventually, Stalin himself did review the charges and Tukhachevsky was reinstated.

[Below: Russian soldiers parade on the Red Square.]

Up Next: The Anschluss

[when-you-wish-upon-a-tsar-blog]

Stalin used the show trial of leading Communists as a means for expanding the new terror. In August 1936, Zinovyev and Kamenev were paraded in court to repeat fabricated confessions, sentenced to death, and shot; two more major trials followed, in January 1937 and March 1938. In June 1937, Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, at the time the most influential military personality, and other leading generals were reported as court-martialed on charges of treason and executed.

Source: The Great Purges

Citation: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Stalin

I can infer from the source that life for the political opponents and other forms of opposition under Stalin's rule was unfair. This is shown in Source 10 which shows that two political opponents were made to say false confessions before being killed. The source states "In August 1936, Zinovyev and Kamenev were paraded in court to repeat fabricated confessions, sentenced to death, and shot; two more major trials followed, in January 1937 and March 1938."

[gagarin-smiles-anyway]

On April 24, 1935, William Christian Bullitt, the first US ambassador to the Soviet Union, hosted a Spring Festival at Spaso House, his official residence. He instructed his staff to create an event that would surpass every other embassy party in Moscow's history. The decorations included a forest of ten young birch trees in the chandelier room; a dining room table covered with Finnish tulips; a lawn made of chicory grown on wet felt; an aviary made from fishnet filled with pheasants, parakeets, and one hundred zebra finches, on loan from the Moscow Zoo; and a menagerie of several mountain goats, a dozen white roosters, and a baby bear.

The four hundred guests included Foreign Minister Maxim Litvinov and Defense Minister Kliment Voroshilov; Communist Party luminaries Nikolai Bukharin, Lazar Kaganovich, and Karl Radek; Soviet Marshals Alexander Yegorov, Mikhail Tukhachevsky, and Semyon Budyonny; and the writer Mikhail Bulgakov.

Apart from the fact that the bear vomited on a Soviet general after Radek mischievously substituted champagne for its bottle of milk, the party was a remarkable success. In the early morning hours the zebra finches escaped from the aviary and perched below the ceilings around the house.

Bulgakov described the party as "The Spring Ball of the Full Moon" in his novel The Master and Margarita. On October 29, 2010, Ambassador John Beyrle recreated Bullitt's ball with his own Enchanted Ball, dedicated to Bullitt and Bulgakov.

[jaclyn4046887147-blog]

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[nebris]

Vasily Mikhailovich Blokhin (Russian: Васи́лий Миха́йлович Блохи́н; 7 January 1895 – 3 February 1955) was a Soviet Russian Major-General who served as the chief executioner of the Stalinist NKVD under the administrations of Genrikh Yagoda, Nikolai Yezhov, and Lavrentiy Beria.

Hand-picked for the position by Joseph Stalin in 1926, Blokhin led a company of executioners that performed and supervised numerous mass killings during Stalin's reign, mostly during the Great Purge and World War II.[2] He is recorded as having executed tens of thousands of prisoners by his own hand, including his killing of about 7,000 Polish prisoners of war during the Katyn massacre in spring 1940,[2][3] making him the most prolific official executioner and mass murderer in recorded world history.[2][4] Forced into retirement following the death of Stalin, Blokhin died in 1955, his death being officially reported as a suicide.

Early life and career

Blokhin, born into a peasant family on 7 January 1895, served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I, and joined the Soviet state security agency Cheka in March 1921.[5] Though records are scant, he was evidently noted for both his pugnaciousness and his mastery of what Joseph Stalin termed chernaya rabota ("wetwork" , or literally, "black work"): assassinations, torture, intimidation, and executions conducted clandestinely. Once he gained Stalin's attention, he was quickly promoted and within six years was appointed the head of the purposefully created Kommandatura Branch of the Administrative Executive Department of the NKVD.[5] This branch was a company-sized element created by Stalin specifically for wetwork.[6] Headquartered at the Lubyanka in Moscow, its members were all approved by Stalin and took their orders directly from him, a fact that ensured the unit's longevity despite three bloody purges of the NKVD.

As senior executioner,[7] Blokhin had the official title of commandant of the internal prison at the Lubyanka, which allowed him to carry out his duties with a minimum of scrutiny and no official paperwork. Although most of the estimated 828,000[2] NKVD executions conducted in Stalin's lifetime were performed by local Chekists in concert with NKVD troikas, mass executions were overseen by specialist executioners from the Kommandantura. In addition to overseeing the mass executions, Blokhin personally pulled the trigger in all of the individual high-profile executions conducted in the Soviet Union during his tenure,[5] including those of the Old Bolsheviks convicted at the Moscow Show Trials; Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (convicted at a secret trial); and two of the three fallen NKVD Chiefs (Genrikh Yagoda in 1938 and Nikolai Yezhov in 1940) he had once served. He was awarded the Badge of Honor for his service in 1937.[8]

Role in the Katyn massacre

Main article: Katyn massacre

Blokhin's most infamous act was the April 1940 execution by shooting of about 7,000 Polish prisoners interned in the Ostashkov prisoner of war camp in the Katyn forest. The majority were military and police officers who had been captured following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.[9] The event's infamy also stems from the Stalin regime's orchestration of the murders, and the subsequent Soviet propaganda campaign which blamed Nazi Germany for the massacres.

In 1990, as part of Glasnost, Mikhail Gorbachev gave the Polish government the files on the massacres at Katyn, Starobelsk and Kalinin (now Tver), revealing Stalin's involvement.[10] Based on the 4 April secret order from Stalin to NKVD Chief Lavrentiy Beria (as well as NKVD Order № 00485, which still applied), the executions were carried out over 28 consecutive nights at the specially constructed basement execution chamber at the NKVD headquarters in Kalinin, and were assigned, by name, directly to Blokhin, making him the official executioner of the NKVD.[11]

Blokhin initially decided on an ambitious quota of 300 executions per night; and engineered an efficient system in which the prisoners were individually led to a small antechamber—which had been painted red and was known as the "Leninist room"—for a brief and cursory positive identification, before being handcuffed and led into the execution room next door. The room was specially designed with padded walls for soundproofing, a sloping concrete floor with a drain and hose, and a log wall for the prisoners to stand against. Blokhin would stand waiting behind the door in his executioner garb: a leather butcher's apron, leather hat, and shoulder-length leather gloves. Then, without a hearing, the reading of a sentence or any other formalities, each prisoner was brought in and restrained by guards while Blokhin shot him once in the base of the skull with a German Walther Model 2 .25 ACP pistol.[12][13][14] He had brought a briefcase full of his own Walther pistols, since he did not trust the reliability of the standard-issue Soviet TT-30 for the frequent, heavy use he intended. The use of a German pocket pistol, which was commonly carried by German police and intelligence agents, also provided plausible deniability of the executions if the bodies were discovered later.[15]

An estimated 30 local NKVD agents, guards and drivers were pressed into service to escort prisoners to the basement, confirm identification, then remove the bodies and hose down the blood after each execution. Although some of the executions were carried out by Senior Lieutenant of State Security Andrei Rubanov, Blokhin was the primary executioner and, true to his reputation, liked to work continuously and rapidly without interruption.[13] In keeping with NKVD policy and the overall "wet" nature of the operation, the executions were conducted at night, starting at dark and continuing until just prior to dawn.  The bodies were continuously loaded onto covered flat-bed trucks through a back door in the execution chamber and trucked, twice a night, to Mednoye, where Blokhin had arranged for a bulldozer and two NKVD drivers to dispose of bodies at an unfenced site. Each night, 24–25 trenches were dug, measuring 8 to 10 metres (26 to 33 ft) in length, to hold that night's corpses, and each trench was covered over before dawn.[16]

Blokhin and his team worked without pause for 10 hours each night, with Blokhin executing an average of one prisoner every three minutes.[3] At the end of the night, Blokhin provided vodka to all his men.[17] On 27 April 1940, Blokhin secretly received the Order of the Red Banner and a modest monthly pay premium as a reward from Joseph Stalin for his "skill and organization in the effective carrying out of special tasks".[18][19] His count of 7,000 shot in 28 days remains the most organized and protracted mass murder by a single individual on record,[3] and saw him being named the Guinness World Record holder for 'Most Prolific Executioner' in 2010.[4]

Retirement and death

Blokhin was forcibly retired in 1953 following Stalin's death that March. However, his "irreproachable service" was publicly noted by Beria at the time of his departure.[8] After Beria's fall from power in June of the same year, Blokhin's rank was stripped from him in the de-Stalinization campaigns of Nikita Khrushchev. He reportedly sank into alcoholism and serious mental illness, and died on 3 February 1955, with the official cause of death listed as "suicide".[20][14][21][22]

Personal life

Blokhin was married to Natalia Aleksandrovna Blokhina (1901–1967), and had a son, Nikolai Vasilievich Baranov (1916–1998).[23]

Honours and awards

Honorary Worker of the Cheka-GPU (V) № 498

Honorary Worker of the Cheka-GPU (XV) (1932)

Order of the Red Star (1936)

Order of the Badge of Honour (1937)

Order of the Red Banner, twice (1940, 1944)

Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1943)

Order of Lenin (1945)

Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (1945)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasily_Blokhin