Purges of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Purges of the Communist Party in the Union (Russian: "Чистка партийных рядов", chistka partiinix ryadov, "cleansing of the party ranks") were a key ritual in which periodic reviews of members of the Communist Party were conducted to get rid of the "undesirables."

According to Sheila Fitzpatrick, in her book Everyday Stalinism, such purges were conducted especially during the cultural revolution, "bringing excitement into the workday bureaucratic routine". Such reviews would start with a short autobiography from the reviewed person and then interrogation of him or her by the purge commission as well as by the attending audience.

Although the term "purge" is mostly associated with Stalinism, the first major purge of the party ranks was performed by Bolsheviks as early as 1921. About 220,000 members were purged or left the party in 1921. The purge was justified by the necessity to get rid of the members who joined the party simply to be on the winning side. The major criteria were social origins (members of working classes were normally accepted without question) and contributions to the revolutionary cause.

The first purge of the Joseph Stalin era took place in 1929–1930 in accordance with a resolution of the XVI Party Conference. More than 10 percent of the party members were purged. At the same time a significant number of new members, industrial workers, joined the Party. Additionally Stalin ordered "Case Spring" the repression and/or execution of the officers of the Red Army who had served previously in the Russian Imperial Army, civilians who had been sympathetic to the White movement, or other subversives rounded up by the OGPU. Over 3,000 people were estimated to be executed and tens of thousands lost their positions and privileges.

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