Les mécanismes de la « Grande Terreur » des années 1937-1938 au Turkménistan

Abstract

Oleg Khlevniuk, The mechanism of the "Great Terror" of 1937-1938 in Turkmenistan. Based on new materials derived from the archives of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and from those of the Prokuratura, this article describes how the "Great Terror" was exercised in one of the republics of the USSR, i.e. Turkmenistan, and how the orders from Moscow to carry out mass arrests and executions were applied locally. The action of the Turkmenistan NKVD as well as its relationship with the various institutions of the party are analyzed. The article shows how the groups destined to be the victims of repression were selected, how false accusations, through the use of the torture, were fabricated, and how the Turkmenistan troika functioned. The article concludes that, on the whole, the Great Terror was the result of centralized state actions. Despite innumerable cases of abuse of power, local leaders acted within the bounds of the orders received from the Soviet leadership in Moscow.