The Great Purge: History Matters (Short Animated Documentary) 

Secret police: we killed 70,000 traitors. Stalin: but I only asked for 65,000. Secret police: yes but we rounded them up.

French Revolution: Chop, chop, chop! Stalin: Shot, shot, shot!

“Which was much better” perfect delivery.

"When Stalin killed everyone" Me: Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?

"I got an urge (puts on shades) to purge!" ~ Stalin, 1936

3 out of 5 Marshals, 13 out of 15 army commanders, 8 out of 9 admirals, 50 out of 57 corps commanders, 154 out of 186 division commanders, All of the 16 army commissars, 25 out of 28 corps commissars. No wonder Red Army put such an "impressive" display of skill during the beginning of the war with Germany. This is a heavy cost. (Well, maybe except commissars. They suck.)

A man in the USSR is sentenced to ten years in the gulag. Upon his arrival, he is asked by another prisoner, “How did you get ten years?” He responds, “I did nothing!” The prisoner says to him, “Don’t lie to me Comrade! Everyone knows that nothing gets you five years!”

Stalin after having millions of innocent people killed or sent to the gulags: I did it. I saved the world.

"By a CERTAIN SOMEONE" I love that line so much

Genrich Yagoda: *gets purged* Nikolai Yezhov: *gets purged* Lavrentiy Beria: *nervous sweating*

Someone: **Breaths** Stalin: *Not on my watch!*

Oh boy I sure love opposing Stalin in 1936!

To give an idea of how pervasive, bizarre and horrifying the Great Purge was, two stories from documentaries about the composer Dmitri Shostokovitch: He was so worried about the possibility of being arrested in the middle of the night, that for much of this time he slept in the stairwell outside his apartment, so that his family wouldn't be disturbed if he were arrested. (Source: RU-vid video documentary _Keeping Score: Shostakovich Symphony no. 5_) In 1937, one day he was summoned to KGB headquarters [per the video from which I got this anecdote, the one telling the story called it the KGB, even though many posting here insist that it had to be the NKDV; I have posted elsewhere in these comments a link to the video from which the story comes; I refer readers to that video, and if you have a problem with his version of this story, please take it up with him, not with me] .He was questioned by an officer, who asked if Shostakovitch knew a particular person. When he answered yes, the officer asked "what do you know about his involvement in the plot to assassinate Comrade Stalin?" Shostakovitch was dumbstruck: of course, he knew nothing of such a plot, but he also knew that literally anything he said could be construed as his being complicit. The officer then said that Shostakovitch should go and think about it, then return in two days. When that day came, Shostakovitch said good-bye to his wife and children, believing it to be the last time he would ever see them. He arrived at the KGB [or NKVD, or WXYZ, or whatever...] office, only to find a soldier guarding the door, who asked "why are you here?" Shostakovitch said that he had an appointment, and gave the name of the officer. The soldier then went to check a roster, finally informing Shostakovitch "he is not here." Shostakovitch later found out that, in the intervening two days, the officer who had questioned him had himself been arrested! (Source: RU-vid video _Shostakovitch Versus Stalin: The War Symphonies_. Unfortunately, I can no longer find the version with English language subtitles on RU-vid, only in Spanish -- though the Russian host of the documentary still speaks English throughout. The anecdote I cited is told in Russian).

In Tukhachevsky's trial, his promotion of tank warfare using large independent mechanized formations was literally used as evidence against him. One of the judges was Budyonny, another Marshal of the Soviet Union. Budyonny was an old conservative cavalryman who ruled that Tukhachevsky's ideas on tanks were so absurd that his promotion of them could not be anything else than deliberate sabotage of the Red Army.

It should be noted that one of the men imprisoned in the Gulags by Stalin was one Andrei Tupolev, head of the Tupolev Design Bureau. While in the Gulags, he would design a few bomber aircraft that would be used against the Germans in the Second World War. Later on, he would be released from the Gulags, awarded the Order of Lenin, and would go on to design the infamous (or famous depending on your perspective) Cold War bomber designated the Tu-95; it's better known by its NATO codename: "Bear".

Sergei Korolev also developed the kidney disease that later contributed to his untimely demise in the gulags as a result of this purge, so Stalin is also indirectly responsible for the failure of the later Soviet space program, as well. Truly his myopia knew no bounds.

Excellent work. I like the new change to the channel, as you aren't limited to only making 10 minute history videos. Maybe a video on the Night of the Long Knives?

"You know I really don't like Vodka that much" *SILENCE TROTSKYITE*

"He may have acted alone, but he also might have been put up to it by a CERTAIN SOMEONE". That actually made me laugh. Thanks!

Just to let you all know next week's videos will be: Wednesday - The Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII, Sunday - The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 Hope you all enjoy.

Basically a civil war with only one side fighting.

Stalin is having a speech and someone sneezed. "Who sneezed?" asked Stalin. Everyone's quiet. "Everyone in first row to gulag! Who sneezed?" Silience. "Second row to be shot! Who sneezed?" Some guy is raising hand terrified "Comrade Stalin, it was me." "Bless you!" Smiled Stalin.

After the Purges Stalin had to install bells or buzzers when he gave speeches so people would stop applauding for him. Everyone was too afraid to be the first person to stop, so they just stood clapping for a half hour until Stalin got tired of it, and had the alarm tell them to quit.

he protecc he attacc and from the gulags no one comes bacc

Stalin: Purges all doctors Stalin: Gets stroke and has no doctors to help him and dies Stalin: *Insert surprised Pikachu face with droopy mouth*

Stalin in 1941: „where are my generals?“ Assistent: You let them be executed . Stalin: off to the gulag you go

"I hereby sentence you to death" _sigh of relieve_ "In the Gulag" *"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"*

Me: *Says nothing* Stalin: go to Gulag

Stalin using different hats is absolutely the best thing I have ever seen (yes even better than the horses)

Stalin to Konstantin Rokossovsky: "You sir are now purged. Death sentence" Operation Barbossa: *Happens* Stalin:"For the love of Communism, save us Marshall Rokossovysky." Rokossovsky: "So does this mean my death sentence is revoked?" Stalin: "Nope" Rokossovsky: "Bruh."

It's amazing how comical mass incarceration/killing can be made with cartoons like this.

The Great Purge was a great purge

0:09 "By a certain someone..." *vodka sweat intensifies*

Some say Leon Trotsky changed his name to James Bisonnette and fled to the west.

Every time the word "shot" came up in this video, it reminded me of a scene in the movie "Wrongfully Accused" with Leslie Nielsen. The scene takes place on a prison bus and one of the things it parodies is an in-flight safety instruction demonstration. The phrase "You will be shot" is said a couple of times and is accompanied by finger guns.

Take a shot everytime he says shot.. Oh look at that, I've drank too much

2:20 I NEVER noticed that gun on the far right! I love these little details this channel hides!

Still feeling the consequences of the Purge. I live in Moscow, near two former shooting ranges where collectively over 30,000 people were shot during the Great Purge

I'm frankly impressed you managed to capture Zinoviev's hair so effectively.

"Some were taken to the gulag, which was much better".

1:19 love that the judge is just Stalin wearing a powered wig!

Imagine living during that time and all of a sudden the words "new objective: survive" just appeared

0:55 I like how the "judge" is just Stalin with a wig on lol

I absolutely love this youtube channel. The animations, information and humor is wonderful. Quick and gets the point across, all around awesome.

I love how when he talks about people being tried he has Stalin wearing a wig

I love the Purge clock and "It was time for a purge. A Great Purge, if you will".

Thank you so much for including the sources to your videos! Many other history and other educational RU-vid channels tend to not include any notes or bibliographies in their description boxes.

I really like the content, as it really does a great job making history interesting for those who aren't as passionate about it. Also, do you think you could cover the Russo-Finnish war or the Six Day War?

Socialist or not, you can't deny Stalin was absolutely horrible.

Detective Stalin holding the “I got this” literally made me lol

* Someone coughs * Stalin: Well, well, well... Looks like we got ourselves a troublemaker here...

Imagine the people that risked their lives to overthrow the Czar, only to find that the Communists were infinitely more brutal and repressive. Some things never change.

The delivery of this video in particular is on point.

“1934, and a man named Sergei Kirov was having a great day.” Wait for it... I was wondering if the Kirov Ballet was named after him. Yep.

Y'know i always wonder how much better the Soviets could've done if the purge didn't happen.

I'm proud of what this channel has become, keep it up. It really helps me at history ( of course ) and I only get 9,10 and sometimes 8 because of this amazing channel. You helped me a lot man, for that I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart :D

I absolutely love your channel, information is clear and interesting. Also your sense of humor and graphic design is awesome! 2:19 - I can see that gun coming from behind >_> :D

Great job! Fast and informative.

Soviet citizens: EXIST Stalin: HOW ABOUT NO

1:38 Here is a little joke which was told to me by a polish man: When Stalin was walking through a crowd that was cheering him a little boy approached him and asked for an autograph. Stalin lifted the boy, turned him around and gave him a hard kick on his butt so he fell face down on the ground. When the boy looked at him shocked Stalin says: Be happy, I could've shot you.

I need a moment to process how such a serious topic could be delivered in such an entertaining and funny way.

I love your channel. Wonderful history. I love the animation and signs you use

Wow it reminds me of Animal Farm when Napoleon puts a bunch if piggies to trial, accusing them of working with Snowball even though Snowball was already exiled.

Ah yes the famous "Everyone dies in five years" plan.

For once I don't think I really learned anything new, but a very fine quick overview of the purges. Great work as always.

Tankie response: BUT YOU CAN'T BELIEVE ANY SOURCE THAT WASN'T APPROVED BY THE PARTY

JUST LOOK AT THE TIME! Also, Stalin in a Sherlock Holmes hat is just classic, amazing humor.

I died when Stalin was the judge but didn't really even try to hide that he was still, well, Stalin. He only had the wig on! XD

0:11 - "he also may have been put up to it by a CERTAIN SOMEONE" 🤣 It gets me every time! Also love the hilarious sign captions the characters hold; reminds me of Wile E. Coyote! I use these videos for my history class, and the students get a kick out of them! Thanks!

You people should know one simple fact. The so called great purge, was so famous even inside the USSR, especially, after Chrushchev speech about "the cult of personality", solely because it was targeting the highest echelons of the soviet state. In other words, those, who could scream the loudest (others, for instance, the whole of russian peasantry didn't have such a voice and perished quietly). The communist party members, bureaucrats, high-ranking officers and so on. It is in no way, the most horrible, or the most massive, or the most influential act of terror against Russia and russians (as well as all the other nationalities) by the communist regime. Even long before Stalin came to power, the blade of their terror was swinging across my long-suffering motherland. First they came for their political opponents i.e. monarchists, liberals, soft socialists, as well as all of the so-called oppressors of the old regime (aristocracy, clergy, burgers, business owners). Then they came for intelligentsia. Then they destroyed russian peasantry first by outright killing (including using chemical weapons during the rebellions in central russia), and then via collectivization and starvation of the peasantry (contrary to the famous "holodomor" myth, those starving weren't only ukrainians, but a whole lot of russians from kuban, volga as well as a lot of other regions). Then they started to prosecute those who weren't leftist enough, or weren't poor enough, or were just competent in their professions and were a target of envy and smear and slander (check the famous court cases against engineers or medics). Only after all of these (and I haven't counted even a half of it) did the great purge happened. Only after millions and millions of people killed, starved, tortured to death did the dragon started to bite its own tail. The communist regime was the worst thing happened to my poor country. Not even Hitler's invasion brought so much suffering and calamity. Do not go red, kids. Better dead, than red. They are monsters.

If the purge didn't happen, the invasion of USSR by Nazi Germany was easy to counter and the loss of civilian lives could have been saved. Nikita Khrushchev.

0:38 when is the Purge Clock gonna be available

Don't you mean *our* purge

I always love it when "Thumb Screw Time!" comes up in your videos!

"Certain Someone". LOVE IT!

Stalin after the purge: “hyuck, I’ll do it again”

Hollywood: Releases the Purge Movies. Stalin: I am not impressed.

That had to be the best introduction ever for an history video

"Stalin has fallen unconscious, call doctor!" "Yes, if only we hadn't gotten rid of all those really excellent doctors." -Paraphrasing _The Death of Stalin_

That damned certain someone

The more I hear about stalin, Lenin and trotsky, the more I hate them.

We love your videos!

The population of the USSR at the time was around 200 million. That works out to around 0.5%. For comparison, that would be proportionate to executing everyone in Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and still needing to get started on North Dakota.

"BY A CERTAIN SOMEONE"🤣🤣🤣

Imagine if there were no purges and the USSR still had many of its talented commanders at the beginning of the Second World War

"He also may have been put up to it by a C E R T A I N S O M E O N E."

Stalin: It's always time for a Purge.

the great terror you say? robespierre: did someone call me?

2:06 fucking killed me lmao

thank you for this!

Great content! Thanks!

I love the angry self portrait of stalin the court😂

You should do a video specifically about Trostsky's assassination

The delivery of "a certain someone" plus the only time the camera waa active was really funny

That 'certain someone' line combined with the zoom is magically delivered

1:38 I genuinely can't tell whether you are being sarcastic or not 😂

Kirov was known as the darling of the party as he was genuinely popular, Stalin would have seen him as a danger

That beginning gets me every time!

I love that you actually used a Mosin Nagant in the graphics.

My great grandfather was one of the Ukrainians thrown in the "gulag", but he escaped through England and here I am today.