Grigori Zinoviev
(b. 11 Sept. 1883, d. 25 Aug. 1936).Soviet politician Born Radomyslsky Apfelbaum in Elizavetgrad, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Party in 1901 and supported the Bolshevik faction in 1903, ...
Great Purge
(1936–8,USSR)After coming to power in 1924 against Lenin's wishes, Stalin confirmed his position as leader of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union by using terror against his opponents, through ...
Lev Borisovich Kamenev
(22 July 1883, d. 25 Aug. 1936).Soviet politicianBorn Lev Borisovich Rosenfeld in Moscow, he was forced to abandon his law degree at Moscow University in 1902 owing to his political activities. He ...
Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov
(b. 1895, d. 1939?).Head of Soviet Secret Police Born in St Petersburg, he joined the Bolsheviks in April 1917 and took part in the Russian (October) Revolution of 1917. During the Russian Civil War, ...