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Case Of Trotskyist Anti-soviet Military OrganizationCase of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization ("Дело троцкистской антисоветской военной организации", or "дело антисоветской троцкистской военной организации") was a 1937 trial of high commanders of the Red Army, also known as "Case of Military" ("дело военных") and "Tukhachevsky's case". During the trials it was also referred to as the "military-fascist conspiracy" (военно-фашистский заговор), the military-trotskyist organization, and the "counter-revolutionary plot within RKKA". The Case of Military was a secret trial, unlike the Moscow show trials. However, it featured the same level of frame-up of the defendants and it is traditionally considered one of the key trials of the Great Purge. Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky and the senior military officers Iona Emmanuilovich Yakir, Ieronim Petrovich Uborevich, Robert Petrovich Eideman, Avgust Ivanovich Kork, Vitovt Kazimirovich Putna, Boris Mironovich Feldman and Vitali Markovich Primakov (as well as Yakov Gamarnik, who committed suicide before the investigations began) were accused of anti-Soviet conspiracy and sentenced to death; they were executed on the night of June 11/June 12, immediately after the verdict delivered by a Special Session (специальное судебное присутствие) of the Supreme Court of the USSR. The Session was presided by Vasili Ulrikh and included marshals Blyukher, Budyonny and Army Commanders Yakov Alksnis (Яков Иванович Алкснис), Boris Shaposhnikov (Б.М.Шапошников), Ivan Belov (Иван Панфилович Белов), Pavel Dybenko (П.Е.Дыбенко), and Nikolai Kashirin (Каширин Николай Дмитриевич). This trial triggered a massive purge of the Red Army, with the total number of executed estimated at 42,000. History The trial was preceded by several purges of the Red Army. In the mid-1920s the army was purged of Trotskyists. Former tsarist officers had been purged in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The latter purge was accompanied with the "exposure" of the "Former Officers Plot". The next wave of arrests of military commanders started in the second half of 1936, increased after the 1937 Plenum of VKP(b) Central Committee, at which Vyacheslav Molotov called for more thorough exposure of "wreckers" within the Red Army, since they "had already been found in all segments of the Soviet economy". Tukhachevsky was arrested on May 22, 1937 and was charged with the creation of right-trotskyist military conspiracy and espionage for Germany, based on confessions obtained from a number of other arrested officers. Often it is said that the case was also based on forged documents created by German Army intelligence. None of these were considered during the investigations. However the archives of Stalin indeed contain a number of messages received during 1920-1930s signalling about possible involvement of Tukhachevsky with " fascist ledership". While they were dismissed at the time, it is reasonable to assume that they nevertheless played their role in Stalin's decision to persecute Tukhachevsky. During June 1-4 an extended meeting of the Military Council of the Narkom of Defence was held, where it was reported that NKVD uncovered a "counter-revolutionary plot within the Red Army". On June 2, Stalin reported to the Military Council that about 300-400 of military had been arrested, including 10 members of the Military Council. According to the records, the verdict was announced at 23:35 on July 11, 1937, and the convicted were ordered to be executed immediately. Therefore there have been discrepancies in various sources as to the exact date of death of Tukhachevsky and others: June 11 vs. June 12. All convicts were rehabilitated on January 31, 1957 with the formulation "due to the absence of the evidence of crime". It was concluded that arrests, investigations and trials were performed in voilation of processual norms and based on forced confessions, in many cases obtained with the aid of physical violence. Reasons and motives There are no conclusive facts about the real reasons of the forged trial. Reasearchers put forth the following hypotheses. One of them is Stalin's consolidation of power: Stalin acted against the growing authority of Tukhachevsky within the Army. Another suggestion is that Tukkachevsky and others indeed tried to conspire against Stalin. Reference
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