Stalin's Last Purge: The Leningrad Affair

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Stalin's Last Purge: The Leningrad Affair

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In the wake of World War II, Stalin turned his paranoia against the very party elite who had helped him win. The Leningrad Affair of 1949-1952 was a brutal purge targeting the city's leadership, including Central Committee secretary Aleksei Kuznetsov, Politburo member Nikolai Voznesensky, and Leningrad party boss Pyotr Popkov. All were accused of a phantom conspiracy to make Leningrad a rival power base, tried in secret, and executed. This episode examines how Stalin's suspicion of the Leningrad party organization, which had operated semi-autonomously during the siege, led him to eliminate potential successors and tighten his grip on the postwar Soviet state. We also explore the role of Georgy Malenkov and Lavrentiy Beria in orchestrating the purge, the show trials' impact on the party apparatus, and how the affair foreshadowed the 1953 Doctor's Plot. Through newly accessible archives and firsthand accounts from survivors, we uncover a chapter of Stalinist terror that decimated a generation of administrators who had rebuilt the city after the blockade. #LeningradAffair #StalinPurge #AlekseiKuznetsov #NikolaiVoznesensky #GeorgyMalenkov #LavrentiyBeria #SovietHistory #ColdWar #PoliticalPurges #LeningradSiege #Stalinism #USSR #EasternEurope #20thCentury #StalinistTerror #SovietElite #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

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