Soviet political purges of 1936–1938

The Soviet purges of 1936–38, typically known as the Great Purge, Great Terror (Ru: Большой террор), or Yezhovshchina (after Nikolai Yezhov) were carried out often at the behest of Joseph Stalin, typically against corrupt and/or treacherous party members rather than the general population. Since the opening of the Soviet archives, it has come to light that the purges were far smaller than previously thought in the West.