January 23rd

== Information==

What:
A fake trial finds seventeen members of the communist party guilty

Where:
Soviet Union

Year:
1937

Information and Significance
On January 23rd, 1937, 17 members of the communist party were found guilty of crimes against the Soviet Union. Many of these people had been leaders in the communist party for years and had committed no crimes against the state. This was yet another play for power by the brutal Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin. Stalin ignitiated a wave of brutal murders and show trials of people there was no nevidence against in order to consolidate power. In order to keep people in fear he would send cities quotas of how many people they were to kill. No names were given, just the orders to randomly select citizens and kill or enslave them. He also commited numerous reigns of terror against many ethniticites such as Poles, Germans, Jews and Koreans. Because of these events Stalin is permanently remembered as one of the most evil people in history, and the second only to his rival Hitler as the most brutal dictator in history.