Home >> Regional >> Europe >> Russia >> Society and Culture >> History >> Soviet Union >> Library of Congress Archives Revelations from the Russian Archives Library of Congress Soviet Archives Exhibit presents a virtual glimpse into the reality of USSR. (b) Repression and Terror: Stalin in Control During the second half of the 1920s, Joseph Stalin set the stage for gaining absolute power by employing police repression against opposition elements within the Communist Party. (c) Repression and Terror: Kirov Murder and Purges The murder of Sergei Kirov on December 1, 1934, set off a chain of events that culminated in the Great Terror of the 1930s. (d) Secret Police From the beginning of their regime, the Bolsheviks relied on a strong secret, or political, police to buttress their rule. (e) The Gulag The Soviet system of forced labor camps was first established in 1919 under the Cheka, but it was not until the early 1930s that the camp population reached significant numbers. (f) Collectivization and Industrialization In November 1927, Joseph Stalin launched his "revolution from above" by setting two extraordinary goals for Soviet domestic policy: rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. (g) Anti-Religious Campaigns The Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion. (h) Attacks on Intelligentsia: Early Attacks In the years immediately following their accession to power in 1917, the Bolsheviks took measures to prevent challenges to their new regime, beginning with eliminating political opposition. (i) Attacks on Intelligentsia: Renewed Attacks The pattern of suppressing intellectual activity, with intermittent periods of relaxation, helped the party leadership reinforce its authority. (j) Attacks on Intelligentsia: Censorship Creative writers enjoyed great prestige in both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union because of literature's unique role as a sounding board for deeper political and social issues.
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