Abstract
“Slavic Studies That Was Shot”: Slavists Affected by the Stalin Purge
Slavic Studies that was shot, refers to the practices that the Slavists were subjected to, who were tried and executed in the Slavists Trial, which was carried out until the period of the Great Purge (1936-1938) by J. Stalin. When J. Stalin gained full authority in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s, he used all the means he had in order to preserve his power and the ideology of socialism he designed. Even the names of the founders and symbols of the Revolution, known to be in opposition to J. Stalin within the Party, are added to the "cleaning" process of those who are against the revolution. In addition, developments such as the ruthless trials of scientists and artists who contain elements that contradict the socialist ideology of the existing power in their scientific studies or activities are proof that we were heading towards one of the darkest periods of Soviet history. One of the groups affected by the repression regime of this period is linguists who work in the field of Slavic Studies. Slavists are tried and shot on charges such as making anti-Soviet propaganda, cooperating with foreign countries to overthrow the existing order and establishing the Russian National Party in this context. In this study, a group of scientists, including Slavists, who were shown as the most influential linguists of the 20th century and who were subjected to unfounded accusations and executed in show trials, their Slavic studies and the practices they were exposed to in this dark period are examined.
Keywords
Slavic Studies, Slavists Trials, Russian National Party, Great Purge, Stalin