Everyone in Stalin’s USSR had a close call with Stalin’s killers. Even the killers themselves were not always lucky.
Stalin’s USSR was where the term “politically correct” originated, and even the most politically correct didn’t always survive the inquisitions. Many of our modern Leftists would take us down the same path given the chance.
When you consider what he did, and that in less than four years...they had to face off the Nazi invasion, it was a miracle that the Soviet Army didn’t fall apart.
Also, the Purge of the Armed Forces went a long way toward helping the German success in Operation Barbarossa. Although some of the higher level commanders were an old guard for whom modern warfare would have been baffling, the real negative effects were down at the divisional and regimental ranks. Officers were being promoted above their levels of experience and competence. Also, because of a fear of doing something wrong, they would not exercise any initiative. He wound up with an officer corps that wouldn’t pee if their pants were on fire without a written order.
This was exacerbated by a simultaneous rapid expansion of the armed forces. For most of the 1930s, the Red Army maintained a stable force structure of about 1.5 million men. Knowing that war was inevitable, Stalin ordered the Red Army expanded to 5 million men. That meant fewer officers to command more units. Instead of being promoted one or two levels over their ability, Soviet officers were being promoted two or three levels. Further, there were not enough trained officers to adequately fill the important staff billets.
Add to this that the large forces were not well trained or equipped and lacked the logistical support structure necessary for a modern army. Their equipment, particulary tanks, was old and obsolete. Only a few of the new T-34s had been delivered at the time of the German invastion. Also, the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland in 1939 deployed the Red Army forward away from their existing fortified regions on the previous border, and into a new country where they had no installations, and the local populace was less than thrilled to have them there.
It was all a recipe for disaster, which is what happened. There was one benefit from the rapid expansion, though. Under Chief of Staff Boris Shaposhnikov, the army created administrative machinery geared towards quickly mobilizing and inducting large numbers of men. This machinery allowed the USSR to conjure up new armies faster than the Germans could destroy them. They may have been poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly led, but they were willing to fight and die, and the Germans had to deal with them.
In the end, that’s probably what saved the USSR, despite the disadvantages they had under Stalin’s policies.
Other came closer the Zhukov. Future MSU Konstantin Rokossovsky was arrested by the NKVD on charges of treason. Rokossovsky refused to sign a confession and was tortured. At his trial, he said he would sign the confession if the Court would produce the man making the accusations. The NKVD found out the “accuser” had actually died in 1922. Rokossovsky was sentenced to 10 years for anti-Soviet activities anyway. When the Soviet Army was expanding just before the war, Rokossovsky was released from prison and returned to active duty. One of the first things he did when he returned to duty was have a new set of teeth made to replace those knocked out by NKVD interrogators.
Georgy Zhukov was a brutal commander. Russian troops were shot by their own if they retreated or were sent on suicide missions. Explains the 20 million killed. Most by the Russians themselves.