# The Great Purge (1937)

URL: https://history-russia.com/timeline/1937-the-great-purge
Categories: main-event

NKVD Order No. 00447 of July 1937 launched mass operations. In 1937-1938 about 1.5 million people were arrested and around 680,000-750,000 executed, including most of the military high command, such as Marshal Tukhachevsky, and whole national groups. NKVD chief Nikolai Yezhov was himself executed in 1940. The Great Terror decimated Soviet society and the army before the war.

## Why it matters
The Great Terror decimated Soviet society and the army before the war.

Ruler at the time: [Joseph Stalin](https://history-russia.com/rulers/joseph-stalin)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Great Purge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Purge)
- [Wikipedia — NKVD Order No. 00447](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD_Order_No._00447)
- [Wikipedia — Stalinism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalinism)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — The Great Purge](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=The+Great+Purge)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of Russian history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Russian_history)