Russia: Over a two–year period, Joseph Stalin, Dictator of the Soviet Union arrested and then executed approximately 2 million Soviets on various pretexts or trumped–up charges. Many millions more were sent to the Soviet Gulag, Stalin’s vast political prison network spanning Siberia. The “crime” was generally that of being a hypothetical threat to Stalin’s power in any shape, manner or form.
Included in the dragnet were the great bulk of the senior military staff and all the senior members of the Russian Revolution of 1917. Moscow “show trials” were held for the political VIP arrestees, who apparently ‘confessed’ after prolonged torture and deprivation.
It was dangerous to be a hero in Stalin’s Soviet Union.
The denuded military high command would face Hitler’s blitzkrieg advance in June 1941.