Ryutin Affair

The Ryutin Affair began in the summer of 1932 in the Soviet Union. Martemyan Ryutin was a right-wing communist. He wrote a 200-page document called the "Ryutin platform".Martin McCauley, The Soviet Union 1917-1991 (Oxford; New York: Routledge, 2013), p. 101 In the document, he criticized Joseph Stalin's leadership of the communist party. Twelve or so party members met with Ryutin and read the document.Robert William Davies, Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), p. 84 This was in August 1932. They passed it on to other party members. Stalin thought Ryutin and his friends were trying to have him assassinated. 

Ryutin was arrested. When Stalin tried to have him executed, he was instead sent to a forced labor camp for ten years.Steve Phillips, Stalinist Russia (Oxford: Heinemann, 2000), p. 97 Every party member who read the document was arrested. In 1933 as many as 800,000 were arrested. In 1934 another 340,000 were sent to camps. This shows that Stalin did not yet have enough power to order Ryutin's execution. But by 1937 things had changed. After a 40-minute trial on 1 January 1937 Ryutin was executed.Robert William Davies, Soviet History in the Gorbachev Revolution (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), pp. 84–85

References

Category:Marxism
Category:Communism
Category:Soviet Union
Category:Joseph Stalin
Category:1930s in the Soviet Union
Category:History of the Soviet Union