Terror and control under Stalin: how the NKVD/KGB, purges, show trials and surveillance maintained order in the USSR — ideal for GCSE questions on “How did Stalin keep control?”

Relevant for GCSE History (All major boards):

• Edexcel GCSE – Russia and the Soviet Union, 1917–41
  Paper 3: Modern Depth Study — includes Stalin’s dictatorship, use of terror, the NKVD, purges and show trials as methods of control.

• AQA GCSE – Russia, 1894–1945: Tsardom and Communism
  Paper 1, Section A: Wider World Depth Study — requires study of Stalin’s consolidation of power, purges and the role of the secret police.

• OCR GCSE – Russia 1894–1945
  Depth Study — covers Stalin’s dictatorship, repression, the NKVD and mechanisms of political control.