Establishment and Consolidation of Stalin's Rule By Estée Period: 1928 to 1930 Party purge expels thousands of lower ranking party members 1930 16th Party Congress Signs of some opposition to Stalin 1932 Ryutin Affair 1933 Smirnov’s ‘anti-party group’ Charged with attempting to replace Stalin 1934 17th Party Congress 1934 Kirov affair 1936 1st show trial of the 16 + Great Purge starts September: Ezhov replaces Yagoda as head of NKVD (secret police) 1937 2nd show trial 17 1938 3rd show trial of the 21 1939 18th Party Congress Official end of the Great Purge
