The Aviators Affair was a 1946

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertaking such an ...

of the

Soviet air force The Soviet Air Forces (, VVS SSSR; literally "Military Air Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics"; initialism VVS, sometimes referred to as the "Red Air Force") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Sovie ...

and the Soviet aircraft industry following accusations that, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Soviet fighter planes had been of poor quality. It resulted in the arrests and sentencing of about fifteen Soviet senior officers and officials, and was one of the series of similar purges of Soviet military in the

aftermath of World War II The aftermath of World War II saw the rise of two global superpowers, the United States (U.S.) and the Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.). The aftermath of World War II was also defined by the rising threat of nuclear warfare, the creation and implementati ...

through which Stalin reaffirmed his control over the country, eliminating or weakening internal rivals.

Background

The complaint about Soviet fighter planes being of lower quality than Western ones (including by Stalin's son

Vasily Stalin Vasily Iosifovich Stalin Dzhugashvili ( ka, ვასილი იოსების ძე სტალინი ჯუღაშვილი, ; 21 March 1921 – 19 March 1962) was the youngest son of Joseph Stalin, born from his second wife, ...

) might have some grounds in reality. However, one of the primary goals of that affair was

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's desire to find compromising materials to use against Marshal

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

. This was part of Stalin's reaffirming his power in the aftermath of World War II and eliminating or weakening individuals who gained power during that period (mainly prominent leaders of the arms industry and military commanders).

Victims

While Zhukov himself would survive this incident with a demotion, the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry ( Minister of Aviation Industry) A. I. Shakhurin, the Commander of the Air Force and chief marshal of aviation

Alexander Novikov Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov (; – 3 December 1976) was the chief marshal of aviation for the Soviet Air Forces during the Soviet Union's involvement in the World War II, Second World War. Lauded as "the man who has piloted the Red Air F ...

, the Chief Engineer of the Air Force and a number (estimated as fifteen) of other generals and senior officers and officials were arrested, tortured and convicted; with many receiving death sentences (often commuted to imprisonment in

Gulags The Gulag was a system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Soviet secret police that was in charge of running the forced labor camps from the 1930s to the early 195 ...

). Air marshal

Sergei Khudyakov Sergei Alexandrovich Khudyakov (; ); born Armenak Artemi Khanferiants (, – 18 April 1950), was a Soviet Armenian Marshal of the aviation. Russian Revolution Armenak Khanferiants (or Khanperiants) was born in 1902 in the village of Mets Taghe ...

(arrested already in late 1945) was executed in 1950. One of the most notable Soviet officials who had lost power as a result of this event was

Georgy Malenkov Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (8 January 1902 O.S. 26 December 1901">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 26 December 1901ref name=":6"> – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician who br ...

; on the other hand, it has temporarily strengthened the power of

Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андрей Александрович Жданов, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ˈʐdanəf, a=Ru-Андрей Жданов.ogg, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician. He was ...

. Notable military victims of related purges of Soviet military included generals

Grigory Kulik Grigory Ivanovich Kulik (; ; 9 November 1890 – 24 August 1950) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union who served as chief of the Red Army's Main Artillery Directorate from 1937 until June 1941. Born into a Ukrainian ...

(arrested in 1946 and executed in 1950) and Vasily Gordov (arrested in 1947 and also executed in 1950). There was also, in the same year (1946), the Admirals Affair, targeting high-ranked officials of the Soviet Navy (such as Nikolai Kuznetsov). Similar events continued for several years (ex. the Artillery's Officer Affair of the early 1950s).

Aftermath

The event has been described as temporarily decapitating the Soviet air force. The investigation was led, on orders from Stalin, by

Viktor Abakumov Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov (; 24 April 1908 – 19 December 1954) was a high-level Soviet security official who from 1943 to 1946 was the head of SMERSH in the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, and from 1946 to 1951 of the Minister of St ...

of the Ministry of State Security, who himself would be purged in the early 1950s, accused, among others, of misconduct during the Aviators Affair. Many victims of the Aviators Affair were rehabilitated during the

De-Stalinization De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and Khrushchev Thaw, the thaw brought about by ascension of Nik ...

period of the 1950s. In subsequent

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

, the event has been described as a purge, and the case, as fabricated.

References

{{reflist 1946 in the Soviet Union Political and cultural purges Persecution of intellectuals in the Soviet Union Soviet Air Force Political repression in the Soviet Union

Background

Victims

Aftermath

See also

References