The Fifth Column

The persecution of enemies of the people, those who would reverse or subvert the revolution, has been ongoing policy since the Party came to power. The internal power struggles that followed have shifted our focus, and purging the Party ranks themselves has been given more emphasis since Trotsky's exile. Stalin has made himself an icon, but at the cost of making many real enemies and innumerable imaginary ones. Having seen the worst of internal power struggles, the General Secretary is prone to act on the slightest suspicion. Being purged from the Party means imprisonment or death. Dark times lie ahead for those who show disloyalty - or just a bit too much loyalty to seem credible.