<Dd> Purging the elites; adopting plans for the mass repressions against the "social base" of the potential aggressors, starting of purging the "elites" from opposition . </Dd> <Dt> July 1937--October 1938 </Dt> <Dd> Mass repressions against "kulaks", "dangerous" ethnic minorities, family members of oppositionists, military officers, saboteurs in agriculture and industry . </Dd> <Dt> November 1938--1939 </Dt>

Who were the victims of the great terror and what was the effect on russia