Petrograd Trials (Central Victory)

The Petrograd Trials were a series of show trials held in the Russia at the instigation of German occupation authorities between 1945 and 1946. The defendants included most of the Soviet war time leadership, as well as the former leadership of the Soviet secret police. Most defendants were charged with planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace, engaging in various acts of political repression, and treason. The Petrograd Trials led to the execution of many of the defendants, including Joseph Stalin, and the trials are generally seen as part of the "White Terror" that occured in immediate post-Russia.

Background
Stalin had come to power after Vladimir Lenin had become incapacitated from a stroke. Throughout Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union he became a brutal dictator at home and considered a mad man abroad. Stalin openly and blatently condemned the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and eventually rebuked it. When Moscow fell in January 1942, Stalin himself was captured by German forces. One month later the Red Army surrendered and the remaining Soviet leadership was arrested.

Adolf Hitler was known to have a certain admiration of Stalin but also detested communism and all who stood for it. The Reichskommissariat Moskowien leader Siegfried Kasche met with Andrey Vlasov, leader of the collaborating Russian Liberation Army, and decided to put the Bolsheviks on trial for their crimes against the people's of Russia and for instigating the war. The trial was approved by all members of the Axis who occupied various parts of the Soviet Union. The trial was held from November 1945 to October 1946 in the Tauride Palace (chosen for its historical connection to the Russian Provisional Government of 1917). The trial was done under German supervision with Alexander Kerensky presiding, and the Prosecutor General being Evgeny A. Korovin.

Trial
The first session was presided over by former Provisional leader Alexander Kerensky. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and seven organizations – the leadership of the Communist party, the Premier Joseph Stalin, the NKVD and the "Main Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR", comprising several categories of senior military officers. These organizations were to be declared "criminal" if found guilty.

The indictments were for:
 * 1) Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace
 * 2) Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace
 * 3) Planning or commiting murder against the people's of Russia
 * 4) Treason against the democratically elected government of Russia