 A more likely motive was Stalin's instinct for self-preservation, because the Spanish Civil War had aroused a spirit of heroism in support of freedom more in line with Trotskyism and such ideas might be exported to the Soviet Union.Further proof of this is what Modin stated that Stalin decided to attack the extreme Left, particularly Trotskyites and militants of the POUM before liquidating Franco.Those who had served in Spain were tainted in Stalin's view and were singled out for harshness in the purges and were virtually all eliminated.