Great Purge
The Great Purge (Russian: Большая чистка, transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin in 1937-1938. It involved the purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, repression of peasants, deportations of ethnic minorities, and the persecution of unaffiliated persons, characterized by widespread police surveillance, widespread suspicion of "saboteurs", imprisonment, and killings. Estimates of the number of deaths associated with the Great Purge run from the official figure of 681,692 to nearly 2 million.
Read more about this topic: Political Repression In The Soviet Union
Famous quotes containing the word purge:
“Now, neigbour confines, purge you of your scum!
Have you a ruffian that will swear, drink, dance,
Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit
The oldest sins the newest kind of ways?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“To purge the mischiefs that increase
And all good order mar,
For oft we see a wicked peace
To be well changed for war.”
—Samuel Daniel (1562–1619)