The term "pogrom" in the meaning of large-scale, targeted, and repeated anti-Jewish rioting, saw its first use in the 19th century, in reference to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire. The issue of pogroms arose sometime after the Pale of Settlement was created by the Russian government to prevent the Jewish population from spreading over the country unless they would convert to Christian Orthodox.
Read more about Anti-Jewish Pogroms In The Russian Empire: Pre-1881 (Odessa), 1881-1884, 1903–1906, Organization of The Pogroms, Influence of The Pogroms, Russian Pogroms in Arts and Literature
Famous quotes containing the words russian and/or empire:
“An enormously vast field lies between “God exists” and “there is no God.” The truly wise man traverses it with great difficulty. A Russian knows one or the other of these two extremes, but is not interested in the middle ground. He usually knows nothing, or very little.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“On September 16, 1985, when the Commerce Department announced that the United States had become a debtor nation, the American Empire died.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)