Gulag: A History

Article 58 was a pivotal legal code in the Soviet Union that was instrumental for the mass arrests during Stalin’s era. Article 58 criminalized a broad range of “counter-revolutionary activities,” serving as a legal basis for detaining millions without concrete evidence. Within Gulag, it epitomizes the legal mechanisms that facilitated the Gulag’s expansion by blurring the line between political dissent and criminal activity, thereby legitimizing the Soviet state’s repressive apparatus.

De-Stalinization refers to the political process initiated after Stalin’s death aimed at dismantling the most repressive mechanisms of the Stalin era, including the mass release of prisoners from the Gulag. The term indicates a pivotal shift in Soviet policy that led to a reduction in the use of forced labor and a reassessment of Stalin’s legacy, albeit with varying degrees of success and resistance within the Soviet Union.

“Dissidents” refers to individuals—often intellectuals, writers, or activists—who openly challenged the Soviet regime’s policies and ideology, especially from the 1960s onward. Applebaum discusses the dissidents not only to highlight Resilience in the Face of Adversity but also to show the evolution of political repression in the Soviet Union. The dissidents’ role underscores a changing landscape of resistance, marking a shift from internal repression to a battle fought in the realm of public opinion and international diplomacy against the regime.